Voisin makes history ahead of Olympics
FILE - In this Jan. 14, 2018, file photo, Maggie Voisin skis during her first run in the women's slopestyle finals in Snowmass, Colo. The 15-year-old freeskier bailed out of a rail trick, then slammed into another rail, got her skis and boots tangled up and fractured her ankle. The youngest person to qualify for the 2014 U.S. Olympic team would not get her chance to become the youngest person to compete for the 2014 U.S. Olympic team. ''It definitely lit a fire under me for the last four years,'' says Voisin, now 19 and still at the top of the slopestyle world.(Anna Stonehouse/The Aspen Times…
Maggie Voisin was all smiles when as she skied powder and then greeted the public for the annual ski with Maggie day at Whitefish Mountain Resort in December. (Photo courtesy Brian Schott)
Maggie Voisin smiles for a photo while signing a helmet during the "Ski with Maggie" day at Whitefish Mountain Resort in December. (Daniel McKay/Whitefish Pilot)
Whitefish’s Maggie Voisin became the first American woman ever to win the slopestyle skiing competition at the winter X Games Saturday in Aspen, Colorado.
Voisin, 19, earned a gold medal, which gives her a total of three medals at the X Games. She made history earning the first place finish after her first three runs, which she scored a 92.33.
Voisin celebrated on Instagram by posting a photo of herself at the top of the podium.
“I’ve been dreaming about this one for a long time,” she wrote. “Thank you to everyone who’s supported me through out the years and a huge congrats to all the incredible girls yesterday!”
Voisin earned a silver medal in slopestyle at the 2014 X Games and last year earned a bronze in big air skiing. She was also the first American woman ever to make the podium in big air.
Earlier this month she finished second at the U.S. Grand Prix event at Snowmass in Aspen, Colorado, to earn a place on the Olympic team for the 2018 Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. Last year she won a qualifying event at Mammoth Mountain in California and the win at the Grand Prix sealed her spot on the team.
Voisin qualified for the Olympics in 2014, but suffered a broken leg during a training run and wasn’t able to compete.
Kristin Voisin, Maggie’s mother, told the Pilot recently that Maggie is ready to return to the Olympic stage.
“She’s just in a really good space, mentally, spiritually, physically, so she’s going into it with some experience and I think it will just be different all around,” she said earlier this month. “She’s got a heart of gold, and it’s been a journey for sure.”
Opening ceremonies for the 2018 Games are set for Feb. 9.