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ESPN Names Whitefish’s Voisin Slopestyle ‘Rookie of the Year’

By Beacon Staff

Maggie Voisin, a 14-year-old from Whitefish, continues her ascent in the world of freeskiing. She became the youngest athlete added to the U.S. Freesking Team and ESPN named her Rookie of the Year last week.

Voisin is entering the winter as a rising contender for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. She has already garnered praise and attention throughout the competitive community over the last few months. In April, she won the women’s slopestyle event at the Association of Freeskiing Professionals’ championships, defeating a strong field that included the defending X Games champion and top-ranked professional freeskier in the world. In the event, Voisin achieve a switch left 900, the only 900 thrown by a female.

After Voisin moved to Utah to train with top-notch programs last spring, the head coach of the U.S. Freeskiing Rookie team asked her to join the team, making her the youngest skier on the U.S. squad of prospective Olympians.

Last month, she nabbed fourth at the FIS World Cup Slopestyle contest in New Zealand.

The Olympic team will be announced Jan. 17-19, with several qualifying events leading up. Team USA athletes are vying for 26 overall freestyle spots that are divided between halfpipe, slopestyle, skicross, moguls and aerials with a maximum quota of four starters in each discipline per gender.

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