Dara Howell Winter Olympics 2018 Early Life Dara Howell Is a Canadian Freestyle Skier Who Was Born in Ontario on 23Rd August 1994
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Dara Howell Winter Olympics 2018 Early Life Dara Howell is a Canadian freestyle skier who was born in Ontario on 23rd August 1994. She started skiing when she was just 18 months old. She also learnt to alpine race and figure skate but moved away from these sports at the age of 15. Dara learned to ski with the Nancy Greene program, a Canadian ski club which focused on children enjoying skiing rather than winning. Dara didn’t find the program much fun and left. At the age of 17, Dara was the youngest female competitor at the Winter X Games in 2012. She went on to win a bronze medal in these Games. During 2013, Dara also won her first silver medal in the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships. Olympic Success In the 2014 Winter Olympic Games held in Sochi, Russia, Dara won a gold medal. It was the first gold won by anyone in the ski slopestyle category. Dara dominated the competition from the start. In the final, her amazing first run gained her 94.20 points, which gave her a lead of almost nine points over the other competitors. Dara dedicated her Olympic gold medal to her fellow skiing friend called Sarah Burke. Sarah had sadly died following a skiing accident in 2012. Did You Know? Dara enjoys wakeboarding, surfing and shopping. She always has a special bracelet in her pocket during competitions as a good luck charm. Her motto is: ‘If you put your mind to it, you can do anything.’ Photo courtesy of Thivierr (@commons.wikimedia.org) - granted under creative commons licence - attribution Page 1 of 3 visit twinkl.com Dara Howell – Winter Olympics 2018 Questions 1. Where is Dara Howell from? Tick one. Colombia Canada California Canberra 2. How old was Dara when she started skiing? Tick one. 18 years old 18 months old 8 years old 1 year old 3. What was the main aim for children skiing with the Nancy Greene club? Tick one. to win to give it up to enjoy it to take exams 4. What was surprising about Dara entering the X Games in 2012? Tick one. She was the only female taking part. She was the only tall female taking part. She was too young to take part. She was the youngest female taking part. 5. Match up the sentences. At the X Games in 2012, Dara won a silver medal. At the World Ski Championships in 2013, Dara won a gold medal. At the Winter Olympics in 2014, Dara won a bronze medal. 6. Find and copy one word which means had control over a situation or ruled over others. Page 2 of 3 visit twinkl.com Dara Howell – Winter Olympics 2018 Questions 7. Why does she have a bracelet in her pocket? Tick one. for fun to wear later for luck to look at 8. What do you think Dara means when she says in her motto: If you put your mind to it, you can do anything? Page 3 of 3 visit twinkl.com Dara Howell – Winter Olympics 2018 Answers 1. Where is Dara Howell from? Tick one. Colombia Canada California Canberra 2. How old was Dara when she started skiing? Tick one. 18 years old 18 months old 8 years old 1 year old 3. What was the main aim for children skiing with the Nancy Greene club? Tick one. to win to give it up to enjoy it to take exams 4. What was surprising about Dara entering the X Games in 2012? Tick one. She was the only female taking part. She was the only tall female taking part. She was too young to take part. She was the youngest female taking part. 5. Match up the sentences. At the X Games in 2012, Dara won a silver medal. At the World Ski Championships in 2013, Dara won a gold medal. At the Winter Olympics in 2014, Dara won a bronze medal. 6. Find and copy one word which means had control over a situation or ruled over others. dominated Page 1 of 2 visit twinkl.com Dara Howell – Winter Olympics 2018 Answers 7. Why does she have a bracelet in her pocket? Tick one. for fun to wear later for luck to look at 8. What do you think Dara means when she says in her motto: If you put your mind to it, you can do anything? Pupils’ own responses, such as: I think Dara meant that if you have a positive attitude or try as hard as you can, you can do anything you want to. Page 2 of 2 visit twinkl.com Dara Howell Winter Olympics 2018 Athlete Profile Dara Howell is a Canadian freestyle skier, born in Huntsville, Ontario on 23rd August 1994. She started skiing when she was only 18 months old. She learned to play other winter sports, such as alpine racing and