ChickSpeak

Editor’s note: ChickSpeak will cover the Winter 2010 Olympics through highlighting inspiring and incredible women who are going for gold. Please check back every Monday for new profiles, compiled and written by Maxine Frendel.

Lindsey “Lucky” Jacobellis

Pro Snowboarder

Specialty: Ladies’ Snowboard Cross (An event in which four riders compete in a course of jumps, turns and ramps, racing against each other. The fastest two from each heat move on to the next round. It was first introduced in 2006 at the Torino Winter Games.)

Birthday: August 19, 1985

Hometown: Danbury, Connecticut

Under a head of wild blonde curls, Lindsey Jacobellis possesses what other athletes envy: unwavering drive and determination. From the beginning, she has shown a complete and utter passion for snowboarding. Her older brother, Ben Jacobellis, introduced her to the sport in 1996. Nine years later, in an interview, Lindsey said, “My earliest [snowboarding] memory was when I first learned to turn and my brother was there cheering me on. He rented a board and picked it up right away. He was the one who got the whole family to take [it] up.”

Born in Connecticut, Jacobellis started out boarding on Stratton Mountain in Vermont. She attended the Stratton Mountain School program, which allows students to train for ski or snowboard competition every day while attending classes. Eventually, she made her way up into the Grand Prix series. Early on in her career, she competed in both Snowboard Cross and Halfpipe, but in 2008 decided to concentrate only on Snowboard Cross to lessen the risk of injury and maximize her potential.

Lindsey has an almost unprecedented record on the World Cup circuit, with twelve first place and three second place finishes throughout her career. Earlier this season, after kicking off the year with wins in Argentina and Bad Gatstein, Jacobellis raved, “To have that title of consistency overall feels so awesome. It’s not just a one hit wonder. You feel like you’ve accomplished things and you’ve really started to make your mark on the history of the sport.”

This astounding athlete first competed in the prestigious Winter X Games at the young age of 15.  Less than a week ago, during her eleventh X-Games appearance, she pulled off an almost unspeakable “three-peat”, proving that three times is indeed the charm by winning the gold medal in the Ladies’ Snowboard Cross event for the third year in a row. Check out the awe-inspiring video of her win in this article.

Lindsey’s ordeal at the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, Italy has been described by critics as a tragedy. In the finals, she had a seemingly unbeatable lead; if she won the race, she would have won the gold medal. However, coming over the last jump, she decided to attempt a trick in which the bottom of the snowboard is grabbed. Unfortunately, she botched the landing and fell only yards away from the finish line, sending a wave of shock through the crowd. Tanja Freiden quickly pulled ahead, cinching the gold for Switzerland. After the run, Jacobellis admitted the grab was unnecessary, but claimed she was trying to stabilize herself in the air. In the end, she shrugged it off with, “Oh well. It happens.”

This year, as Jacobellis heads up to Vancouver, Americans all around the country are excited to see if she avenges 2006’s mistake by taking home the gold. Of course, this is no easy feat, but Jacobellis has never been known to waver in the face of adversity. Described by Sports Illustrated magazine as a “focused, ruthless competitor”, Jacobellis has appeared in Glamour, LIFE, ESPN: The Magazine, a Visa commercial and on the Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes Olympic Edition box. Because of her immense talent, she is sponsored by an impressive list of companies, including Visa, Bern, Under Armour, Paul Mitchell, Airwalk, and Bollé.

Outside of snowboarding, Lindsey has been praised for her incredible community outreach. As an ASPCA ambassador who “grew up with a dog all the time“, she created an organization called Hats 4 Hounds. This winter, she set a goal to knit one hundred and one winter hats (for the 101 Dalmatians) and sell them for fifty dollars each. All of the proceeds go to the ASPCA, a charity for animals in need. Jacobellis’ goal is within reach: with ninety nine hats already knitted, she only has two to go. She says, “I just felt very dog oriented. I always connect with a dog - it’s just a nice calming thing.”

Additionally, last year, this pro snowboarder donated eighteen inches of hair to Locks of Love, an organization which makes wigs for children who have lost their own hair due to diseases such as leukemia. (That’s almost enough hair to make two wigs!)

On the US Snowboard team website, Jacobellis describes herself as a “fashion aficionado, shoe collector, movie junkie, ATV rider and motocross fan.” According to her teammates, Lindsey travels with “at least a dozen different DVDs in her bag in order to be certain she has something everyone hasn’t seen yet. She also most likely has more books in her possession than anyone else on the plane.”

A girl who’s as wildly determined and still down to earth as Lindsey Jacobellis is simply impossible to not cheer for. So, here’s a message from all of ChickSpeak: Good luck, Lindsey! We wish her the best on her 2010 Olympic journey and beyond.

More about Lindsey Jacobellis and Snowboard Cross:

LindseyJacobellis.com

The official site for Lindsey Jacobellis with news and updates, a performance calendar, career highlights and a picture and video gallery.

US Snowboarding Profile

Profile from the U.S. Snowboard Team with statistics, career highlights, personal info and competition results.

NBC Olympics

Profile from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics NBC website.

Snowboarding in Vancouver 2010

Information on snowboarding in general from the Vancouver 2010 website.

Twitter

Lindsey’s twitter page with tweets written on the go as she competes all over the world.

Visa

As a Team Visa athlete, Lindsey was featured in a Visa commercial. Check out some behind the scenes footage here.

Facebook

Because what famous athlete doesn’t have a fan page?

Maxine Frendel is a New Jersey-based freelance writer and student. (Yes, she’s from the infamous Garden State, but no, she doesn’t pronounce mall “mawl” and dog “dawg”. Well, not all the time.) This week, she reunited with her once-lost yellow slip-on Converse, which she miraculously found in an old backpack, simply adores fresh pasta, and is only slightly confused by the new Facebook layout.