UNFORGIVING

The greatest female snowboard cross athlete of all time tells the story of “an unending, uncompromising determination to push myself.”

“They’ve become the manifestation of every dream I’ve allowed myself to dream,” writes Jacobellis, with the assistance of veteran ghostwriter and collaborator Paisner, about the two gold medals she won at the 2022 Olympics. About the aftermath of her devastating fall at the 2006 Olympics, when she was 20, the author writes, “In the end I came to believe that it was the fall that drove me to keep competing, to keep pushing myself long past the age when most athletes hang it up.” Now 37, Jacobellis describes a life driven by unrelenting, obsessive tenacity—e.g., “I couldn’t keep from pushing myself,” “I was always looking to push myself, to outrace and outhustle everyone else,” “I was really pushing it every time I went out.” Sharing a lesson she has learned over decades committed to a sport that “can be unforgiving for so long," the former five-time world champion and 10-time X Games champion notes, “In any discipline, it’s never about them—meaning the other riders in the field. It’s always about me—meaning no one else has the power to dictate the outcome. That’s the mindset you need to embrace.” It’s a theme she emphasizes throughout this inspiring yet often repetitive book. The author delivers a variety of relatable family and sports stories, including accounts of the many injuries she endured and numerous years of competitions fueled by dogged, laser-focused perseverance. “I’m still the same person,” Jacobellis writes now, more than a year after becoming an Olympic champion. “I’m still chasing, still pushing myself to be the best I can be. Still wondering what my life is going to look like away from snowboarding. Because that’s how I’m wired.”

Sure to appeal to fans of Jacobellis as well as the sport.