Topic: Ross Rebagliati

Ross Rebagliati (born July 14, 1971) is a Canadian professional snowboarder.

Rebagliati was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He turned pro in 1991. He was the first ever to win an Olympic gold medal for this sport at the 1998 Winter Olympics. After winning the gold, he was found to have marijuana in his circulatory system and he was automatically disqualified. This decision was eventually overturned, largely on the basis that marijuana was not on the list of banned substances, and Rebagliati was given back the medal.

On August 2, 2006 Rebagliati filed suit against Canadian television broadcaster CTV. The suit was filed in the British Columbia Supreme Court, and charges CTV with misappropriation of personality, breach of privacy and defamation. Rebagliati claims that a character on their TV series Whistler is based on him and has damaged his image. The character in question, Beck MacKaye, is a blond, blue-eyed, Olympic gold medal-winning snowboarder who lives in Whistler. CTV denied his claims, but the suit was ultimately settled out of court.