MAIN Sports Sports Stars Lindsey Jacobellis

The blonde-haired beauty with the girl-next-door personality and killer instinct on the slopes was born on August 19, 1985 in Stratton, Vermont.

Jacobellis began her snowboarding career under the tutelage of big brother, Ben Jacobellis, himself a champion snowboarder.

Lindsey later went on to train at the Stratton Mountain Snowboarding School before entering the X Games in boardercross at age 15.

Today, she is a standout not only for her looks and personality. She's one of the few snowboarders to compete in boardercross, slopestyle and half pipe snowboarding events, and in Winter X Games "Lucky Lindsey" has almost consistently takes home the gold in snowboardcross.

On the slopes in Torino at the Winter Olympics, Jacobellis most famously flubbed a shot at gold when she fell at the finish line, giving the win to Switzerland’s Tanja Frieden who became the first Olympic champion in women’s snowboardcross. Meanwhile, Jacobellis' USA teammate, Seth Wescott took the very first Olympic gold medal in men's snowboardcross.

Still considered one of the world's top snowboarders, Jacobellis made her second Olympic appearance in Vancouver in 2010.

However, her encore performance (and shot at redemption following her major flub in Torino) quickly met with disappointment following her disqualification in the semifinals.

More about Lindsey Jacobellis around the Web:

Lindsey Jacobellis.com - The official site for Lindsey Jacobellis news & updates, performance calendar, vital stats, career highlights, video & picture gallery.

Team USA - Lindsey Jacobellis - Fact sheet & photo from the U.S. Olympic Committee with interesting facts, vital stats, career highlights, pictures, related stories & interviews.

Lindsey Jacobellis - Quick pic and profile from the U.S. Snowboard Team including vital stats, career highlights, personal info, competition results.

also see in Sports Idols -> Seth Wescott | Bode Miller | Shaun White

also see -> Snowboarding | Olympics | Olympic Snowboard