Snowboard cross superstar Faye Gulini is accomplishing a feat that puts her in rarified air: she’s heading to her fourth Olympic Games.

Gulini’s been climbing mountains all her life and skiing since she could walk, but it was the snowboard she received on her eighth birthday that set up her future. That, and her dad making the tough decision to send her off to Winter Sports School in Colorado when she was just a freshman. “I think my dad was just panicking. He wanted to get me out of the environment I was in. I obviously fought back because I was a punk,” Faye told the Deseret News.

At age five, Gulini’s life changed forever. She survived a single-car crash that claimed the life of her mother, Patricia. “As a young child, you’re just floating through life and you kind of gradually mature. My experience was like, overnight I knew how painful life could be, and it scared me a lot,” Gulini said.

In Colorado, Gulini found her sense of self and excelled in the spirit of competition, making her first Olympic team in 2010 at the age of 17. Gulini’s signature ‘goofy’ stance (right foot first) makes her easy to spot as she races past the field. In 2014, she qualified for her first Snowboard Cross Olympic Final and finished a career-best 4th place. 

While 2018’s Olympic trip delivered an early exit, Gulini is once again peaking at the right time. In 2021, she finished on the podium four times in World Cup races. In the final major race before the Olympics, a Dec. 18 World Cup event in Italy, Faye earned silver

It’s a great sign that she’s hitting her stride just as the 2022 Beijing Olympics are set to begin. Her fourth Olympic Games could be Gulini’s moment to claim the first individual medal of her illustrious career.

Learn more about our Bet on Women Campaign here.Terms and conditions

Term of the Day

Why we’re betting on Faye Gulini

1. Because she got married in a wide-brimmed hat and a dope parka.Faye Gulini, fashionista.

2. Because she, too, despises autocorrect.Go duck yourself, autocorrect.

3. Because she knows how to give back to those who need it most.We hereby nominate Faye for a Nobel Peace Prize.

4. Because she’s the coolest person in a photo with Barack Obama.“Eyyyyy”

5. Because she enjoys a good fart joke.Better out than in.