Ashleigh McIvor
Ashleigh McIvor grew-up alpine ski-racing and got into Ski Cross in January 2003. She immediately qualified for the X Games-dominated the X Qualifier at Tahoe despite dislocating her shoulder in training-and went on to have an amazing season as the youngest on the Ski Cross circuit. Her natural talent and ability, in conjunction with unmatched charisma drew TV producers in and she was often the featured athlete on programs covering the events. She got used to racing with a mic on her jersey and quickly became an ambassador for the new sport. EXPN even followed McIvor for an insider's look at what goes on at the X Games as part of an hour long special, called EXPN 2Day, which boasted 145 million viewers.
After returning from an extremely successful trip to Europe in '04-2nd in her first World Cup Ski Cross, the rookie went on to win the US Freeskiing Open in Vail. These events were heavily televised by CTV's 'Roger's Sportsnet' and NBC Sports, respectively. The media exposure that McIvor received in response to her results and her friendly, outgoing personality put her in the public eye as the face of Skicross. This put her in a good position to expand her 'brand'. McIvor began shooting with the industry's most renowned photographers, namely Blake Jorgenson, Scott Markowitz, and Paul Morrison, as well as top fashion photographers like Bryce Duffy. TV shows including Pontiac World of Skiing, and Ride Guide had her travelling the world to different events and heli-skiing with other pros. She even made her runway modelling debut in New York City at an event Vail Resorts put together called "Skiing is Sexy".
Ski Cross went through a bit of a lull when it was not sure to be picked up by the IOC as an Olympic sport; the North American circuit was fading out due to a lack of funding. This was the perfect opportunity for McIvor to focus on these other avenues and have fun skiing some fresh pow!
Once Ski Cross was added to the Olympic roster, Canada formed a national team and McIvor ended-up first on their list after three selection camps, fitness testing and six long months of working hard to prove herself. She had a strong showing in the two World Cup events she competed at in 2008, despite dislocating her shoulder again halfway down the course in the semi-finals of the Les Contamines race. She managed to hold on to her lead with her shoulder out, but could not make it up to the start in time to race the finals, as it took about 20 minutes to reduce it. She got 4th by default. The Flaine World Cup was three days later, and she managed to end-up 5th, after missing all the training and pulling out of the start with only one arm.
McIvor had an amazingly successful season last year. She was in the finals in 5 of the last 6 races, and is now officially the World Champion. Her strong results at both Cypress, on the Olympic track, and in Japan at the World Championships are demonstrative of her ability to perform well under pressure, when it really matters and when all the best in the World are out in full force. She aimed to keep that going right through the Olympics in February, and she has managed to do just that.
This season has been off the charts for McIvor. She finished ranked 2nd overall, and made it to the final in 8 of the 12 races, with a World Cup win under her belt, as well as a medal at the X Games. She recently realized a dream she's been chasing her whole life when she became the first ever Olympic Champion in the sport of Skicross in Vancouver 2010.
Ashleigh McIvor grew-up alpine ski-racing and got into Ski Cross in January 2003. She immediately qualified for the X Games-dominated the X Qualifier at Tahoe despite dislocating her shoulder in training-and went on to have an amazing season as the youngest on the Ski Cross circuit. Her natural talent and ability, in conjunction with unmatched charisma drew TV producers in and she was often the featured athlete on programs covering the events. She got used to racing with a mic on her jersey and quickly became an ambassador for the new sport. EXPN even followed McIvor for an insider's look at what goes on at the X Games as part of an hour long special, called EXPN 2Day, which boasted 145 million viewers.
After returning from an extremely successful trip to Europe in '04-2nd in her first World Cup Ski Cross, the rookie went on to win the US Freeskiing Open in Vail. These events were heavily televised by CTV's 'Roger's Sportsnet' and NBC Sports, respectively. The media exposure that McIvor received in response to her results and her friendly, outgoing personality put her in the public eye as the face of Skicross. This put her in a good position to expand her 'brand'. McIvor began shooting with the industry's most renowned photographers, namely Blake Jorgenson, Scott Markowitz, and Paul Morrison, as well as top fashion photographers like Bryce Duffy. TV shows including Pontiac World of Skiing, and Ride Guide had her travelling the world to different events and heli-skiing with other pros. She even made her runway modelling debut in New York City at an event Vail Resorts put together called "Skiing is Sexy".
Ski Cross went through a bit of a lull when it was not sure to be picked up by the IOC as an Olympic sport; the North American circuit was fading out due to a lack of funding. This was the perfect opportunity for McIvor to focus on these other avenues and have fun skiing some fresh pow!
Once Ski Cross was added to the Olympic roster, Canada formed a national team and McIvor ended-up first on their list after three selection camps, fitness testing and six long months of working hard to prove herself. She had a strong showing in the two World Cup events she competed at in 2008, despite dislocating her shoulder again halfway down the course in the semi-finals of the Les Contamines race. She managed to hold on to her lead with her shoulder out, but could not make it up to the start in time to race the finals, as it took about 20 minutes to reduce it. She got 4th by default. The Flaine World Cup was three days later, and she managed to end-up 5th, after missing all the training and pulling out of the start with only one arm.
McIvor had an amazingly successful season last year. She was in the finals in 5 of the last 6 races, and is now officially the World Champion. Her strong results at both Cypress, on the Olympic track, and in Japan at the World Championships are demonstrative of her ability to perform well under pressure, when it really matters and when all the best in the World are out in full force. She aimed to keep that going right through the Olympics in February, and she has managed to do just that.
This season has been off the charts for McIvor. She finished ranked 2nd overall, and made it to the final in 8 of the 12 races, with a World Cup win under her belt, as well as a medal at the X Games. She recently realized a dream she's been chasing her whole life when she became the first ever Olympic Champion in the sport of Skicross in Vancouver 2010.
