Olympic golden girl Torah Bright splits from husband Torah Bright celebrates her gold-medal win at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. The day of Torah Bright's wedding to Jake Welch. The couple has separated. WINTER Olympics golden girl Torah Bright's fairytale marriage to a fellow Mormon has hit the rocks. The champion snowboarder married American pro-snowboarder Jake Welch just three years ago after her gold medal-winning triumph at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Friends have told the Sunday Herald Sun the 26-year-old was saddened by her separation from Welch. However, she was determined not to let the split affect her performance at the Sochi Olympics in Russia in February. "This is a very private matter and we won't be making any comment," her mother, Marion Bright, said. Her preparations are going well. Mrs Bright said Torah had wanted her wedding to be private but photographs were published through social media networks such as Facebook. Torah wed in an intimate ceremony in Salt Lake City in June 2010, after a 10-month engagement. "He's the coolest guy, sweet, kind and gentle - he's helped me so much," she said before the wedding. "When you find the person you love, you don't wait," her husband-to-be said at the time. Torah dazzled Australia when she overcame two concussions to win the half-pipe event in Vancouver, becoming only the fourth Australian to score gold at a Winter Olympics. Coached by her brother Ben, she now aims to become the first snowboarder to compete in three disciplines at the Sochi Olympics. "Going back and just riding half-pipe and putting my life in half-pipe again is not enough," she said in February. It's not enough to keep me on my snowboard. She competed at a World Cup half-pipe event in Sochi earlier this year, finishing seventh. After growing up in Cooma at the base of the Snowy Mountains in NSW, where she was raised as a Mormon, Torah turned pro at the age of 14 and moved to Salt Lake City in Utah, which hosted the 2002 Winter Games. She is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For me it's just a way of life. I don't drink, smoke, drink tea or coffee, or have sex before marriage," she once said.