Sage Kotsenburg's name has forever been stamped in Winter Olympics history after the 20-year-old notched the United States' first gold medal in the 2014 Sochi Games. With a seriously insane trick, Kotsenburg impressed the judges and won everyone's hearts.
Sage Kotsenburg has also established himself as the 2014 Sochi Games heartthrob with his goofy, carefree personality and his obvious love for his sport. There's more than just snowboarding to Kotsenburg however so we're breaking down the things you need to know about this Olympics champ.
- Sage Kotsenburg was born on July 27, 1993. This snowboarding phenom is only 20 years old.
- He was born to parents Carol Ann and Steve Kotsenburg.
- Sage Kotsenburg's father works a real estate agent while his mom acts as his travel agent. The athlete also has two older brothers, Jeremy and Blaze, and a younger sister, Kirra.
- Kotsenburg was born in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho but grew up in Park City, Utah.
- Sage Kotsenburg started snowboarding at the age of five with his older brother Blaze. The three brothers, who are reportedly very close, snowboard together.
- The snowboarding genius made his U.S. Open debut at the age of 12.
- At his young age, Kotsenburg already has a long list of awards and recognition in his resyme. He won the Winter X Games XVI Slopestyle silver in 2012 and also won the Slopestyle silver at European X Games 2010.
- Kotsenburg landed the first-ever Cab double cork 1440 at Air & Style in Innsbruck in February 2011, took third at the 2011 Arctic Challenge, and was named to the U.S. Snowboarding Slopestyle Pro Team in December 2011.
- Sage Kotsenburg made history by winning the first gold medal of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games in a sport that made its Olympic debut this year, snowboarding slopestyle.
- Kotsenburg also won a silver medal in Snowboard Slopestyle at the 2012 Winter X Games XVI in Aspen, Colorado, behind Mark McMorris.
- Sage Kotsenburg is one innovative athlete. He won the slopestyle event by busting out a trick that he invented. The trick featured three and a half rotations, two flips, and a self-invented grab of his board (called “The Holy Crail”) where he held the front with one hand and the back with his other. And here’s how bold Sage is: he had never even tried this trick before.
- Kotsenburg likes to rock it out. A few days before the big run, Sage tweeted out a sample of his training playlist — and the dude likes metal! Some of the bands on the list were Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, and Cradle of Filth.
- Sage Kotsenburg's family is incredibly supportive of him. Now here’s where he gets some of that boldness. Ten minutes before his gold-winning run, Sage called his older brother Blaze and asked him if he should try that self-invented trick. “Dude you’re at the Olympics,” Blaze told him, according to the Los Angeles Times. “What do you have to lose?” Gotta love that attitude.
- Sage Kotsenburg and Miley Cyrus have something in common. We couldn’t help but notice this as Sage was on the podium showing off his gold medal — Sage does Miley’s tongue thing! And just when we thought it might’ve simply been because he was just so excited, we looked at his Dew Tour bio, which features this gem of a photo of him.
- Sage Kotsenburg prefers Scandinavian sights. When asked in a recent interview which place he likes to travel to most, Sage answered Norway. And here’s why: “Lots of not bad looking chicks and a beautiful country.” Can’t argue with that!
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