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BARDONECCHIA, Italy -- Her name might not be familiar, but snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis has become the familiar face of these Winter Games before she has touched snow in competition.
The 2005 world champion of snowboardcross (SBX) is the face on that ubiquitous Visa check-card commercial, a Kellogg's Frosted Flakes cereal box and your local Dunkin Donuts counter, among a slew of ad deals.
"Lindsey is unquestionably a serious medal contender," says Gabe Glosband, winter sports marketing director of Scott USA, which makes Jacobellis' goggles.
"Her glowing smile and golden curls, coupled with her proven results, make Lindsey an ideal spokesperson."
The 20-year-old Vermonter's rise to fame is no miracle on ice, however.
Before the Olympic flame had been extinguished at the 2002 Winter Games, marketing executives at Visa and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association had identified Jacobellis as a potential star.
Jacobellis also regularly competes in halfpipe but will not compete in the event in Torino.
Snowboardcross, which will make its Olympic debut next week, brings out Jacobellis' aggressive streak.
"It is not as laid back as halfpipe," she says. "There's a lot more energy around it."
A variation of motocross, SBX involves racing down an undulating course riddled with bumps, big jumps and tight corners and elbow-jabbing battles for position.
"At the start, I focus on what I need to do," Jacobellis says. "The key is to get a strong pull at the gate.
"For me, the races are won on the big jumps. Some of the girls are scared, but I just do it."
Her marketing appeal? Now that's another matter.
"The attention (from the Visa ad) is somewhat embarrassing," she says. "I don't get stopped on the street, but people do bring it up at snowboarding events. But if it helps get my face out there, it helps both me and the sport."
She might be reticent, but Michael Lynch, Visa's senior vice president of partnership marketing, is downright exuberant about her impact.
"Four years ago we knew that Lindsey had what it takes," says Lynch, who saw Visa star potential in swimmer Michael Phelps and beach volleyball players Misty May and Kerri Walsh years before they became famous.
"In addition to the national television ad, she's been featured on literally millions of inserts that go out in cardholder statements from member banks, as well as point-of-sale displays at stores."
A Lindsey Jacobellis affinity Visa card also can be obtained through a U.S. Olympic Committee program that uses several top athletes. She's also working on a Visa-sponsored program that raises money for Olympic hopefuls.
Jacobellis was the beneficiary of Visa-USOC training help earlier in her career. Now she's paid an undisclosed amount directly from Visa. Her hefty portfolio includes deals made through the Olympic system and her agent, Josh Schwartz. In the sometimes-edgy world of snowboarding, such close ties to marketers make some athletes nervous.
"Global mass marketing is a smart way of corruption. Enormous commercial powers are influencing us to do or buy stuff we really don't need," says Norway's Terje Haakonsen, one of the world's best snowboarders and a vocal opponent of the Olympics.
"All sporting organizations, not only the IOC, must have that in mind when they make events, and especially snowboarding organizers as they are focusing on young people. Organizing snowboarding events takes a lot of money, and it's not possible without sponsors. But you have to set strict rules on which sponsors you are working with and how your sponsors can approach the kids."
A wizard at stealing spotlight
Jacobellis is the only American woman competing in the sport here. She's undaunted about rival nations teaming up on her.
"I'm somewhat used to team tactics being used against me," she says. "But I just blast through them."
Shaun Palmer, the 37-year-old maestro of the snowboard, is a sponsor -- she rides a Palmer snowboard -- and a mentor.
"Lindsey can win a gold medal," says Palmer, who made the U.S. SBX team but was injured in practice. "She has her aggressive days and her not-so-aggressive days. She has to make sure she has a very aggressive day on Feb.17."
Contrast that to her Visa commercial, titled "Nervous," which shows a fidgety Jacobellis at the starting gate of a snowboardcross heat.
Her coach tries to calm her down, then finally asks her to imagine her Visa check card has been stolen.
She smiles like Grace Kelly, then proceeds to beat out her rivals in the rough-and-tumble race down the mountain.
Visa's Lynch says studies have shown the ad has been effective in getting across the message of card safety.
"The numbers have been good, very good," he says.
Her almost-silent role has brought up the possibility of Jacobellis going Hollywood after Torino, but she is much more cautious than she is on course.
"We're taking it one step at a time," she says. "It's a possibility."
Before her ad debut, her biggest starring role was Dorothy in an elementary school production of The Wizard of Oz.
"The best thing is that it has raised questions from people who have seen the commercial," she says. "What is this sport, and what's it all about?"
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