| "It was like if not now, then when?" Mia Brookes' Coach Takes us Behind the Scenes at the Olympics

"I suppose if you look two years ago, yeah, we've had a mind on this event. But for Mia, I don't think that would have changed the way that she went about her business. X Games has been up there as a priority in the last couple of years, and the tricks she's learned lend themselves to the Olympics, but they weren't necessarily created just for this one event."

"As you know, snowboarding is very self-determined-athletes like Mia have got a good eye on the tricks that they want to learn, and they keep an eye on the progression of the sport and what's needed to compete. But with Mia in particular, she always wants to put her stamp on things. It's not just chasing the tricks everyone else is doing."

"Well, no two days are ever exactly the same. One day we could be heading somewhere where we know there's going to be a bunch of other riders from other countries that Mia's gonna get on really well with, and who'll push her. And then they'll maybe have a fun expression session and start to play with new grabs. Or, it might be like we were in December, just Mia and me, purely on our own in a park in Ruka up in Finland, working very specifically on a frontside 10 and getting that done. What's great about Mia, more than just about any other athlete, is she will genuinely want to go snowboarding every single day. The mileage and repetition she gets because she enjoys it so much is part of what builds her amazing level of consistency-but also her flair."

Preparations for the event began around two years ago, with X Games prioritized in the last couple of years. Learned tricks translate to Olympic-style competition but were not developed solely for one event. Snowboarding progression is athlete-driven, with riders selecting and advancing tricks to remain competitive. Mia focuses on originality and aims to put her stamp on tricks rather than simply copying others. Training days vary between group sessions that foster creativity and solo, focused practice such as working a frontside 10 in Ruka, Finland. Daily enjoyment leads to high mileage and repetition, underpinning both consistency and flair.

Read at Whitelines Snowboarding