Category: Extreme Sports, Olympic Gold Medalist, Female Sports Role Model, Extreme Sports Athlete, X Games Gold Medalist, Professional Snowboarder, Best Action Sports Athlete
In brief: Kelly Clark, the 2002 Olympic Snowboarding Gold Medalist in Women's Halfpipe. This 19-year old youngster has made it to the top of her game, yet she is still pushing for improvement. Kelly Clark looks beyond limits and expands her horizons every chance she gets. She did it in Salt Lake City with a gold medal winning performance that stunned viewers.
Kelly Clark, 17, began skiing at the age of two, but switched to snowboarding in third grade when she realized skiing was not as fun.
Kelly Clark won the first gold medal for the United States at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games thereby making her the first American woman in history to win gold in snowboarding. In addition, she won all of the major snowboard competitions throughout the season, including three U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix halfpipe competitions (Mt. Bachelor, Ore., and two at Breckenridge, Colo., all in January 2002) and the Winter X-Games' halfpipe at Aspen, Colo., in January 2002. She came in first place at the U.S. Open in both halfpipe and quarterpipe at Mount Snow, Vt., in March 2002. Clark was named "Best Action Sports Athlete," male or female, at the July 2002 ESPY Awards.