Arielle Gold Wiki: Snowboarder, Net Worth, Bronze Medal & Facts To Know

With two winter athletes in her family, it's no surprise Arielle Gold grew up to be a snowboarder. It also helps that she grew up in Colorado, known for its fierce winter competitors. Father Ken Gold was a professional mogul skier, so Gold first took up skiing at age 3, but then her older brother, Taylor Gold, took charge and led his little sister to a snowboard, telling her to go big and be aggressive in her riding. Arielle was competing by age 8. Over the years, she earned massive medals, the first big one being in 2010 at the Burton US Open Junior Jam halfpipe contest. The following year she took second at the US Revolution Tour. What really set her apart, though, was in 2012 at age 15 when she took gold at the FIS Junior Snowboarding World Championships. This was a stepping stone for her to take home another gold the following year at the FIS Snowboarding World Championships as well as ranking 12th on the 2012 World Snowboard Tour. Before the FIS Junior Snowboarding World Championships, though, Gold took home two silver medals from the Winter Youth Olympics. Her medal list also includes the 2013 and 2016 Winter X Games held in Aspen, where she's earned both bronze and silver medals respectively.

Just before arriving in Pyeongchang, Gold brought home one more silver medal from the 2018 Winter X Games, only trailing behind Olympic teammate Chloe Kim, so both girls were coming in hot to South Korea. Gold snuck into the medal rounds, snatching up the final qualifying position, 12th place, in qualifiers behind teammate Kelly Clark, who shares the same coach, Mike Jankowski, who was the head coach for the US Snowboarding team at the 2014 Winter Olympics and the 2018 Winter Olympics. Going into the third medal round, Gold was still behind Clark, only this time in fourth and third rather than 12th and 11th. In Gold's third run, she landed a 1080 rotation, something she worked on with Mike Jankowski in the off-season, to just bump Clark off the podium. At the end of the day, it was another medal for Team USA. Gold came in third behind China's Liu Jiayu and USA's Kim.

After a couple mentally difficult competition seasons between the 2014 Winter Olympics and 2018 in Pyeongchang, Gold was a little excited to find a spot on the podium, just as happy to represent her hometown, Steamboat, Colorado, as well as the USA. She was also pretty pumped to be up there with her teammate, tweeting about her love for Kim, Gold's "main (side) bish." Both of their fathers were cheering them on in the stands as well.

Not only did Gold represent the USA and Steamboat, but she also repped the Jewish community along with skier Jared Goldberg, speed skater Emery Lehman, bobsledder Evan Weinstock, and figure skater Jason Brown.

Arielle Gold's first Olympic medal came a little later than expected. In 2014, Gold qualified for the Sochi Winter Olympic Games and was the youngest member on Team USA at age 17 (the same age this year's youngest teammate, figure skater Vincent Zhou). Even at her young age, Gold was considered to be a medal contender for the women's halfpipe event. Her teammates included Kelly Clark, Kaitlyn Farrington, and Hannah Teeter. In Sochi, her brother was also competing in the men's halfpipe event. Sharing a coach with her sister, Mike Jankowski, and snowboarding for the same club at home, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, Taylor's Olympic debut was preceded by a gold medal in the halfpipe event in Italy at the 2011 FIS Junior World Championships, the 2011 US Revolution Tour, and the United State of America Snowboard and Freeski Association National Championships.

Unfortunately, during a practice run before the women's halfpipe event, Gold hit a bump at the end of the pipe and suffered a dislocated shoulder injury from the fall and was unable to compete in any qualifying rounds (Taylor has gone on to earn a bronze medal in 2017 at the Winter X Games). Instead, she cheered on her teammates and Farrington and Clark earned a gold and bronze medal respectively. Her brother only made it to the semifinal round of the men's halfpipe event. Gold did admit that it was still hard to enjoy the experience in Sochi, thinking of what had happened, how she could have avoided it, and what could have been. However, she did manage to bring a little bling home, which she had to show off on Instagram, and who could blame her? Her Olympic ring, though not a medal, proves she had what it took to make it to the podium, even in 2014. It might have been enough to make sure she got herself pumped up to qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

During her time in Pyeongchang, Gold gave fans an amazing look at the Winter Olympics, with photo after photo on Twitter and Instagram of the halfpipe, her teammates, and the nice hardware they all got to wear around their necks. Fans were very appreciative of her behind-the-scenes look in South Korea.

