A Glimpse Into Rebbecca's World

"Olympic Quality, Catholic Mom"

Travels from: Gunnison, Colorado

Rebecca Dussault  is an American cross-country skier who was born and raised in Gunnison, Colorado.  She is married with two children and participated in the 2006 Winter Olympics.  She was featured on EWTN'S Life On The Rock, Catholic TV Show, for her zeal of her faith and her active Catholic lifestyle.

A Personal Note From Rebecca ... 

I am Rebecca Dussault. I was born and raised in the Colorado mountains. I am one of three children.  I have an older sister and a younger brother. I was married to Sharbel Dussault  of Gunnison on Nov. 27th 1999.  We have two sons, Tabor who is 6 years old and Simeon who is one year old.   They are our  our pride and joy. 

I started cross country ski racing at 15 years old and moved to the top of the sport very rapidly. I had many national victories as a junior. At age 18 I graduated from Climbing High Homeschool. I decided not to go to college but instead said yes to my child hood sweetheart who asked me to marry him.  I kept skiing for one more year after being married and then decided to retire from skiing so I could focus on other things in life, mainly my family.  My main reason for hanging my skies up at such a young age was to re-prioritize and break away from the spotlight.  My skiing had become all consuming and I realized that I was not going to be ale to keep up the demanding schedule and raise a family.

However, after a 3 year break, during which our son Tabor was born,  my husband and I began to discuss the possibility of me racing again.  In February of 2003 I decided to enter a local college race in Crested Butte, Colorado. How I would do? I hadn’t been training hardly at all.  The race was a 10km skate race and I found myself at the line with two time Olympian, Katrin Smigun.  She was also undefeated in all her college races.  When the gun went off I quickly found myself right on the tails of her skis.  It wasn’t long before the two us were in a break away from the pack.  The crowd couldn't believe it, neither could I!  We exchanged the lead back and forth during the 25 minute race. All the while I was telling myself this couldn’t be true.  I hung with her on the steepest climbs and she hung with me.  The finish came down to a photo finish in which no one had a camera.  It was never determined who won that race but I always said, “Tie goes to the local.”  I went on the next weekend to another race and beat her in a 5km skate race.  This was the starting point of our discussion for my return to elite cross country ski racing. After a lot of prayer and the determination to keep our family together no matter the cost, we came to the conclusion that now was the time. God had given me a talent and now he had given me another chance.  So here I am back on my skis training hard year round and proving to myself and to others that it is possible to live life to its fullest, be a mom, help run a business and persevere through all the ups and downs. It is all a matter of God’s graces helping me prioritize and schedule my life so that I can accomplish all of my goals.  

In February of 2006 I accomplished my goal of skiing well in the Torino, Italy Olympics.  My family and I had been preparing for this for three years   My husband Sharbel and my son Tabor were there with me every step of the way.  We traveled the world visiting countries like Norway, Finland, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, France, New Zealand, Canada, Alaska and other states.   Sharbel and Tabor did not missed a single race during my come back which was about 60 races in three years. 

Even though I would love to keep racing and traveling around the world I do have other priorities.  I am looking forward to having more children and living a simple life in the mountains.  In reality I know that I would have to compete for a decade or more to really exhaust my potential. I guess family is just way too important to me. I want to have more kids and be there for them.  Somebody has to be around to teach them how to ski.