AHS Alum Brings Home the Gold Medal

Alex Rigsby, 26, is a Arrowhead High School graduate and she won the gold medal in the 2018 Olympics for ice hockey. She is a goalie, and went to college at University of Wisconsin Madison. She currently plays hockey with the Minnesota Whitecaps.

Alex Rigsby says in an interview with Wisconsin State Journal, “Playing boys hockey was always a challenge. You always had to prove yourself and prove that you belonged with the team and could handle your own.”

Junior Jessica Surdyk says, “I think it shows how people from wherever can be great at something if they really put in effort. The amount of dedication that students and fans put into sports at Arrowhead is what makes athletes strive. The greatness that she put forth by winning a gold medal for hockey shows that she started out the same as all of us in high school now and became a great olympic athlete. I think her story is inspiring considering how it coordinates Arrowhead and its excellence.”

Rigsby also says in an interview with Wisconsin State Journal, “But to be able to come back with all the support that I have and continuing to train for the past three years at the end of college, thanks to my friends, family and teammates, now I’m back in it and continuing to chase my dreams of being in an Olympics and competing for that gold medal,”

The Interview 74, a news article publishing company interviewed Rigsby, and asked what the best part of her whole experience has been and she said, “Seeing the impact it has on children. It is so fun interacting with them and seeing the progress they are making throughout the year and the different challenges that they accept and meet from what I give them every month. I was lucky to be able to see two classrooms of mine last year. It was just so awesome to see all the kids and how excited they were, and see them look to me as a friend and get excited to work on their goals and perseverance and all the different types of things we talk about.”

According to Team USA’s online profile of Rigsby she was the first goalie to be named captain on the Wisconsin Badgers Ice Hockey team.

Rigsby has participated in four years of the world championship for ice hockey, and has four gold medals.

According to the NBC olympics website and interview with Rigsby, “I had major hip surgery [when I was] 18 and 19 years old. I was originally told I would never play at the elite level again. It was a major setback in my career where I spent months in rehab and overcoming challenges and obstacles along the way. Challenges like learning how to walk and skate again. Dropping into a butterfly again was one of the most terrifying things, but I had to trust that I was far enough along in the healing process that I wouldn’t mess anything up. I also had the mindset that I was going to come back even stronger than I was before and feel I did accomplish that.”

Junior Tori Kafkas says, “Alex Rigsby’s story is very inspiring and once I got to look into the hardwork and hardships she faced it really shows how anyone can do what they set their mind to. It is inspiring and it is a story I will remember to help me through my struggles in life. WE can relate to this at life at Arrowhead by realizing we aren’t that much different than her. We all go through hard times and they just lead us to greater success in the end.”