A three-time Olympic medalist – gold in 2002 and bronze in both 2010 and now 2014 – Kelly Clark is a trailblazer and dominant force in the sport. She continually pushes the innovation and amplitude of her riding to new heights, making history and setting new records in her wake.  

Kelly is still one of a handful of women to successfully land a frontside 1080, and with over 60 career wins to her name Clark continues to be the most dominate female in snowboarding history. In 2014 Kelly added her seventh Burton US Open win, her fifth Sprint U.S. Grand Prix tour title and her fourth World Snowboarding Tour title to her collection of wins.

Kelly easily qualified for her fourth-straight Olympic team, clinching her spot on the 2014 Olympic team after a second place at the Dew Tour and a win at the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix at Copper. She went on to take two wins and a second place at the final three Sprint U.S. Grand Prix events at Mammoth Mountain. The Olympic veteran led the women’s competition in Sochi, and after a hard fall in the final, she landed a solid run and walked away with another Olympic bronze medal.

KELLY SAYS
For me, this year’s success was knowing that I made the most of my opportunities. I was pleased how the Olympic qualifiers went, and doing well at the X Games, Olympics and US Open – podiuming at those three events – was a huge achievement. It’s one thing to do well at all those events, but it’s another to enjoy the process and I really did. It doesn’t matter how well you do if you’re not having fun you might be blowing it.

Sochi was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done in terms of the contest conditions and a real pressure cooker situation, but it was one of my greatest victories. People want to see gold, but for me, getting bronze was a huge achievement to overcome those challenges.

FIRST TRACKS
Who would have known that a plastic Mobile Monster snowboard from K-Mart would have such an impact on the world of snowboarding? Well, that's the equipment on which Clark got her start, linking turns on snow banks in Vermont. A few years later, she was enrolled in Mount Snow Academy, which launched the career of one of the world's best snowboarders.

OFF THE SNOW
When she's not riding or when she’s at home, Clark tries to be the same as when she's on the snow. "I want a life of consistency," she says. "I’m kind of more of a ‘what you see is what you get’ type of person." She also has just as much fun off the snow, and that can mean road biking, surfing, hanging out with friends, watching movies or reading. Clark also spends a lot of time fundraising for the Kelly Clark Foundation, which gives opportunities to youth and helps them become successful through snowboarding. In the past three years since the organization’s inception, the Kelly Clark Foundation has awarded over $50,000 in grants and scholarships.