Zoe Kalapos (born April 17, 1997) is an American professional

snowboarder Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...

, specializing in

half-pipe A half-pipe is a structure used in gravity extreme sports such as snowboarding, skateboarding, skiing, freestyle BMX, skating, and scooter riding. Overview The structure resembles a cross-section of a swimming pool, essentially two concave ramp ...

. Kalapos was named to the US Team for the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

, finishing 17th.

Early life

At the age of one, Kalapos was gifted a snowboard by her parents, Steven and Maria. After three years of switching to skis, she went back to snowboarding at the age of five, growing a passion for the sport. Steven would eventually build a homemade ski and snowboard park in the one-acre lot of his farm for Zoe for her to practice on, named Mt. Kalapos. At the age of 10, Kalapos began her competitive career. At the age of 13, Zoe and the rest of her family (with the exception of her mother, who had to stay in Detroit as a teacher in the

South Redford School District The South Redford School District is in Redford, a suburb of Detroit. In May 2005, residents of the South Redford School District passed the 2005 Bond Facilities Proposal. The $32.65 million bond allowed the District to make substantial up gra ...

for income-related reasons) would move to

Vail, Colorado Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,835 in 2020. Home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado, the town is known for its hotels, dining, and for the num ...

to join the Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy.

Career

In 2022, Team USA announced that she had been selected to represent the United States at the

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. her first Winter Olympics. She finished seventeenth in the women's halfpipe, missing qualifying for the finals, which required finishing in the top twelve.

Personal life

Kalapos' dad was a former ski instructor in the 80s, and Kalapos' mom is a schoolteacher. In 2021, Kalapos graduated from Westminster College.

References

External links

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Zoe Kalapos
at U.S. Ski & Snowboard {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalapos, Zoe 1997 births Living people American female snowboarders People from Beverly Hills, Michigan Sportspeople from Oakland County, Michigan Sportspeople from Michigan Snowboarders at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic snowboarders for the United States 21st-century American women