Athlete profile: Ross Rebagliati

Posted: Tue February 3, 1998 at 5:00 PM ET

Athlete notes

After finishing in the top three of the overall World Cup rankings three of the last four years, Rebagliati feels that it's time for him to reach the top..."I know that this is going to be the year. I've been close enough for a long time"...Rebagliati started snowboarding in 1987, at the age of 15..."I was a ski racer before I began to snowboard," Rebagliati says. "But I was hooked on it even before I ever even got out there. I was even practicing in my room and stuff like that. Then, when I got out there, it was better than I thought it was going to be and I had thought it was going to be the best"...he entered amateur competitions in both alpine and freestyle snowboarding that same year and experienced success right away..."I placed in the top three of every competition I entered right away," Rebagliati recalls. "And I was surprised by it"...during high school, which he completed in 1990, his principal gave him permission to miss classes on Mondays and Fridays in order to facilitate travel to competitions...in 1991, freed from the demands of education, Rebagliati won the giant slalom and placed second in the half-pipe at the Canadian National Amateur Championships...he turned pro in time for the 1991-92 season but lost his sponsorship from Burton snowboards...Rebagliati coached at a freestyle snowboard camp run by Burton client and accomplished snowboarder Craig Kelly between 1987 and 1992...Rebagliati jumped at their offer to take care of his snowboarding needs, which they did during his five-year amateur career...says Rebagliati: "When I turned pro, Burton decided to drop me. They didn't think I could be competitive enough on the pro circuit"...with no sponsor his first year, Rebagliati turned to a reliable source of cash -- his geologist father..."That first year, I had to buy six snowboards, the bindings, the other stuff. I needed about $25,000 for equipment and my three months in Europe competing," notes Rebagliati. "I couldn't have done it without my father. There are probably 1,000 guys out there now, like I was then. But they don't have a dad with lots of cash"...his parents are divorced; his father lives in Vancouver while his mother is in Palm Springs, CA...in his first year, Ross competed in both the giant slalom and the half-pipe events, but soon opted to concentrate on the alpine discipline alone..."I was not as competitive as I wanted to be overall that first year," says Rebagliati. "But, I'm a racer at heart in whatever I do and I knew that I could win a World Cup giant slalom race. In the half-pipe, I felt that I was getting ripped off by the judging and I didn't want to deal with it anymore. It (inconsistent judging) happens all the time"...Rebagliati names three accomplishments as "my best moments": (1) his first pro victory, which came in his second season (‘91-'92), at Mt. Baker..."I defeated Craig Kelly there," recalls Rebagliati. "That was just huge for me"...(2) winning the 1994 European Championships, making Rebagliati the only non-European ever to do so...and (3) finishing ranked in the top three of the overall World Cup standings in ‘93-'94 (2nd), ‘94-'95 (3rd), and ‘96-'97 (3rd)...the lone exception came in, of course, ‘95-'96, when Rebagliati tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee prior to the season during a soccer game...he resumed training three months later and managed to race on the World Cup circuit..."That year, my goal was to place in the top three just once, so I could maintain my confidence," says Rebagliati. "And I did it"...Rebagliati, at least in advance of the season, is not getting too hyped up about competing in his first Olympics..."In any particular season, there are title events that you can win," notes Rebagliati. "I'm not going to get too caught up in the ‘Olympics'"...he does look forward to competing at Shiga Kogen because, "it's one of the best GS courses around"...Ross, whose hobbies include surfing and golf, has a chihuahua named Patches...he is also rather philosophical -- says Rebagliati: "I believe that everything that happens to you happens for a good reason, whether it seems like it or not at the time. Like my knee injury for example. I felt like, ‘You know, there's a reason this happened'"...he has a 25-year-old sister, Christy, who has competed in World Cup snowboard races herself, and is currently studying communications at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver...if he wins a medal, he wants a "shout-out" to his grandmother who lives in Vancouver -- "She's really cool, she loves snowboarding, and she's 85"...