Kaitlyn Farrington facts for kids
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| Birth name | Kaitlyn Brooke Farrington | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | December 18, 1989 Hailey, Idaho, United States |
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| Residence | Whitefish, Montana, United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 4 in (163 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Coached by | Elijah Teter | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Kaitlyn Brooke Farrington (born December 18, 1989) is an American former professional snowboarder. She grew up on a cattle ranch in Idaho and now lives in Montana. Kaitlyn is famous for winning the gold medal in the women's half-pipe competition at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Before the Olympics, she also won a gold medal at the 2010 European Winter X Games. She was even chosen as a backup crew member for a space mission called the dearMoon project, which was later canceled.
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Kaitlyn Farrington's Early Life
Kaitlyn Farrington was born to her parents, Gary and Suz Farrington. She has an older sister. The Farrington family owned a ranch near Sun Valley, Idaho. Kaitlyn grew up riding horses, which her mom believes helped her develop great balance for snowboarding.
She started skiing when she was only three years old. By age five, she was already barrel racing, which is a horse riding sport. Her dad remembers that after just two days of skiing with a tether, Kaitlyn wanted to ski on her own!
When Kaitlyn was in high school, she was already competing as a snowboarder. Her parents even had to sell some of their cows to help pay for her snowboarding expenses.
Snowboarding Career and Achievements
Kaitlyn is left-handed and uses a "goofy stance" when she snowboards. This means her right foot is at the front of the board. She was the first female rider to successfully do a "backside 1080." This is a difficult trick where she spins three full times (1080 degrees) while facing backward.
Kaitlyn can jump about 9 feet high above the edge of the half-pipe. She sees herself as a very technical rider, meaning she focuses on precise movements and tricks. She has had five surgeries on her wrist during her career.
Here are some of Kaitlyn's major achievements:
- 2014 Sochi Olympic Games - Gold medalist in women's half-pipe
- 2013 FIS Snowboarding World Championships – 4th place in women's half-pipe
- 2013 World Cup Sochi – 5th place
- 2013 World Cup Park City – Bronze medalist
- 2013 World Cup Copper Mountain – 5th place
- 2012 U.S. Grand Prix – Overall champion
- 2012 Dew Tour Breckenridge – Gold medalist
- 2011 X Games Aspen – Silver medalist
- 2011 Dew Tour – Silver medalist
- 2010 X Games Europe – Gold medalist
- 2010 Dew Tour – Overall champion
- 2008 Junior World Championships – Silver medalist
Retirement from Snowboarding
On January 16, 2015, Kaitlyn announced that she was retiring from professional snowboarding at age 25. In October 2014, she had a fall in Austria while trying a trick. After returning home, doctors discovered she had a condition called congenital cervical stenosis. This is a spine condition she was born with.
Doctors told her that continuing to compete in snowboarding would be very risky for her. Kaitlyn shared that she can still walk and snowboard, but she has to keep her feet on the ground.
She was later chosen as a backup crew member for the dearMoon project, a space mission that aimed to fly around the Moon. However, this project was canceled in 2024.
Kaitlyn Farrington's Personal Life
Kaitlyn has a cat named Zilla, which is short for Godzilla. She enjoys collecting refrigerator magnets from all the places she visits. She also loves running and listening to music. Kaitlyn said she was listening to music by Ghostland Observatory when she competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Recently, she has started playing Frisbee golf. She also tries to surf, but she jokingly calls it "drowning."
A difficult ski run on Sun Valley's Bald Mountain was renamed "Kaitlyn's Bowl" to honor her achievements.
See also
In Spanish: Kaitlyn Farrington para niños
