Karine Ruby (4 January 1978 in Bonneville, Haute-Savoie – 29 May 2009) was a French

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 Paralympic ...

and Olympic champion. She won two medals at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

, with a gold medal at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

in Nagano,"1998 Winter Olympics – Nagano, Japan – Alpine skiing"
– ''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on 5 March 2008) and a silver medal at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

."2002 Winter Olympics – Salt Lake City, United States – Alpine skiing"
– ''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on 5 March 2008) She also earned six gold medals and four silver medals at the FIS Snowboard World Championships, and 67 wins and 122 podiums at the FIS Snowboard World Cup, which earned her the description by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' as "the most decorated female snowboarder in the world".Robinson, Joshua
"Karine Ruby, French Snowboarding Star, Dies at 31 "
''

'', May 30, 2009. Accessed June 24, 2009. Ruby won the giant slalom event in the snowboarding competition at the

held in Nagano,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, overcoming severe weather conditions to win the first Olympic gold medal awarded in the event to a woman. She finished a combined 1.74 seconds behind Isabelle Blanc in the parallel giant slalom in snowboarding competition at the

, an event that the two French snowboarders had dedicated to the memory of teammate Régine Cavagnoud, who had died in a 2001 training accident. Ruby came in third place to win a bronze medal in snowboardcross at the Winter X Games IX held in

Aspen, Colorado Aspen is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population ...

in January 2005. She competed in the snowboardcross event at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

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, and retired from the sport after being eliminated in the quarterfinals. Ruby was training to become a mountain guide, a process that can take as long as 15 years, and was killed at age 31 on 29 May 2009 after a climbing accident in the Mont Blanc massif. Having climbed the Tour Ronde, she fell into a in the glacier du Geant at around 3,300 m, dragging in two other members of the climbing party she had been leading who had all been roped to each other. One man was killed in the fall, while another sustained serious injuries and was hospitalized after being evacuated by helicopter, although died later that night.

References

External links

AP Obituary
in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruby, Karine 1978 births 2009 deaths People from Bonneville, Haute-Savoie Mountaineering deaths French female snowboarders Olympic gold medalists for France Olympic silver medalists for France Olympic snowboarders for France Snowboarders at the 1998 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2002 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2006 Winter Olympics X Games competitors Sport deaths in France Olympic medalists in snowboarding Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Université Savoie Mont Blanc alumni Sportspeople from Haute-Savoie 20th-century French sportswomen 21st-century French sportswomen