Zoe Gillings-Brier (née Gillings, born 14 June 1985) is a Manx and British snowboarder.[1] She won seven medals at the FIS World Cup including one gold.[2] Gillings competed at the 2006, 2010, 2014, and the 2018 Winter Olympics making her the only British snowboarder to compete in 4 Olympics.

Dominique Maltais, Deborah Anthonioz, Helene Olafsen, Zoe Gillings at the 2009–10 FIS World Cup stop in Stoneham

Career

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Gillings was born in the Isle of Man and began snowboarding at the age of 10, after switching from skiing.[3] She competes in snowboard cross, and has won seven medals at the FIS Snowboard World Cup.[4] At the 2006 Winter Olympics, Gillings finished 15th in the first ever women's snowboard cross event.[5] In the 2007/08 season, her best results were 6th at the X Games in Colorado, US, 4th in the Korean (Sungwoo) FIS World Cup final, and 2nd in the Japan (Gugi-Gifu) FIS World Cup snowboardcross final.[6] She was awarded British Olympic Association Athlete of the Year (Snowsport) 2007/08.[7] In the 2008/09 season, she finished 3rd in the FIS World Cup meetings in Valmalenco, Italy and Bad Gastein, Austria, and won the German National Championships.[6][8] She was awarded the British Olympic Association Athlete of the Year (Snow sport) for the second successive year.[citation needed] At the 2010 Winter Olympics, Gillings finished 8th in the women's event.[9] In 2010/11, she finished 3rd in a World Cup meeting in Arosa, Switzerland,[6] and in 2011/12, she finished 3rd in the boarder-cross World Cup event in Valmalenco.[10] At the 2014 Winter Olympics, Gillings finished 9th in the women's event; she missed out on the final on a photo finish.[11][12] After the Games, Gillings lost her Olympic funding.[12] Gillings-Brier has been selected for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, making her the first British snowboarder to compete at four Winter Olympics.[4]

Personal life

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Gillings was homeschooled.[3] Gillings married her coach Dan Brier in August 2014, after which she changed her surname to Gillings-Brier.[13] In August 2016, the couple had their first child.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "Zoe Gillings". TeamGB.com. British Olympic Association. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  2. ^ "GILLINGS-BRIER Zoe – Athlete Information". www.fis-ski.com.
  3. ^ a b Bell, Graham (26 November 2013). "Zoe Gillings: The Olympic interview". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Pyeongchang 2018: Manx snowboarder to make GB history". BBC Sport. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Turin 2006 Winter Olympics – Snowboarding Results". Yahoo! Sports. Archived from the original on 29 May 2006.
  6. ^ a b c "Zoe Gillings Profile – Competition History". espn.go.com. Archived from the original on 16 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  7. ^ "Zoe to begin Europe leg of the boarder-X World Cup". World Snowboard Guide. 18 December 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  8. ^ "Gillings Zoe – Biographie". Fédération Internationale de Ski. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  9. ^ a b Hope, Nick (18 February 2016). "Zoe Gillings-Brier inspired by Ennis-Hill for 2018 Winter Olympics". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  10. ^ "Zoe Gillings". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  11. ^ Hope, Nick (16 February 2014). "Sochi 2014: Samkova dominates for snowboard cross gold". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  12. ^ a b "ZOE GILLINGS LOSES ALL UK SPORT OLYMPIC FUNDING". White Lines. 5 August 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  13. ^ "Zoe Gillings said YES!". International Ski Federation. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
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