Star of the ski superpipe

Burke was born in Midland, Ont. and began skiing at the age of five. By 15 she was a competitive moguls skier before becoming a pioneer of women's freestyle skiing, a halfpipe sport dominated by snowboarders. Burke was a passionate advocate for freestyle skiing, convincing the Winter X Games to include a women's event in their competition and campaigning for years to get the sport included in the Olympics. Burke's efforts paid off and she was looking forward to competing in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, where she was a gold medal favourite. Burke lived in Squamish, B.C. and was married to freestyle skier Rory Bushfield in September, 2010.

* Bing: More on freestyle skiing at Sochi