Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nationality | American | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | [1] Bennington, Vermont, U.S. [1] | February 10, 1979 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Home town | Londonderry, Vermont, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) [2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 179 lb (81 kg) [2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Snowboarding | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Halfpipe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Ross Powers (born February 10, 1979) is an American world champion halfpipe snowboarder and Olympic gold medalist. Hailing from South Londonderry, Vermont, he is currently the director of the snowboarding program at the Stratton Mountain School in Stratton, Vermont.
Though he originally rode at Stratton Mountain, Vermont, [3] his home mountain is now Okemo, Vermont. [4] Powers helps with the design of the Superpipe and also helped design the RossCross Family Terrain Park. Powers also runs a snowboard camp through Okemo. [5] He led the U.S. sweep in the 2002 Winter Olympics men's halfpipe competition, one day after his 23rd birthday. [6] [7] This is the first time the Americans have swept a Winter Olympic event since the men's figure skaters in 1956. [7] Powers claimed the gold medal with a score of 46.1. [8]
During his final run, Powers dropped in and aired out with an 18-foot method grab (a world record at that time[ citation needed ]), and followed up with two McTwists, a cab 720 indy grab, a frontside 720 indy grab and a switch frontside air. [7]
He regularly competes in such events as the US and European Opens of Snowboarding, the Vans Triple Crown (now known simply as the Vans Cup), and the X-Games. During the 2004/2005 season, Ross won the Mt. Bachelor Grand Prix event and went on to be the overall champion for the series.[ citation needed ] [9]
In 2007 Powers shifted gears and returned to racing in snowboard cross. He had his first world cup podium in that discipline in February 2009 at Sunday River, Maine, and again in December 2009 at Telluride, Colorado.
In 2010 Powers narrowly missed earning a spot on the US Olympic Team for snowboard cross. [10] He finished the season with his SBX World Cup rank at 11th. [11]
In April 2010 Powers was named director of the snowboarding program at The Stratton Mountain School (SMS), in Vermont. [12] Powers is a 1997 graduate of SMS. His current[ when? ] snowboard sponsor is RAMP Sports.
Powers resides in Stratton, Vermont, with his wife Marisa and daughters, Victoria and Meredith. [13]
Powers is a playable character in the video game Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder . [14] and the video game Cool Boarders 4.
In 2001 Powers founded the non-profit Ross Powers Foundation, a philanthropic organization that is dedicated to providing financial aid to promising athletes from all economic backgrounds. In 2010, the Foundation provided assistance to a number of up-and-coming snowboarders. [15]
In 2010 The Ross Powers Foundation teamed up with Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps and formed the Level Field Fund, [6] a non-profit organization with the mission statement: "The Level Field Fund strives to bridge gaps in funding for uniquely talented athletes, following the belief that opportunities to pursue excellence in sport should not be limited by an athlete's financial situation." [16]
Shaun Roger White is an American former professional snowboarder and skateboarder. He is a five-time Olympian and a three-time Olympic gold medalist in half-pipe snowboarding. He holds the world record for the most X Games gold medals and most Olympic gold medals by a snowboarder. He has also won 10 ESPY Awards throughout his career in various categories.
Gretchen ElisabethBleiler is an American former professional halfpipe snowboarder. She won a silver medal at the 2006 Olympics.
Torah Jane Bright is an Australian former professional snowboarder. She is Australia's most successful Winter Olympian, former Olympic gold and silver medalist, two time X Games gold medalist, three time US Open winner, two time Global Open Champion, three time World Superpipe Champion, former TTR World Champion and recipient of the Best Female Action Sports Athlete at the ESPY awards. In 2014 Bright became the first Olympic athlete to qualify for all three snowboarding disciplines; halfpipe, slopestyle and boarder-cross.
Kelly Clark is an American snowboarder who won halfpipe gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Clark was born in Newport, Rhode Island. She started snowboarding when she was 7 years old, began competing in 1999, and became a member of the US Snowboard team in 2000. On January 25, 2019, at the Winter X Games in Aspen, she announced her retirement from the sport.
