Lindsey Jacobellis
Interview with Lindsey Jacobellis
By Jessica Powers
National Sports Academy ‘08
March 2, 2008
2006 Olympic Silver Medalist in Snowboard cross (SBX)
2005 World and US National SBX Champion
2004 World Champion in SBX, going the whole season undefeated
Four-time SBX Winter X Games Gold Medalist (2003, 2004, 2005 & 2008)
Two-time US Snowboard Grand Prix SBX Champion (2002, 2004)
First American to win SBX and Half-pipe at the same World Cup (2004)
Jessica Powers: Hi, my name is Jessica Powers, I am a student at National Sports Academy and we are conducting a series of interviews with athletes involved in their journey to the Olympics in 2010. The interviews will be part of an exhibition that we hope will be displayed in Vancouver during the games. Do you mind if we ask you some questions?
Lindsey Jacobellis: Sure
JP: Thanks! My first question is how did you get into Boardercross?
LJ: I started racing Boardercross when I was eleven years old. It was a Friday night that I first raced and it happened under the lights at Stratton Mountain, Vermont. We would get out of school early and my mom would drive us up to Vermont so we could do that race. There was no division for girls, just twelve and under, so I would race against the boys. I think that really gave me a leg up on things, because they were so much tougher and wouldn’t let the girls beat them!
JP: What were your hobbies before you started to race?
LJ: I grew up playing a lot of team sports. When I was really young I was into T Ball, then I went into Little League, and then softball. In High-school, I played lacrosse and in middle school, I played field hockey. I was always into some sort of school activity and in the winter, when I was younger, I would ski. My whole family were ski bums. We’d go up every weekend and I slowly made the transition into snowboarding.
JP: How old were you when you started snowboarding?
LJ: I was ten.
JP: Who have been some of your mentors?
LJ: Well, when I was younger, I remember looking up to Picabo Street. I really liked how she represented the U.S. and how much of an idol she was for the female athlete. My dad has always been a great athlete. He definitely gave me my athletic side… my brother and I really lucked out in that department.
JP: How do you deal with failure?
LJ: Well, I have never truly failed in my mind. I have had disappointing finishes, but I think failure is really a harsh word, especially for an athlete, because they work so hard and they can’t possibly fail. I think that they can just hope for better results. I think that would be the better way to describe it.
JP: Nicely put. Thanks! Is there anything about the sport that you don’t like?
LJ: Sometimes when we have to do these events on TV and have to wait around a lot. Sometimes there are camera failures, or they have to change the tape., or a cable has to be replaced and you are just waiting in the gate… its cold out and you get really, really, all tensed up. You are getting that nervous feeling and you are not getting any release because you are not getting to pull out of the gate. So it just keeps bottling up more and more and more. I think that’s the only thing I dislike about the sports.
JP: Whets your favorite aspect about the sport?
LJ: I like that anything can happen in Boardercross. Sometimes you can be in the back and the two people in front get tangled and you can catch a break. Also, its different every time. The courses are always changing. The elements are constantly getting bigger, more tech, and it adds that fun side to the sport, because you are always trying to learn how to take these elements and better your own riding skills.
JP: What would you like to do when you are done with racing?
LJ: After snowboarding, I would like to become a massage therapist. I wanted to become a physical therapist, but I don’t know when I am going to be done with snowboarding and there is a lot of schooling required to become a physical therapist, so I might kick it down a notch. I might want to try to have some kind of rehabilitation center for animals that have been treated poorly or abandoned because I love animals and I especially love dogs. I see Animal Planet all the time and people trying to save animals but they really don’t know how to rehabilitate them. They always have problems with animals that have been abandoned because they how to socialize with people or other animals. So that always interests me…
JP: What are you most proud of in your life?
LJ: That I have been recognized as being the most dominant female snowboard cross racer ever. I think I am pretty proud of having that title!