Win or lose in Vancouver, Teter a champ

By Matt Boxler

When my 11-year-old daughter returned from a quick visit to the Ben & Jerry’s factory recently with a pint of Maple Blondie ice cream and a huge grin, I realized how enormously popular snowboarder Hannah Teter truly is.

Perhaps if one of my buddies visits next week with a copy of the 2010 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue - the very one that features a photo of Teter sans snowboarding apparel – I’ll have to grin myself in yet another revelation of her mass appeal.

Heading into the Vancouver Winter Olympics this week, Teter certainly has the world by a string. Win or not, that’s not likely to change in the least.

At age 23, the Belmont, Vt., native already is an Olympic gold medalist, having won the halfpipe in Torino, Italy, in 2006. But this young athlete is transcending her sport, something not many athletes these days are capable of - or interested in - doing.

Winning the gold medal in 2006 gave Teter an enormous opportunity to make a difference, and she took advantage of it, even when her competitive success suffered. During the two-year period after Torino in which she was grounded by three knee surgeries, Teter’s commitment to charity work soared.

She decided to donate all her future contest prize winnings to those in need, and launched Hannah’s Gold (www.hannahsgold.com) to help homeless AIDS victims in Kirindon, Kenya. Through the sale of her branded maple syrup and wrist bands (made from organic cotton and hemp), Hannah’s Gold is helping to support clean water projects and the purchase of land for orphans in Kenya.

“I started Hannah’s Gold because I’ve always felt like there is a lot that needs to be done in the world, and who better to do it than me?” Teter said. “I approached the Olympics with that mindset, of wanting to help out, and be a positive role model for those out there that need one. Growing up in Vermont and making maple syrup with my family was very special, so selling maple syrup to help others is an amazing opportunity.”

Her efforts are supported by Vermont-based Ben & Jerry’s, which introduced Maple Blondie, the first time the ice cream company has named a flavor after an athlete. Ben & Jerry’s will donate a portion of the proceeds from each pint to benefit Hannah’s Gold. Her foundation is also supported by Samsung, which matches dollar for dollar (up to $30,000) sold of Hannah’s Gold maple syrup and wrist bands during 2010.

She’s got a lot of her other sponsors on board as well, including Okemo Mountain Resort and Burton Snowboards.

With her knee healed, Teter’s competitive successes returned in 2009-2010 as she made her push to land on her second U.S. Olympic Team. After back-to-back Grand Prix qualifying events last month in Utah, Teter announced that she would donate all her halfpipe winnings to the Haiti relief effort following the devastating earthquake there. She gave $10,000.

As we all know, Teter made the Olympic team and will no doubt be among America’s favorites in defending her title. And wouldn’t you know, a pint of blonde brownie pieces wrapped in maple caramel swirl is to die for.