Along with an insider look at the Winter Games, Gold let her followers know where her head was at before the competitions as well. Sometimes she was laser focused. Other times, she let her mind indulge in the culture she was in.

Even since she was state side again, Gold wasted no time in making sure everyone knew she was home, including Luke Bryan, using a photo of her bronze medal to try and set up a meetup between the two celebrities. Apparently Olympic medals have more than monetary perks.

Between the 2014 Winter Olympics and the most recent Winter Olympic Games, Gold considered retiring from her passion. Before making a final decision, she took a step back for a bit, still competing but trying to regain her love for the sport. Snowboarding for 15 years since age 7, the sport started to get a little overwhelming for the young adult, especially after not getting to compete at all at Sochi and dealing with her injury. Coach Mike Jankowski said the psychological drag was natural after the injury and so many years as a competitive snowboarder.

So between competing, Gold made sure to spend time with her friends and with horses to get her feet back on the ground and her head in the right space while also making sure to cheer on her NFL home team, the Broncos, with her family, a team she supports both on and off the slopes.

As qualifying season approached, and after winning some medals at the 2016 X Games in Aspen (definitely a step up from the FIS Junior Snowboarding World Championships), Gold started talking with different sport psychologists to visualize the coming season and how she would approach it differently, making sure to forget about 2014 and focus on her present goals. Rather than focusing on the past, her new mantra became, "I got this." From there, Gold started landing new tricks, like a 1080 (three rotations), because she was having fun again. Her 1080 is what put her ahead of teammate Clark to take home her bronze medal. So all of Gold's mental preparation did the trick, as well as reignited her passion for the sport. It also inspired the new tattoo on her right forearm, which reads "Guts Over Fear." Gold has encountered another setback, though, in her post-2018 Olympic competition life. In her first competition after the games, the 2018 Burton US Open on March 8, Gold hit the edge of the pipe. In the following crash, Gold dislocated her shoulder, bruised her sternum, and destroyed several nerves in her left butt cheek. This competition is the last of the snowboarding season this year.

After the mental toll of her last injury, Gold is trying to take this one with a bit lighter tone, saying "we cool" and "#thriving" despite several different pains.

For professional athletes, the thrill is in competing at a professional level in a sport they're passionate about, but making money from their passion is also a nice bonus. Most of that money gets shoveled back into competition fees, equipment, training, and physical therapy, but if it's enough to keep competing, it's money well spent. With tons of podium finishes at competitions and some nice sponsorships, like caffeine favorite Rockstar, Gold's $10,000 payout was a nice cherry on top of her Winter Olympics and her net worth. Currently, she's sitting at $400,000, and for a young adult who mainly just wants to snowboard and post photos of her horses in Instagram, that's a nice chunk of money to have as a safety net. It's nothing compared to snowboarder Shaun White, whose net worth is estimated at $40 million, but considering that Gold is simultaneously attending college while competing, at least she won't have any student loans.

With her competitive season ending with another injury, it's fair to say that Gold has earned some R&R, which will probably include time with her horses, both at the stables and in the stadium once football season begins again. That doesn't mean she'll be taking a break from Instagram anytime soon. Part of her future goals include becoming a veterinarian, which seems like an obvious fit. She's already studying psychology and veterinary medicine at the University of Colorado, but whether another Winter Olympics is in between now and that goal is yet to be seen. But she's young and has time to figure that out still. Who says she can't do both at once?