Faye Gulini

Faye Gulini
Personal information
Nickname(s) GU
Born March 24, 1992
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Alma mater Westminster College
Height 163 cm (5 ft 4 in)
Weight 57 kg (126 lb)
Sport
Country United States
Sport Snowboarding
Coached by Mike Jankowski

Faye Gulini (born March 24, 1992) is a professional American snowboarder born in Salt Lake City, Utah. She competes for the US Snowboarding Team in the disciplines of snowboard cross, slopestyle and halfpipe.

Early life

Gulini started riding at a ski resort at Snowbird, in her home state when she was nine years old. Her siblings Erin, Zachary and Nate were the ones that originally got her into snowboarding.[1] Her hobbies include rock climbing, skateboarding and camping.[2] She likes soccer, wakeboarding[1] and swimming in lakes and in the ocean.[3]

Career

At the age of 10, Gulini joined the Snowbird Snowboard Team.[4] Her first snowboard cross event was at age 10 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.[3] At age 14, she decided to pursue her dream of becoming a professional snowboarder. Gulini moved from her house and her family in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Vail, Colorado where she attended the Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy.[4]

Gulini debuted on FIS races on December 15, 2006 in the halfpipe discipline at age 14. The race was located in Breckenridge, Colorado. After many good performances, Gulini won her first FIS event on January 27, 2008 in the slopestyle discipline. The race was held in Park City, Utah.[5]

2008 - 2010

Her first World Cup appearance was in Lake Placid, New York, where she competed in the snowboard cross discipline. The event was held on March 1, 2008 and she finished in the 30th position. Seven months later she ended in the 9th position in the World Cup held in Saas-Fee, Switzerland.[5] With several great performances in the years 2009 and 2010, Gulini landed the results needed for a spot in the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Vancouver, Canada.[3]

2010 Winter Olympics

In her first experience in a Winter Olympic, Gulini made it through the qualification round ending in 12th place with a time of 1:30.75 that was scored on her first run. Later on she was eliminated in the quarterfinals and ended in the 12th place overall.

2011

After the Olympics, Gulini ended in 2nd place in the FIS Junior World Championship held in Cardrona, New Zealand in the snowboard cross discipline. She started 2011 on her right foot and riding well enough to take a spot in the FIS Snowboard World Championships in both snowboard cross and slopestyle. Gulini also finished 9th in 2011 Winter X Games.[3] Unfortunately, in March of that year, Gulini tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus in her right knee which sidelined her for nine months.[6]

2012 - 2013

After recovering from her knee injury, Gulini returned in 2012 scoring a 2nd place at the Canyons Resort Sprint U.S. Grand Prix.[3] On March 25, 2012, she ended in 4th place in the FIS Junior World Championship held in Sierra Nevada, Spain. With several great performances in over six World Cups in 2013, she was able to qualify for the World Cup held in the olympic venue in Sochi, Russia where she finished in the 8th position. Three weeks later, Gulini won the 2013 Canyons Resort Sprint U.S. Grand Prix in snowboard cross with a time of 1:12.67. In the same year she was moved from the US Snowboarding Team B to the US Snowboarding Team A.[3]

2014 Winter Olympics

With her great performances, Gulini secured a place in the 2014 Winter Olympics held in Sochi, Russia. She competed in the snowboard cross discipline on February 16, 2014. Her seeding time was 1:23.96. In the elimination round, Gulini made it through the quarterfinals by ending 3rd in her race. Later on she ended 3rd in the semifinals, which gave her the chance to participate in an olympic big final for the first time ever. Gulini ended in the 4th place overall making it her best appearance in a Winter Olympic.[6]

2014

Gulini's first 2014 event was the World Cup held in Andorra. A week after the 2014 Winter Olympics, she travelled to Ontario, Canada to help coach the Oakley Progression Sessions. The event was held in the Blue Mountain Ski Resort on the first weekend of March. On April 1, 2014, Gulini travelled to Washington to assist the U.S. Olympic Committee's Best of U.S. Awards Show held on the next day at the Warner Theatre.[7] Later that week she met President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama at The White House.

Career highlights

FIS Junior World Championships [6]

Year Location Discipline Place
2010 New Zealand Cardrona, New Zealand Snowboard Cross 2nd
2010 New Zealand Cardrona, New Zealand Slopestyle 10th
2010 New Zealand Cardrona, New Zealand Halfpipe 18th
2012 Spain Sierra Nevada, Spain Snowboard Cross 4th

Winter Olympics [6]

Year Location Discipline Place
2010 Canada Vancouver, Canada Snowboard Cross 12th
2014 Russia Sochi, Russia Snowboard Cross 4th

U.S. Grand Prix [5]

Year Location Discipline Place
2012 United States Canyons Resort, USA Snowboard Cross 2nd
2013 United States Canyons Resort, USA Snowboard Cross 1st

Winter X Games [8]

Season Location Discipline Place
2009 United States Aspen, USA Snowboard Cross 10th
2009 United States Aspen, USA Halfpipe 10th
2010 United States Aspen, USA Snowboard Cross 7th
2011 United States Aspen, USA Snowboard Cross 9th
2012 United States Aspen, USA Snowboard Cross 15th
2014 United States Aspen, USA Snowboard Cross 6th

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Faye Gulini U.S. Ski and Snowboard
  2. ↑ Faye Gulini: US Snowboarding
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Faye Gulini | U.S. Snowboarding
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Oakley - The Official Site
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Snowboard - Cross - Athlete: Faye GULINI
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Faye GULINI | Snowboard | United States - Sochi 2014 Olympics
  7. ↑ http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2014/04/02/sochi-olympic-stars-come-out-in-the-nations-capital/7233007/
  8. ↑ Faye Gulini - X Games

External links