figure skating but decided to ‘rebel’ at the age of 15, and stopped practising these sports. She enjoyed the jumping of figure skating but not much else interested her. Dara learned to ski with the Nancy Greene program, a Canadian ski club, which was initially concerned with children enjoying skiing rather than winning. Despite this intention, Dara didn’t find the program very enjoyable and left. At the age of 17, Dara was the youngest Did You Know? female competitor at the Winter X Games The X Games are an annual in 2012. She went on to win a bronze extreme sports event, including medal at these Games. skateboarding, snowboarding, During 2013, Dara also won her first mountain biking, BMX riding silver medal in the FIS Freestyle World Ski and skiing. They are held in Championships. Aspen, Colorado, USA. Olympic Success In the 2014 Winter Olympic Games held in Sochi, Russia, Dara won a gold medal. It was the first gold won by anyone in the ski slopestyle category. Dara dominated the competition from the start. In the final, her amazing first run gained her 94.20 points, which gave her a lead of almost nine points over the other competitors. Dara dedicated her Olympic gold medal to her fellow skiing friend called Sarah Burke. Sarah had tragically died following a skiing accident in 2012. Photo courtesy of Thivierr (@commons.wikimedia.org) - granted under creative commons licence - attribution Page 1 of 4 visit twinkl.com Dara Howell - Winter Olympics 2018 After Sochi After winning gold at the Winter Olympics in 2014, Dara struggled with the fame and media attention. She came close to giving up skiing altogether. Her father, Doug Howell, said, “Dara’s a very quiet person. She couldn’t come downstairs [after winning] because people wanted to take a picture with her.” Fortunately, Dara didn’t give up, and, after a few months off from training, she took up the sport again. Fun Facts Dara enjoys wakeboarding, surfing and shopping. Her biggest fear is dogs. She always has a special bracelet in her pocket during competitions as a good luck charm. Her motto is: ‘If you put your mind to it, you can do anything.’ Page 2 of 4 visit twinkl.com Dara Howell – Winter Olympics 2018 Questions 1. Where was Dara Howell born? Tick one. Huntingdon Huntsville Hertford Hermitsville 2. What do you understand by the word rebelled in the first paragraph? 3. Name two events you might expect to see at the X Games. 4. Complete these sentences: In 2012, Dara In 2013, Dara In 2014, Dara 5. What could be said to be amazing about the gold that Dara won in the 2014 Winter Olympic Games? 6. Tick one synonym for tragically. unfortunately sadly calmly dearly 7. Look at the paragraphs in the section titled After Sochi. Identify two things we are told about Dara. Page 3 of 4 visit twinkl.com Dara Howell – Winter Olympics 2018 Questions 8. Explain what media attention is. 9. Rewrite Dara’s motto in your own words: If you put your mind to it, you can do anything. 10. Choose an adjective to describe Dara and explain your choice. Page 4 of 4 visit twinkl.com Dara Howell – Winter Olympics 2018 Answers 1. Where was Dara Howell born? Tick one. Huntingdon Huntsville Hertford Hermitsville 2. What do you understand by the word rebelled in the first paragraph? Accept any suitable explanation of the word, such as: Dara rebelled when learning to alpine race and figure skate because she gave them both up, which may have been something she wasn’t expected to do. 3. Name two events you might expect to see at the X Games. Accept any two of the following: skateboarding, snowboarding, mountain biking, BMX riding and skiing. 4. Complete these sentences: In 2012, Dara won a bronze medal at the X Games in Tignes. In 2013, Dara won her first silver medal in the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships. In 2014, Dara won an Olympic gold medal at the Winter Olympics. 5. What could be said to be amazing about the gold that Dara won in the 2014 Winter Olympic Games? It was amazing that Dara had won the first gold achieved by anyone in the ski slopestyle category. 6. Tick one synonym for tragically. unfortunately sadly calmly dearly 7. Look at the paragraphs in the section titled After Sochi. Identify two things we are told about Dara. Accept any two of the following: Dara found it very hard to deal with the fame after winning a gold medal; Dara nearly gave up skiing altogether; She is a quiet person; She took some time off from training; She got back into her sport eventually.