Photo courtesy of callanX.com
Callan Chythlook-Sifsof of Girdwood was named to the U.S. Olympic snowboard team on Monday, Jan. 25.
Callan Chythlook-Sifsof of Girdwood was named to the U.S. Olympic snowboard team on Monday, Jan. 25. She will is believed to be the first Alaska Native Olympian. Chythlook-Sifsof, is a Yup'ik-Inupiaq
The 20-year-old Chythlook-Sifsof will compete in the snowboardcross event along with two other teammates.
She severely tore her ACL at the beginning of the 2008-09 World Cup season, but has come back from rehab to make the 18 member snowboard team who will compete at Cypress Mountain in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Chythlook-Sifsof moved from Aleknagik, north of Dillingham, to Girdwood when she was 12 years old, continuing her passion for snowboarding, training and practicing at Alyeska. By 2006, she made the national team.
In 2007, Chythlook-Sifsof finished third in her first World Cup snowboardcross in Japan, and later that year won a national championship.
Photo courtesy of callanX.com
Callan flies high, catching big air in Argentina.
Chythlook-Sifsof joins fellow Girdwoodian' Rosey Fletcher as an Olympic snowboarder. Fletcher won a bronze medal four years ago in the Winter Olympics in Italy.
This year's Winter Olympics begins Feb. 12 in Vancouver, B.C. The women's snowboardcross race is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 16.
Visit Callan's official website, www.callanX.com, for more information.
