Maelle Ricker

Maëlle Danica Ricker is a Canadian snowboarder who currently resides in Squamish, British Columbia. She won the Gold Medal in the snowboard cross event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, becoming the first Canadian woman to win a gold medal at home in the Olympics.

As a young girl Ricker had two dreams: to compete competitively in snowboarding, and to compete in snowboarding at the Winter Olympics, despite the fact that Snowboarding was not an Olympic sport at the time. She first competed in the FIS Snowboard World Cup during the 1996-97 season, twice standing on the podium in her rookie season. She competed at her first Olympics in 1998 in Nagano where only parallel giant slalom and halfpipe were Olympic snowboard events. Ricker competed in the halfpipe event placing fifth. After Nagano, Ricker began competing in multiple snowboard disciplines, competing in both the halfpipe and in the newer sport of boarder cross. She won her first World Cup gold in the discipline of snowboard cross later that year in 1998. She was forced to skip the 2002 Winter Olympics because of injury. At the 2006 Winter Olympics she placed 4th in the Women’s Snowboard Cross event. She crashed hard in the race, and was hospitalized with a minor concussion. Ricker later said that she did not remember her crash, and that finishing fourth in 2006 was like “seeing the love of your life on the subway but never getting to meet them.”

Ricker won a bronze medal in the same event at Winter X Games XI. She was the overall world cup champion during the 07/08 season. She also previously competed in the halfpipe world championships, with her highest finish being 7th in 2003. She is a two time X Games gold medalist in snowboard cross winning the gold in both the 1999 Winter X Games and the Winter X-Games 10.

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