Jennifer Heil facts for kids
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Heil with her 2010 Winter Olympics silver medal
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| Disciplines | Freestyle skiing, Moguls | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | April 11, 1983 Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada |
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| Height | 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup debut | May 12, 1999 (age 16) |
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| Retired | 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 3 (2002–2010) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 2 (1 gold) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 5 (2001, 2005-2011) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 6 (4 gold) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seasons | 9 (2001–2002, 2004–2007, 2009–2011) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins | 25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Podiums | 58 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall titles | 1 (2007) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline titles | 6 - 5x Moguls (2004-2007, 2010), 1x Dual Moguls (2007) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Jennifer Heil (born April 11, 1983) is a Canadian freestyle skier from Spruce Grove, Alberta. Jennifer started skiing when she was just two years old. She became famous for her amazing skills on the slopes.
Jennifer won Canada's first gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. She also earned a silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. This was Canada's first medal at those games too. Jennifer once held a Guinness World Record for winning the most gold medals at a World Championship. She has four World Championship titles and two silver medals from these events.
Over her career, Jennifer Heil became the first mogul skier to achieve the "Grand Slam." This means she won all the major titles in her sport. She also won a record-tying five overall FIS World Cup Crystal Globe titles. Jennifer is now a member of the Canadian Order of Sport, the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, and the Pantheon des Sports du Québec. She is known as the most successful female skier in Canadian history.
Heil is also recognized for her leadership outside of skiing. She has helped develop sports programs and public safety policies. At viaSport British Columbia, she helped create the BC Safe Sport Framework. This led to new rules and an independent group to keep sports safe. Jennifer also co-founded B2ten, an organization that helps athletes succeed. She has received many awards for her leadership, including the Meritorious Service Decorations from the Governor General of Canada.
Jennifer is involved with several charities. One important one is the "Because I am a Girl" program by Plan International. During the 2010 Winter Olympics, Jennifer gave a large donation to this program. She also helped start a fundraising goal of one million dollars. This effort helped educate over 630,000 girls and women.
Contents
Jennifer's Skiing Journey
Starting Out Strong
Jennifer Heil competed in her first Olympics at the 2002 Winter Olympics. She was only 18 years old. She finished fourth in the moguls event, just barely missing a bronze medal. After taking a season off due to an injury, she came back even stronger.
She won the World Cup in 2003–04, 2004–05, and 2005–06. Then, in 2006, Jennifer won Canada's first gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. This was a huge win for Canada on the first full day of the games. After the Olympics, Jennifer finished her season by winning her fourth straight World Cup title.
Supporting Athletes with B2ten
Jennifer Heil trained very hard for the Olympic Games. She worked with top experts, including a sports psychologist, a strength trainer, and an athletic therapist. After winning in 2006, Jennifer wanted to help other Canadian athletes get the same support she had.
She worked with JD Miller and her coach, Dominick Gauthier, to create B2ten. This organization has raised millions of dollars. It has supported hundreds of athletes in both summer and winter Olympic Games.
The 2010 Vancouver Olympics
Before the 2010 Olympics, Jennifer Heil won her last four World Cup events. She chose not to compete in the very last event before the games. This gave other Canadian skiers a chance to qualify.
The women's moguls qualifications started in tough weather. There was rain, sleet, and slush on the course. Jennifer finished the qualification in second place. This meant she would ski second-to-last in the final round.
In the final, Jennifer had a great and fast run. She was in first place with only one skier left to go. Jennifer watched as Hannah Kearney from the US took her final run. Kearney finished first, winning the gold medal and becoming the new Olympic champion.
Jennifer was very upset at first. There was a lot of pressure on her to win the gold medal. Many people said she and the Canadian men's hockey team faced the most pressure at the games. But the hockey team had the benefit of being a team. Jennifer was the reigning Olympic champion and a favorite to win Canada's first gold medal at a home Olympics. She later said, "there is no doubt that the pressure was beyond intense."
Jennifer's B2ten company was partly founded to help Canada win its first gold medal at home. The honor of winning the first home-soil Olympic gold medal went to Alexandre Bilodeau the next day. Bilodeau was a B2ten athlete and Jennifer's training partner. The day after her event, Jennifer was seen celebrating her silver medal. She said she didn't lose the gold, but rather won the silver medal.
Many Canadians watched Jennifer compete. About 6.6 million people, and at one point 8 million, tuned in to see her try to win gold. This was more viewers than the Super Bowl that year.
After her silver medal win at Cypress Mountain, Jennifer said it would likely be her last Olympics. She wanted to win a third world championship in 2011. After that, she planned to focus on her life after skiing. She also continued her work in philanthropy. Following the 2010 Olympics, Jennifer donated $25,000 to "Because I am a Girl" again. She said, "I’ve had the power in my hands to help and many young girls don’t have that same power. We want to make this Canada’s most giving Games ever."
Finishing Her Career Strong
In January 2011, Jennifer Heil officially announced her retirement. She made the announcement before a World Cup event in Calgary. She explained her decision, saying, "I'm definitely in good shape. I could go for one more Olympic Games. I'm still at the top of my game, but for me I feel it's an important time to build on my future. I want to be as successful off the slopes as I have been on the slopes and I feel that time is now."
Jennifer's next event was the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships 2011. In her last moguls final, she won her first ever gold medal in that specific event. She had only won in dual moguls before. Jennifer was happy, saying, "It's a title I've never won before... I'm pretty happy that that conversation is over."
On the last day of the World Championships, Jennifer competed in the dual moguls event. She reached the final and beat her young teammate Chloé Dufour-Lapointe. This win gave her a second gold medal at the competition. It was her third straight dual moguls crown. This meant Jennifer ended her career as a double world champion. Because of her two gold medals, she was named the Canadian Press's female athlete of the year for 2011.
Life After Skiing
Jennifer Heil is now the founder and CEO of RYA Health. This is a health technology company she started while studying at Stanford University. Jennifer also has degrees in management and political science from McGill University. In her free time, Jennifer enjoys surfing. She also works as a sports commentator for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
See also
In Spanish: Jennifer Heil para niños
