The only time Arielle Gold is likely to have her feet up this summer is when they’re pointing skyward, with a snowboard attached to them. The Pyeongchang halfpipe bronze medal winner from Steamboat Springs will either be hard in training during the summer, or else applying herself to one of her other vocations. Whatever the case, she won’t be far away from a halfpipe.

But while Arielle doesn’t afford herself much in the way of leisure time, she can at least give her emotional self a rest after her Olympic podium finish this year. Because for Arielle Gold the 2018 Winter Olympics represented more than just a medal – they were a tonic to her Sochi hangover, a headache she had been wrangling with for four years.

”The Olympics definitely carry more weight than other events. It is the biggest event in snowboarding, and to compete is an opportunity that only a lucky few get to take advantage of. I’ve dreamed about standing on an Olympic podium ever since I started snowboarding. When I finally had the chance to compete at my first Olympics in Sochi, I dislocated my shoulder in practice, and wasn’t able to compete. This past Olympics definitely had a redemption feel to it, so I’m grateful to have come away with the result I was hoping for the last time around.”

In 2014 the teenage Arielle Gold left Steamboat Springs in Colorado and ventured to Sochi as a medal favourite, arriving with the preceding season’s FIS World Championship under her belt, as well as a bronze medal from the 2013 Winter X Games Superpipe event. With good reason, Sports Illustrated’s Olympic edition had Arielle singled out as a medal contender. But the crowning glory of a promising season wasn’t to be and a dark patch in the Arielle Gold snowboard story was about to transpire. During training, shortly before competition started, Arielle landed a flawless 720, then on the flat caught an edge and was pivoted forwards, hard, onto her front. The impact dislocated her shoulder.

Almost as soon as it had begun, Arielle Gold’s Olympic ride was over.

“Having the opportunity to go to my first Olympics was an honor in itself, but it definitely carried some expectations. The SI Olympic edition had me pegged as the potential bronze medalist, so I was pretty confident going into the event that everything would just fall into place. I was 17, and coming off one of the best seasons of my life. When I got hurt, I was obviously devastated. It was hard having my first Olympic experience go that way, and I think that kind of soured the Olympics in my eyes. That’s why it was so important for me to go back and have the experience that I did in Korea.”

By the time Sochi came around, the Arielle Gold snowboard story was in full swing and she was well established on the halfpipe scene – one of several paths she might have chosen; like four-time Olympian Lindsey Jacobellis, Arielle’s fledgling years on snow encompassed the full panacea of the snowboard curriculum.

”I actually was first put on a pair of skis when I was 3 years old. At the time, freestyle skiing was just beginning to gain some traction, but freestyle snowboarding was definitely more established. My older brother, Taylor, started snowboarding when he was 7 years old, so when I turned 7 I knew I wanted to give it a try. I initially started out competing in all of the disciplines – slopestyle, halfpipe, slalom, giant slalom and boardercross, but once I started getting more competitive, I knew I’d have to choose one event to specialize in. Halfpipe was the easy choice – I loved it, I was relatively good at it, and it gave me the opportunity to be as creative as I wanted to be.”