Jasey-Jay Anderson | The Canadian Encyclopedia

article

Jasey-Jay Anderson

Jasey-Jay Anderson, snowboarder (born 13 April 1975 in Montreal, QC). Anderson has competed in every Olympic Winter Games since 1998, when snowboarding made its Olympic debut. At the 2018 Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, he became the first Canadian to compete in six Games. Anderson won the gold medal in parallel giant slalom at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. Over his career he has also won four World Championship titles, as well as six World Cup titles, including four as overall World Cup champion (2001–04).
Jasey-Jay Anderson
Snowboarder Jasey-Jay Anderson, January 2018

Jasey-Jay Anderson is one of the premier figures in Canadian snowboarding. Anderson grew up in one of Canada’s most popular ski areas, Val-Morin, Quebec. His mother, who was a ski instructor, introduced him to skiing at age six. He received his first snowboard as a Christmas present when he was 13 and soon began entering competitions. His older brother, Jayme, competed on the national snowboarding team from 1991 to 1993.

Anderson is an all-around elite snowboarder, well known for both his power and finesse. He competed in the giant slalom at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, where teammate Ross Rebagliati won the sport’s first Olympic gold medal (Anderson finished 16th). In 2001, Anderson won the world championship in the giant slalom. In World Cup competition, he won the Crystal Globe as overall champion four times, from 2001 to 2004, and won the title in snowboard cross (2002). Anderson competed in the parallel giant slalom at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, but finished 29th. At the 2005 World Championships, he won the title in both the parallel slalom and the parallel giant slalom. He placed fifth in snowboard cross at the Turin Olympics in 2006, but a disappointing 20th in the parallel giant slalom. The same year, he again won the World Cup title in snowboard cross.

In 2009, Anderson decided to focus on the parallel slalom going into the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. He secured his place on the Canadian Olympic snowboarding team by winning the gold medal in parallel giant slalom at the 2009 world championships. At the Vancouver Games, Anderson won gold in the event, ultimately closing in on a 0.76 second deficit between himself and Austrian Benjamin Karl, the top-ranked snowboarder in the world. Shortly after the Games, Anderson announced his retirement.

Following the 2010 Games, Anderson began to develop his own snowboards. He soon returned to competition because of his love for the sport and as a way to test his designs. Anderson competed at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, finishing 14th in the parallel giant slalom and 15th in the parallel slalom.

Jasey-Jay Anderson, Sochi 2014
Canada's Jasey Jay Anderson competes in the men's parallel giant slalom at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Krasnaya Polyna, Russia (19 Feb 2014).

On 26 January 2018, Anderson won his 28th World Cup event, becoming the oldest rider to win gold at a World Cup. At the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, he became the first Canadian to compete in six Olympic Games, finishing 24th in the parallel giant slalom.

Anderson lives in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, where he runs a blueberry farm with his wife, Manon, and his two children.

External Links