Gabrielle Rose "Rosey" Fletcher (born 30 November 1975, in

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of ...

) is an American three-time Olympian

snowboarder Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic ...

. She competed at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

, the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...

, and the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

. Fletcher won the Olympic

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

in the 2006 women's Parallel giant slalom event.

Early life

Fletcher grew up in Girdwood, Alaska. She started skiing cross-country, then moved to alpine racing, GS, and

Super-G Super giant slalom, or super-G, is a racing discipline of alpine skiing. Along with the faster downhill, it is regarded as a "speed" event, in contrast to the technical events giant slalom and slalom. It debuted as an official World Cup event ...

. Then she tried snowboarding and focused on GS. In 2007, she was studying to compete her degree at

Eastern Oregon University Eastern Oregon University (EOU) (officially designated as Oregon’s Rural University) is a public university in La Grande, Oregon. It was formerly part of the since dissolved Oregon University System. EOU was founded in 1929 as a teacher’s ...

Career

Olympics

Fletcher competed at the

in Nagano, the

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, and the

Turin, Italy Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. Fletcher won the Olympic

in the 2006 women's Parallel giant slalom event. Arriving as a favourite in 1998 at Nagano and in 2002 at Salt Lake City, she crashed in 1998 and suffered a near-crash in 2002 during the preliminaries. Going into the 2002 games at Utah’s Park City, she was ranked 8th in the world. In Turin, at the 2006 Winter Games, she was 30 but with no pressure to perform she advanced to the semifinals. But later crashed, and was left fighting for a bronze medal which she easily won. “I was so devastated after Salt Lake I thought my life was going to end. It was one of those life lessons, realizing that life’s a lot bigger than this five-ring circus,” was her quote after the 2002 loss.

Snowboarding career

Fletcher also won seven US national championships, two

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

s in parallel giant slalom at the 1999 and 2001 World Championships, eight

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

victories, and had 20 World Cup podium finishes. She was on the USA Snowboard Team for ten years. One of her first podiums in the World Cup came in December 1996 in giant slalom at Sestriere, Italy and at Sun Peak BC at Canada in the same month. Her first victory in a World Cup, came in the next year in 1997 at Bardonechhia, Italy in giant slalom. She bagged two more FIS victories in giant slalom and slalom at Mammoth Mountain, USA. From 1996 to 2006, she won 44 podium places in all championships including World Cups, World Championships and FIS events like Nor Am Cups.

Litigation

In February 2023, Fletcher and other former U.S. Ski & Snowboard (USSS) team members sued coach

Peter Foley Peter Foley may refer to: * Peter Foley (footballer) (born 1956) * Peter Foley (snowboarding) {{hndis, Foley, Peter ...

, along with the national federation, its former CEO, and the USOPC, in

U.S. District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

in Los Angeles for

sex trafficking Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Perpetrators of the crime are called sex traffickers or pimps—people who manipulate victims to engage in various forms of commercial sex with paying customers. Se ...

, harassment, and enabling and covering up repeated acts of

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...

and misconduct, alleging that the defendants "conspired and acted in concert with one another to commit unlawful acts." They alleged that Foley exploited his position of trust to "coerce

sexual act Human sexual activity, human sexual practice or human sexual behaviour is the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts, ranging from activities done alone (e.g., masturbation) t ...

s through force, manipulation, emotional abuse, intimidation, and retaliation." Fletcher said that Foley sexually assaulted her at a U.S. team camp when she was 19, and again at a post-race event at the Olympics. Foley and the other defendants asked the court to throw out the lawsuit; a hearing is set for October 2023. Separately, on August 8, 2023, after an 18-month investigation,

SafeSport The United States Center for SafeSport is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization set up to reduce sexual abuse of minors and athletes in Olympic sports in the United States. Established in 2017 under the Safe Sport Authorization Act, Prot ...

suspended Foley for ten years for sexual misconduct.

Retired life

Fletcher became a community development specialist in her hometown of Anchorage in Alaska, after retirement.

Honours

* On March 5, 2006, in

Soldotna, Alaska Soldotna is a city in the Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. At the 2020 census, the population was 4,342, up from 4,163 in 2010. It is the seat of the Kenai Peninsula Borough. Soldotna is located in the Southcentral port ...

, Fletcher received the honor of lighting the cauldron in the opening ceremony of the

Kenai Peninsula The Kenai Peninsula ( Dena'ina: ''Yaghenen'') is a large peninsula jutting from the coast of Southcentral Alaska. The name Kenai (, ) is derived from the word "Kenaitze" or "Kenaitze Indian Tribe", the name of the Native Athabascan Alaskan tribe ...

2006 Arctic Winter Games. * Fletcher was inducted into the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame in 2010.

References

External links

* * *
Instagram page

roseyfletcher.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Rosey 1975 births American female snowboarders Eastern Oregon University alumni Living people Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 1998 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2002 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2006 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in snowboarding 21st-century American sportswomen 20th-century American sportswomen