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 Recent
successes on the World Cup Boardercross circuit has brought 18 year-old
Zoë Gillings to the forefront of British snowboarding, sharing
some of the limelight with Lesley McKenna.
But who is Zoë? And how did this meteoric rise start? We did
some research to bring you a little background on Britain’s newest
snowboarding star.
Isle of Man to Albertville
Zoë was born and brought up in the Isle of Man and started skiing
when she was 4. The Manx island is not known for its snow, but fortunately
her parents were both skiers, and had invested in house in a small
hamlet just outside Albertville in the late-80s.
With a background of gymnastics and the opportunity to spend a decent
amount of time in the Alps (Zoë was home-educated by her mother
Jill, a teacher), this made all the difference. After being badgered
by her elder brother Jon (himself a British champion in GS), at
age 10 she made the switch to snowboarding.
By 12 she embarrassed a few of the older competitors by coming 3rd
overall in the 1998 British Championships in Saas Fee, and unsurprisingly
ended up in the British Junior Team (the women’s champion that year
was Lesley McKenna). Following that Zoë dominated the youth category
at the British champs, winning 37 consecutive events.
Move to Canada
In such a young sport access to full time coaching was virtually
impossible in Britain; so two years ago, when she was 16 years she
decided to go to train full time in Canada with coach Craig Smith.
She had met Craig briefly but knew no one in Canada – a big commitment
for a young girl to make, living thousands of miles from home.
But it’s this sort of decision that typifies Gillings’ willingness
to do what it takes to succeed. Zoë has been described by one of
her team mates as ‘not a girly girl…she rides her board way too
fast and has absolutely no fear of anything, yet she seems to be
so relaxed and calm at the same time.’
Her first World Cup Boardercross in Whistler was just after she
went to Canada in December 2001. Finishing 14th was a massive boost
and that season she competed hard in all disciplines, with good
results in particular in the Canadian nationals where she came 9th
in Parallel GS, 10th in Halfpipe and 2nd in the Boardercross.
Winning streak
She spent the last season (2002-3) in Canada and came 13th and 11th
in the Bad Gastein World Cup, 4th in the Junior World Championships
and 2nd in the US Nationals, now specialising solely in Boardercross.
Describing the finals of the US Nationals Zoë said, ‘I’d fallen
and the other girls were nearing the finish of the course when I
caught up. I just kept going as fast as I could. The other three
girls all chose the smaller of the two jumps but I went for the
bigger one and flew over the heads of two of them…’
If you needed any more information to sum up why this determined
teenager now lies 3rd in the world, then this says it all: 'Watch
out for Zoë Gillings…here she comes!'
Career History
- British No 1 in Boardercross (the newest Olympic discipline, and
in fact, the only new event to be added to the 2006 Turin Winter
Olympics)
- Currently 3rd in the World Cup Standings
- At 18 years old she is still classed as a junior for this season
and next.
World Cup Record
14th Whistler World Cup December 2001 (aged 16)
13th Bad Gastein World Cup February 2003
11th Bad Gastein World Cup February 2003
4th Whistler World Cup December
2003
6th Bad Gastein World Cup January 2004
4th Arosa World Cup January 2004
Junior World Championships
4th Prato Nevoso February 2003
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