Tanja Frieden

Tanja Frieden ( born February 6, 1976 in Bern ) is a Swiss snowboarder and Olympic champion.

At the age of eleven, she went for the first time on a snowboard, her first World Cup race she contested in 1997. Since winning the silver medal at the 2000 European Championships she is a world leader.

They celebrated their biggest ever success at the Olympic Winter Games in 2006 when she won the gold medal in Bardonecchia in the inaugural Snowboard Cross discipline on February 17. Until shortly before the finish it was well behind Lindsey Jacobellis, but on the penultimate jump crashed after a failed Showeinlage and the victory of the Swiss had to leave. Just a day before was the American Seth Wescott, was associated with the peace for a long time, also become Olympic champion in the snowboard cross. She was honored as Swiss Sportswoman of the Year 2006.

In a qualifying round of the boarder-cross World Cup in Stoneham Tanja Frieden crashed heavily on January 20, 2010. She suffered a shoulder injury and both sides an Achilles tendon injury. On 26 January 2010, she announced her retirement from competitive sport.

Tanja Frieden mother Kari comes from Norway, which is why they started yet for this country at the beginning of her career. Before she became a professional snowboarder, she worked part time as a teacher.