Kelly Clark was at the top of the world. The youngest member of the U.S. Olympic team, she'd won gold in the women's halfpipe at the 2002 Winter Olympics at the age of 18. She thought she'd find fulfilment in obtaining the highest award for her sport but that wasn't the case. “I felt like I still needed something else but had no idea what it was.”

Then God got her attention. At the beginning of the 2003-04 season, she saw a fellow athlete sobbing because she had fallen during the qualifier. Kelly saw another girl approach the sad snowboarder and cheer her up by saying, “Hey, it's all right. God still loves you.” Kelly knew right away that she had been searching for that kind of love.

Later that day, she sought out the girl who had been such a comfort.

“Hi, my name is Kelly,” she nervously started as the girl answered the door. “I think you might be a Christian, and I need you to tell me about God.”

The girl told her about her faith and Kelly asked question after question about having a real relationship with God. Within a few months, Kelly had become a Christian.

Competing in the halfpipe again in the 2006 Winter Olympics, this time she was the girl who fell. Her last run started off well enough, but she missed a landing and ended up placing fourth.

“I rode to the best of my ability at the time,” Kelly remembers. “I walked away without regretting anything. I tried my hardest. What got me through was not having my identity wrapped up in what I do. Snowboarding is what I do, not who I am. I couldn't say that a few years ago. Now I can pick myself up a lot faster.”

Strenuous Regimen
As she trains with her sights set on the 2010 Olympics, Kelly knows she's not guaranteed a spot on the team.

“Qualifying is actually the hardest part,” she explains. “Because of the increased interest in snowboarding, the United States has some of the best talent you can find anywhere in the world, but only four of us get to go. It's challenging and it's more intense.”

She refuses to let her 2006 results overshadow her 2010 expectations.

“Fourth place is never what you shoot for,” Kelly says. “I just take it one step at a time, refocus, re-evaluate. Having been to the Winter Olympics twice already, I have an idea what to expect and where I want to be mentally.”

Continues Kelly, “I always try to remember why I fell in love with snowboarding in the first place. One thing that enables me to keep at it day after day is the opportunity to do new things and keep it fresh. There's always more to learn.

“I feel as strong as ever,” she maintains. A dedicated athlete, she goes surfing in the off-season to keep fit. “The better I keep up my training and stay in shape during the summer, the better I am when it is winter again.”

Kelly has managed to remain physically sound over more than a decade of competing professionally, despite how dangerous her routines are.

“I've learned how to fall correctly,” Kelly states. “Plus I have a great trainer, physical therapists and conditioning coaches. They all do damage control if need be.”

Nothing But the Truth
Kelly grew up in Vermont and started competing when she was 14. “Snowboarding looked like more fun to me than skiing,” she says. “It's more relaxed, too. Some of the snowboarders are my closest friends. There's no real rivalry between us. I set goals and I'm happy if I achieve them. If I don't win, that's fine. But I'm still excited for my friends who push themselves and win.”

Kelly loves travelling to competitions with her friends, but sometimes the schedule can be gruelling.

“It's hard being away from family and friends for months at a time, going from event to event,” she notes. “Maintaining personal discipline is the biggest challenge for me, getting myself out there no matter how I feel at the moment.”

She remains grounded while on the road thanks to her friends from her home church in California.
“I value that connection,” Kelly says. “I have good solid relationships that I maintain via the telephone and e-mail. And as I go to a lot of the same mountains to snowboard, I've connected with various chapters of Snowboarders for Christ. This allows me to have fellowship in person. On top of that, I make it a priority to spend time with the Lord. I have to pursue that all on my own.”

Kelly doesn't mind the added scrutiny that comes with proclaiming her faith.

“I don't try to be any different, whether in public or private,” she says. “I try to maintain my integrity and I don't try to be someone I'm not. I hold fast to what I believe to be true and I'm open and honest with people. Nothing really matters other than the truth that God loves me, and I want everyone else to know it, too.”