American freestyle skier
Kristi Leskinen (born February 10, 1981, in Uniontown, Pennsylvania) is an American freestyle skier. 
At Winter X Games IX, Leskinen won a bronze medal in the Women's Superpipe. 
Leskinen was the first woman to pull off a rodeo 720: two rotations with her head pointed towards the earth. She was named one of the Twenty Greatest Adventure Sport Athletes of today by Faces Magazine in fall of 2005. She appeared on the cover of "Powder" magazine's Photo Annual in 2004.
Early life.
Leskinen was born in 1981 and grew up in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, near Seven Springs Mountain Resort and Hidden Valley Resort. She learned to pole vault two weeks before Regionals her senior year of high school; she set a school record while qualifying for the State Championships. In addition, she was the Western Pennsylvania breaststroke champion.
Leskinen’s favorite sports growing up were skiing and wakeboarding. She won the first mogul contest she entered and she was being groomed to compete in the Olympics as a teenager. Moguls did not offer the freedom she craved, so she switched to wakeboarding. She took second in the US Wakeboard Nationals and fourth at the World Championship. In 2000, while attending the US Open, she spotted some pros having a practice session on a rail and decided to learn freestyle skiing.
Professional career.
In her first US Open, Leskinen was the only woman doing the Big Air event and one of the handful of women participating on the Superpipe. By 2004, the sport had grown and the US Open had 40 athletes participating in the Superpipe, the largest of its kind in the world. She took second place.
Leskinen realized that videos reach a bigger audience than a single contest. She started filming all over the world.
In 2005, she took bronze at the Winter X Games as well as a silver at the World Championship in the Halfpipe. In the same year, she placed first at the Gravity Games Halfpipe. Since that season, she has had many notable performances such as second place in the North American Open in 2008, third place in the European Open in 2008, and second in the Aspen Open in 2009.
Modeling and television career.
With her classic high cheekbones and blonde tresses, Leskinen became a pin-up girl in sponsor posters. She was named of the "100 Hottest Women of 2005" by FHM.
In early 2009, Leskinen appeared on the show "The Superstars" on ABC, which pitted pairs of athletes and celebrities in a series of athletic events. She and her partner, dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy from "Dancing with the Stars", won.
Leskinen appeared on the 30th season of "The Amazing Race" with teammate Jen Hudak; they finished in 3rd place.
Personal life.
Leskinen resides in Mammoth Lakes, California.
References.
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