Meet Ross Rebagliati: Olympic Gold Medalist Snowboarder & Massive Marijuana Advocate

By Francis Xavier | April 20, 2018 2:52 pm ET

You may remember Ross Rebagliati as the 1998 Gold Medalist from Canada who tested positive for weed after winning the first-ever Olympic snowboarding giant slalom event. Fast forward to 2015 and you have a full on marijuana entrepreneur with a slant towards sports medicine based out of Whistler, BC. This is the story of Ross’ Gold:

“Ross Rebagliati was once embroiled in unchartered controversy at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano where he won gold and then tested positive for cannabis in the first-ever snowboarding giant slalom event. In the end, there was no infraction of the rules and his gold medal was reinstated.

Fast-forward to today where cannabis culture and legislation has drastically changed; Ross is now the go-to guy for cannabis in athletics. He openly helms a thriving cannabis company, which is a direct nod to his past: Ross’ Gold. Ross whisks us around Whistler showing us how he’s fully embraced and integrated cannabis into his life and diet. Consuming cannabis helps to fuel his body by increasing his appetite, essentially giving him the Munchies and enabling him to consume the calories he needs to actively perform and function as a faster and stronger athlete.”

Ross is very much still in the news when it comes to Marijuana Advocacy. Check out all the recent new items about him on his website HERE. Virgin did a nice piece about him pioneering in the legal cannabis industry:

The gold medal was reinstated and in recent years The World Anti-Doping Agency changed the threshold of THC in an athlete’s system from 15 nanograms per millilitre to 150 nanograms per millilitre. Cannabis across the globe is undergoing some reforms.

“You can argue this is a cultural issue now, some countries are not shifting in their stance and continue to pursue harsh penalties. Often law abiding, family-oriented members of society are caught up in the issue. But, we’re in a very different conversation now in Canada; the scientific evidence is proving the many benefits to legal marijuana, and the economic benefit is simply too hard to ignore. We’re looking at one of the few areas of commerce that provides a multi-million dollar industry practically overnight. I’ve always said that the only people that benefit from the prohibition of marijuana are organised crime groups. It’ll be interesting to see how many other regions follow in legalising after Canada.”