Olympic medalist turned pot business owner Ross Rebagliati has had "a wild ride" over the years. CBC's Ian Hanomansing did a great feature interview with him this week, taking us back 20 years to when the then-young snowboarder won-lost-got-back the first ever Olympic gold medal in the sport. It's an interesting journey, and you can take some time with it in the video below.
Rebagliati describes himself as a "G'd out Olympian" in his Instagram bio, and he seems to have stepped the G-ness up a notch over the past couple of months. First by getting a tattoo of the marijuana venture he founded in 2013, Ross' Gold, on his hand. That happened in December.
The second and perhaps most G thing he did was get a gold crown mounted, right in the front of his grill, with the same logo on it. He got that done, perhaps not-coincidentally, in the same month that his weed company was acquired by an operation called R Gold Ventures Inc. He has stayed on board with the company.
As an athlete it's natural to have company logos emblazoned on garments and equipment. Ross gave Roots Athletic so many brand impressions during his Olympic run and for 2 decades following; every time his story gets brought up again we see him at a podium rocking their not-too-G-apparel.
He's taken the concept of endorsement to another level by getting inked and forged for life. Now listed on the company's website as a "Brand Ambassador", he's doing a great job of spreading the gospel of Ross' Gold to a wide audience.