Snowboarding is a sport at the Winter Olympic Games. It was first included in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Snowboarding was one of five new sports or disciplines added to the Winter Olympic program between 1992 and 2002, and was the only one not to have been a previous medal or demonstration event. In 1998, four events, two for men and two for women, were held in two specialities: the giant slalom, a downhill event similar to giant slalom skiing; and the half-pipe, in which competitors perform tricks while going from one side of a semi-circular ditch to the other. Canadian Ross Rebagliati won the men's giant slalom and became the first athlete to win a gold medal in snowboarding. Rebagliati was briefly stripped of his medal by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after testing positive for marijuana. However, the IOC's decision was reverted following an appeal from the Canadian Olympic Association. For the 2002 Winter Olympics, giant slalom was expanded to add head-to-head racing and was renamed parallel giant slalom. In 2006, a third event, the snowboard cross, was held for the first time. In this event, competitors race against each other down a course with jumps, beams and other obstacles. On July 11, 2011, the International Olympic Committee's Executive Board approved the addition of Ski and Snowboard Slopestyle to the Winter Olympics roster of events, effective in 2014. The decision was announced via press conference from the IOC's meeting in Durban, South Africa. A fifth event, parallel slalom, was added only for 2014. Big air was added for 2018.
Hannah Teter is an American snowboarder. She is an Olympic champion, having won the gold medal in the halfpipe at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy and silver at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. She has also won bronze at the 2005 FIS World Championships at Whistler, British Columbia, and has a total of six World Cup victories in her career. In January 2010, Teter was named to the US Team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. She won the silver medal in women's halfpipe at the Vancouver Games. Teter came in fourth at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Lindsey Jacobellis is an American snowboarder from Roxbury, Connecticut. The most decorated female snowboard cross athlete of all time, she dominated the sport for almost two decades as a five-time World Champion and ten-time X Games champion. In her Olympic debut at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Jacobellis won the silver medal in snowboard cross but was unable to medal at the next three Olympics until winning gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Jacobellis also won gold in mixed team snowboard cross at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Mason Singer Aguirre is an American snowboarder. He competes in halfpipe, slopestyle and superpipe, but consistently places higher in halfpipe and superpipe competitions. He competed in the men's halfpipe event at the 2006 Winter Olympics.
Louis Philip "Louie" Vito III is an Italian-American professional snowboarder. He is an Olympian, Winter X Games, and U.S. Grand Prix Champion.
Stratton Mountain is a mountain located in Windham County, Vermont, in the Green Mountain National Forest. The mountain is the highest point of Windham County, and of the southern Green Mountains generally. A fire tower located on the summit is generally open for climbing by the public. There is also a small caretaker cabin at the summit that is inhabited in season by a caretaker from the Green Mountain Club. The northern end of the mountain is occupied by Stratton Mountain Resort.
Danny Davis is a professional snowboarder. He was voted 2006 Rookie of the Year in the Transworld Snowboarding Riders Poll Awards, 2006 Rookie of the Year for Snowboarder Magazine, and 2008 Snowboarder Magazine Top 10 Riders of the Year.
Shannon Dunn-Downing is an American snowboarder and Olympic medalist. She received a bronze medal in the halfpipe event at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, becoming the first American woman to win a medal in snowboarding. She finished 5th at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. She won a gold medal at the first Winter X Games in California 1997, and again in 2001.
Scott James is an Australian snowboarder and four-time Olympian. He was the flag bearer for Australia at the 2018 Winter Olympics, where he won a bronze medal in the halfpipe.
The Stratton Mountain School is a college preparatory high school located at Stratton Mountain in Stratton, Vermont. The school was founded in 1972 by Warren Hellman and Donald Tarinelli. The current headmaster is Carson Thurber.
Arielle Townsend Gold is an American Olympic medalist snowboarder.
Chloe Kim is an American snowboarder and two-time Olympic gold medalist. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, she became the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboarding gold medal when she won gold in the women's snowboard halfpipe at 17 years old.
Taylor Gold is an American Olympian snowboarder. He competes in the halfpipe.
Kaitlyn Brooke Farrington is an American former professional snowboarder and amateur freestyle snowmobiler who grew up on a cattle ranch near Bellevue, Idaho, and now lives in Whitefish, Montana. She won the gold medal in the women's half-pipe competition at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Prior to her Olympic debut, she competed in the 2010 European Winter X Games and won the gold medal. On December 8, 2022, Farrington was announced as a backup crew member of the dearMoon project, a lunar spaceflight mission.
Caroline Claire is an American slopestyle skier. She was a member of the United States national team for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.
The men's halfpipe competition in snowboarding at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics was held on 9 February (qualification) and 11 February (final), at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou. Ayumu Hirano of Japan, the 2014 and 2018 silver medalist, won the gold, his third Olympic medal. Scotty James of Australia improved from the 2018 bronze to the 2022 silver. Jan Scherrer of Switzerland won the bronze, his first Olympic medal.