Sarah Burke, one of the world’s top freestyle skiers, died yesterday aged 29 after suffering cardiac arrest and irreversible brain damage. She sustained her injuries when she crashed in a freak accident during a training run on a half-pipe in Park City, Utah, 9 days ago.

Burke was a pioneer in the world of superpipe skiing. In 2001, she came 1st in the half-pipe event at the US Freeskiing Open, and she became the first world half-pipe champion after the event debuted at the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships in 2005. She also won 4 gold medals in freestyle skiing at the Winter X Games, and was the first woman to successfully land a 1080 jump.

She was even responsible for getting the superpipe event added to the 2014 Winter Olympics, but, tragically, she won’t be around to take part in the event she was strong favourite to win.

Peter Judge, CEO of Canada’s freestyle team, said:

“Sarah, in many ways, defines the sport… She’s been involved since the very, very early days as one of the first people to bring skis into the pipe.”

David Mirota, the team’s high performance director, added:

“She was a great, positive person for the whole team, the whole sport.”

Burke will be sadly missed by her fellow athletes, her fans and her family, but also the man she married in 2010, fellow freestyle skier Rory Bushfield.

Whether you’re into skiing or not, there’s no question that Sarah Burke was someone who lived life to the full and a great example to many people.

We dug out a couple of clips as a reminder of exactly what she was all about…