History of Snowboarding at the Olympics

The recipient of a bachelor’s degree in management from Purdue University, Patrick James Jalk has worked in leadership roles at Wings ETC and Sears Holding Corporation. He has served as area manager at MEI Fitness since 2018. A lifelong skier, Patrick James Jalk recently began snowboarding in his free time.

The origins of snowboarding in the US extend back to the 1960s, while the sport has been a popular recreational activity nationwide since the 1980s, when skateboarders and surfers took to snowboarding during the winter months. The International Snowboarding Federation was launched in 1990, and the sport was first added to the Olympic agenda for the 1998 Nagano Games.

Giant slalom and half pipe were the two snowboard disciplines contested in 1998. Gian Simmen (SUI) and Nicola Thost (GER) were the first two gold medal winners in the men and women’s half pipe. An additional event, snowboard cross, debuted at the 2006 Turin Games. The event features four riders simultaneously racing through a course with sharp turns, bumps, and jumps. The US leads all countries with 31 snowboard medals, while Switzerland, France, Canada, and Russia round out the top five.