With multiple Olympic medals under her belt and host of other awards, Vancouver Island’s Cassie Sharpe has been officially inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame.
The 31-year-old raised skiing the slopes of Mt. Washington has racked up quite the list of results over the years.
With her specialty in half-pipe freestyle skiing, Sharpe has won five career medals in Superpipe at Winter X Games, two Crystal Globes as FIS World Cup overall champion and two silver medals in halfpipe at FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships.
To cap the impressive list off, Sharpe was also the first Canadian to win Olympic gold in women’s half-pipe freestyle skiing in Pyeongchang and followed it up two years later with a silver in Beijing.
Sharpe adds that being inducted into the Hall of Fame at this stage in her career is a huge honour.
“It’s pretty wild,” said Sharpe. “I feel like most people get inducted into the Hall of Fame after they’re finished and to be so young and getting into it, I’m stoked.”
She adds it has been 10 years’ worth of competing, moving up from being a “little ripper” on Mt. Washington. The nomination takes all her accomplishments over the years and wraps them into one, according to Sharpe.
The years of competition have not come without their challenges. However, Sharpe says some of those have led to her biggest and most important achievements, such as her first X Games win.
“Before our sport of half-pipe skiing was in the Olympics, X Games was kind of our biggest event,” said Sharpe. “I remember I got my first invite in Oslo, and I went in with a broken back without knowing and I won the event.”
However, after tearing her ACL, MCL and meniscus in 2021, Sharpe faced her most difficult challenge yet with Olympic qualification on the line.
“It was a quick recovery and so stressful to see if was going to be ready or not, if I could compete, if I was going to make it to the Olympics,” said Sharpe. “Doing all of that and kind of going through it emotionally not knowing the outcome at the time was probably one of the biggest lows I’ve ever had.”
However, those moments helped her find her limit and brought a lot of growth as an athlete. She was able to qualify for the Olympics but knew she could not compete as hard as she could. That meant that she could relax and enjoy the experience, walking away with silver medal despite the challenges.
With the 2022 Olympics behind her, the new mother will be spending time with family before getting back into training and competing next year with hopes for the 2026 Milan Olympics.
She wants to thank everyone from her dad and family, to coaches, her husband and so many others along the way.
Sharpe also tells aspiring athletes not to take themselves too seriously, keep a positive attitude and enjoy the experience to help generate the best results.
