I was doing some research for another article when I stumbled on to a CNN page from 1998 just after the Nagano Olympics. I thought it was so funny and interesting the headlines they had for their stories. It really just goes to show you snowboarding’s true progress over these few short years:
Rebel, rebel
Snowboarding lived up to its rep in Nagano
Snowboarding came into the Olympics with a renegade, rebellious image. It’s leaving with its reputation intact. The enfant terrible of winter sports made its Olympic debut with a drug controversy, the expulsion of one of the sport’s athletes and, on the snow, some exciting and popular races.
Rebagliati receives royal homecoming
Endorsement offers. An appearance on TV talk shows. A homecoming party on cable TV. For Olympic gold medalist Ross Rebagliati, a little notoriety is going a long way.
Vindicated Rebagliati says he’ll change lifestyle, but not friends
A smiling Ross Rebagliati returned to the public eye Friday a gold medalist once more, chastened by his tangle with the Olympic legal system but vowing not to forsake friends no matter what they might do, say or ingest.
Not all snowboarders want rebellious image
Up on the halfpipe, opinion was divided. As far as many snowboarders were concerned, it was clear. Canadian rider Ross Rebagliati won the giant slalom gold medal fair and square, even if he did test positive for marijuana.
British Columbia ski resort known for its marijuana
In one week, and all because of local Olympic hero Ross Rebagliati, the No. 1 ski resort in North America has become known as the hemp capital of the Western world.
U.S. snowboarder killed in avalanche
A professional snowboarder who just missed qualifying for the U.S. Olympic team was killed in a backcountry avalanche during a video shoot in the Sierra Nevada.
The full length stories and pictures have been removed so there isn’t much left to the page, but you can take a look if you want HERE. For those of you that don’t know, or don’t remember. The very first year that snowboarding was at the Olympics was in 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Ross Rebagliati won the gold medal in Giant Slalom. He got a drug test shortly after that and failed. He said he hadn’t smoked for a year prior to the Olympics and it probably got in his system from the air from being around his friends when they smoked. He was stripped of his medal, but they gave it back to him kind of on default because of a disagreement in the rules. It all makes for a pretty funny story really. When everybody around the world heard that a snowboarder tested positive for marijuana the consensus must have simply been… Obviously.
That last article was about Jamil Khan. Jamil just barely missed the Olympics placing 5th in the over all qualifiers. He was 22 years old, sponsored by Burton and doing what he loved to do best. He had a part in Line Films’ Ticket To Ride. It’s always sad to lose some serious talent like that. Miss ya man.
But on a lighter note I hope you enjoyed this nice little flash back. I might purposely start looking for more little things like this so be sure to check back in.
