At just 16 years old, Mia Brookes became the youngest snowboarding world champion after winning gold in the women’s slopestyle at the Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships in Bakuriani, Georgia on Monday.
Brookes claimed her win in style – becoming the first woman to land a CAB 1440 double grab in official competition – as the British teenager also secured her country’s first snowboard slopestyle world title.
“I feel like I could cry, I’ve never been so happy in my life,” Brookes told reporters after her win.
Brookes was too young to compete at the Winter Olympics in Beijing last year but showed few nerves on the big stage.
The British teenager sat second after her first run in Bakuriani but pulled out all the stops in her second attempt.
The 16-year-old, competing in her first year on the senior circuit, performed the highly complicated CAB 1440 double grab – which involves four full rotations in the air – to earn a winning score of 91.38.
“I actually can’t believe it,” she said about landing the trick, per GB Snowsport. “When I did it, I wasn’t sure I’d managed it, but I thought about it and was like yep, I’ve done a 14!”
New Zealand’s reigning Olympic champion Zoi Sadowski-Synnott took silver with a score of 88.78, while Japan’s Onitsuka Miyabi won bronze with 83.05.
“What Mia’s done out here today is just next level,” GB Snowsport head coach Pat Sharples said.
“We all know Mia’s got the talent, but this is her first season on the WC circuit and her first World championships so to land a run like that with all the pressure of a World Championships tells you everything you need to know about her.
“We’re all so stoked for Mia, her coaches Mikey and Ben, her parents Vicky and Nige, and the whole team around her.”
Exciting talent
Brookes, who is still at school, has long been considered one of the most talented youngsters in the world of winter sports.
She was just 18-months old when she first tried snowboarding, honing her skills in both the UK and on European ski trips with her parents.
However, it’s not always been plane sailing for the youngster.
In 2021, she suffered a serious concussion while snowboarding, per Team GB, and had to be airlifted off the slopes.
While admitting that she still gets a little scared when competing, the Winter Olympics in 2026 at Milan-Cortina remain a big goal in her life.
“The Olympic rings are at the end of the tunnel,” she told Team GB.
“But I take it day by day and think about what I need to improve on next. The Olympics would be quite cool.”