Torah Bright
Height | 5 ft 4 in (163 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Country | Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Snowboarding | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coached by | Ben Bright[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Torah Jane Bright
Early life
Bright was born in
Bright grew up in
Bright's brother, Ben, is also a professional snowboarder and was her coach. Her older sister, Rowena, competed in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics in alpine skiing.
Career
Bright uses a goofy stance.
Bright finished 30th overall at the
Bright entered only three World Cup events during the 2004–05 season, both in February at the 2006 Winter Olympic venue of Bardonecchia. She placed third in both events, qualifying for the Australian Olympic team.
In 2006, Bright earned a silver medal at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado. She returned the following year, winning the gold medal in the women's superpipe event. She is the first Australian snowboarder to ever win gold at the Winter X Games (11), beating Winter Olympic medalists Gretchen Bleiler and Hannah Teter.
In 2007, Bright took first at the Nissan X-Trail Nippon Open in the women's halfpipe, giving her back-to-back wins in two consecutive competitions. At the 2007 World Super Pipe Championships in
In 2010, at the Winter Olympics at Vancouver, Bright was chosen to carry the flag for Australia at the opening ceremonies,[7] and qualified for the no. 1 spot for the final of the women's halfpipe, despite suffering two concussions beforehand in training. Crashing out in her first run in the final, Bright was the first competitor to make a second run. With a successful second run, she posted a score of 45.0, which remained the highest score through the field's second run. Bright became the fourth Australian to win a Winter Olympics gold medal.
In 2013 at the Winter X Games XVII in Aspen, Colorado, Bright came in fourth in the superpipe behind medalists Kelly Clark, Elena Hight, and Arielle Gold.[8][9]
In 2014 at the Winter Olympics at Sochi, having entered an unprecedented triple of slopestyle, halfpipe, and boarder-cross, Bright finished 7th in the inaugural women's slopestyle final and went on to win silver with a score of 91.50 in the women's halfpipe. This was Australia's first medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics. The medal also saw Bright surpass Alisa Camplin to become Australia's most successful female Winter Olympics athlete.[10]
Bright was a participant in the
In 2020 Bright appeared in the documentary film Out of Bounds, snowboarding some of the most extreme reaches of the planet: "I came out of the journey totally inspired by nature and people. There are so many people who do care and are doing their part to create awareness and change. There is a shift in consciousness and it's a beautiful thing to witness."[12]
Bright rarely entered competition after the 2014 Olympics, and suffered a wrist fracture after returning to competition 2 months before the 2018 Olympics. She officially announced her retirement from competition in January 2020.[13]
Endorsements
Bright has a lifelong sponsorship with Rhythm Snowsports, located in her home town Cooma. She also has a head-to-toe sponsorship with
Competition results
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Personal life
Bright is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Bright was married to American pro snowboarder Jake Welch from 2010 to 2013.[26]
Bright married snowboarder Angus Thomson in September 2015.[27] The couple has two sons, born in July 2020 and May 2023.[13][28]
References
- ^ "Snowboard – Cross – Athlete: Torah BRIGHT". Fis-ski.com. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
- ^ "Snowboard tricks don't flip standards". Church News. 21 January 2006. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
- ^ "Is Snowboarding Gold Medalist Torah Bright Jewish?". Jewish Journal. 22 February 2010. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
- ^ "In Praise of Torah". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
- ^ Morrell, Lucy (21 January 2010). "Torah brightens parents' day". Cooma-Monaro Express. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
- ^ Torah Bright Discusses 2009 Roxy Snow Line Archived 26 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Nicole, Jeffery (13 February 2010). "Torah Bright chosen to carry Australian flag in Vancouver". The Australian. Australia: News Limited. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
- ^ Keith Hamm (26 January 2013). "Kelly Clark three-peats in SuperPipe". ESPN. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
- ^ John Coon (11 February 2014). "From Students to Sochi: Arielle Gold soars straight from Steamboat Springs High School". MaxPreps. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
- ^ "Sochi Winter Olympics: Torah Bright content after silver medal in halfpipe". YouTube. 13 February 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
- ^ "Dancing With The Stars 2014 line-up: Which celebrities we'd rather see on Seven's dancing show". news.com.au. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
- ^ "Torah Bright talks to us about the Out Of Bounds movie | ice a trail". Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ a b "Torah Bright, Olympic champion, no longer competing in halfpipe". NBC Sports. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
- ^ "Torah's official TTR profile". Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2007.
- ^ "Kelly Clark Wins – Bright comes in 2nd".
- ^ "Torah Bright wins 2008 Superpipe World Championships". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021.
- ^ "Killington".
- ^ "US Snowboard Tour".
- ^ "Burton US Open". Archived from the original on 15 October 2013.
- ^ "Burton US Open – Roxy Blog".
- ^ "Torah Bright Wins".
- ^ "USA Today – Torah Bright Wins". 22 February 2009.
- ^ "Bright wins gold at Winter X". USA Today. 24 January 2009.
- ^ Branch, John (19 February 2010). "Torah Bright Wins Women's Halfpipe". New York Times.
- ^ "Torah Bright With the Win in Women's Snowboard Superpipe Final".
- ^ News.com.au (9 June 2013). "Olympic golden girl Torah Bright splits from husband". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
- ^ smh.com.au (24 September 2015). "Olympian Torah Bright marries fellow snowboarder Angus Thomson". SMH. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ^ Doherty, Megan (18 May 2023). "Cooma's Torah Bright welcomes her second son". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 3 July 2023.