Michelle Roark

Maria Cruz Garcia, Erin Hamlin, Chellsie Memmel, Shannon Miller, Michelle Roark, Angela Ruggiero, and Ashley Wagner have joined the roster of stars at Great Friends Greetings!

Great Friends Greetings is a totally unique gift idea.  Great Friends Greetings sells custom printed premium quality greeting cards that make great gifts and feature well-known sports, music, TV and movie stars.

Great Friends Greetings’ unique greeting card, containing a message designed and personalized by the customer, appears to the recipient to come directly from the athlete.  They have a spectacular photo printed in front and a customer composed message inside. The cards are signed with the celebrity’s actual signature image. (read more)

  THE SPECIAL EDITION OF THE MIKE MARTIN TALK SHOW US OLYMPICS EPISODE Friday, July 31, 2009 Featuring Shade Global Winter Athletes, Angela Ruggiero, Erin Hamlin, Michelle Roark, Maria Garcia & 2008 Olympic Gymnast Chellsie Memmel The Mike Martin Show Date / Time: 7/31/2009 5:00-6:30pm EST Call-in Number: (347) 637-3716 Tune in at: www.blogtalkradio.com/mikemartintalkshow Call in with comments & questions for these outstanding American heroes! This episode of the Mike Martin Talk Show is jam-packed with Olympic athlete interviews and Olympic talk, including: 3-Time Ice Hockey Olympic Medalist & World Champion- Angela Ruggiero; 2009 Luge World Champion & Olympian- Erin Hamlin, 2008 Olympic Gymnastics Silver Medalist & 2005 All-Around World Champion- Chellsie Memmel; World Cup, National Champion & Olympic Skier- Michelle Roark; and American Record Holder & Olympic Speedskater Maria Cruz Garcia! (read more)

303 Magazine, April 2009

Dressed from head to toe in ski gear, Michelle Roark enters the coffee shop and makes her way to my table. I extend my hand, then change my mind and go for a hug. Roark possesses the kind of friendly demeanor and exuber­ant energy that draws a person in.

She apologizes profusely for not having had a chance to change, then unzips her black ski jacket to reveal a pink striped scarf and pink sweater under­neath. “I have to wear jackets that make me look like a boy!” she exclaims. “Where’s the sequins?”

Coming from a figure skating background, the inner girly girl in her often butts heads with the ex­terior tomboy skier. “I always try to combine figure skating and skiing,” she says, referring to times when she’s “dressed up” her ski outfits with fur cuffs. A fan of rhinestones and anything sparkly, she wants noth­ing more than “to be on Dancing With the Stars. I want to learn to dance, and I want to wear those outfits!”

This skater-turned-skier is a multiple World Cup champion and a silver medalist who competes for the U.S. Ski Team. Roark’s journey finally landed her in the 2006 Olympics, after she sustained multi­ple knee injuries that kept her out of the 1994 Winter Olympics, as well as out of the1998 and 2002 games. When I ask for details about her injuries, she laughs nervously and asks not to talk about them, worried that talking might bring bad luck. She then knocks on wood and asks me to do the same.

Roark’s ski career is just one of many founda­tions she’s established for herself. A chemical en­gineer (Roark is two classes away from earning a degree from the Colorado School of Mines), she’s created her own line of perfumes, Phi-nomenal, to enhance the ski experience. “Skiing is all about be­ing in tune with all five senses, and I couldn’t find a smell I liked, so I wanted to make my own.” She stud­ied medicinal purposes of essential oils to combine them in a way that would enhance the sense of smell. No easy achievement, considering it takes her a year to develop each fragrance, but she’s up to five fra­grances for women and is working on a second one for men. (read more)