Zoe Gillings, Britain's No 1 Olympic snow sports athelete and entrepreneur finished in a very impressive 7th place a the Veysonnaz Snowboard Cross World Cup yesterday in Switzerland, fending off stiff competition from the Olympic Silver medallist, Deborah Antonioz.
Zoe qualified in an impressive 7th place on Wednesday out of a field of 24 – this is Zoe’s highest qualification so far this season qualifying faster than the Olympic Gold medallist Maelle Ricker. The course was fast with huge jumps but as always Zoe rose to the challenge.
Since Zoe’s UK Sport World Class funding was cancelled at the end of last season, to date, Zoe has received no funding whatsoever from the English government or her governing body, Zoe has relied solely on her personal sponsors – Pokerstars, Neteller, BMW and Isle of Man Sports Aid to provide her with an Olympic training program.
Zoe commented, “I simply wouldn’t be able to compete at this level if it weren’t for the tremendous support of my personal sponsors. They make it possible for me not just to compete but to consistently produce World Class results, thank you so so much. Whats even better is that Netellers ewallet allows me to securely pay for things all around the world while Im competing!”
Zoe headed into the heats yesterday and quickly progressed into the semi finals. Zoe made a small mistake during the race which saw her finish in 4th place and thus into the small final to determine places 7-12. Zoe didn’t hold back and won her heat against 5 other athletes including the Olympic silver medallist securing an overall finish position of 7th.
Zoe is now ranked 8th in the World. Zoe supplied the BBC with headcam footage of the course which became one of the highest viewed videos on the site.
At the age of 26yrs and right in the middle of her Olympic training program, nine months ago Zoe turned entrepreneur and now runs the largest Daily Deals website in the Isle of Man – www.IsleofDeals.com. Zoe is successfully running this business from her Olympic training and competition program locations and has to date saved Isle of Man consumers over ? million pounds and is about to employ its first full time employee on the Isle of Man. All profits from IsleofDeals.com are being invested, together with Zoe’s personal sponsors, into her Olympic training program.
Today Zoe is running IsleofDeals.com, tomorrow, Zoe will be qualifying for the second World Cup SBX event in Veysonnaz, Switzerland and the finals will be held on Sunday.
Zoe then heads to North America for a hectic schedule of races which includes the prestigious invitation only X Games event being held in Aspen, Colorado, on the 28th January.
During this hectic period, Zoe will be launching a new business in Leeds – www.ZGCityDeals.com as well as running Zoes first major successful business venture - www.IsleofDeals.com.
ENDS
