Meryeta O'Dine (born February 24, 1997) is a Canadian

snowboarder Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...

, competing in the discipline of

snowboard cross Snowboard cross, also known as boardercross, is a snowboard competition in which four to six competitors race down a course. Snowboard cross courses are typically quite narrow and include cambered turns, various types of jumps, berms, rollers, ...

. She won two bronze medals in Women's snowboard cross, and Mixed team snowboard cross at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

in Beijing.

Career

Early career

O'dine's first major medal was when she won a gold medal competing for British Columbia at the

2015 Canada Winter Games The 2015 Canada Winter Games, officially known as the XXV Canada Games, is a Canadian multi-sport event that was held from February 12 to March 1, 2015, in Prince George, British Columbia. Sports Alpine skiing 2016–17 FIS Snowboard World Cup The 2016–17 FIS Snowboard World Cup was 23rd multi race season in snowboarding. Competition consisted of the parallel slalom, parallel giant slalom, snowboard cross, halfpipe, slopestyle and big air. Men Parallel Snowboard Cross Big ...

season and secured her first podium finish when she won the bronze at the stop in Feldberg, Germany. This came after early season injuries nearly derailed the season, she had suffered a concussion in September 2016 and nearly ruptured her ligament after that, but still suffered a bruised heel. The following season she continued to perform well, with eight top 10 finishes, and she paired well with

Zoe Bergermann Zoe Bergermann (born April 28, 1994) is a Canadian snowboarder, competing in the discipline of snowboard cross. She competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics, in Women's snowboard cross. Life She was born in Georgetown, and grew up in Erin, Onta ...

in women's team snowboard cross. With her good run of form, O'Dine was named to Canada's 2018 Olympic team in the snowboard cross event. However, O'Dine was unable to compete as she suffered another concussion in training and ending her Olympic dream that year. Following her brother's death in 2020, O'Dine took some time off from competition, as this occurred at the same time as the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. She returned to competition in January 2021 and was once again on the slopes for the World Cup season. At the

2021 World Championships 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

, a fourth-fastest qualifying time saw her return to form, though she was eliminated in the first heat after a crash.

2022 Winter Olympics

She was named to Canada's 2022 Olympic team to compete in her event of

. Just as in the 2021 World Championships O'Dine would have a strong qualifying run, finishing with the third fastest time in qualifying. She would continue her strong showing in the heats, winning every one on her way to the big final. In the final, her start saw her trail

Chloé Trespeuch Chloé Trespeuch (born 13 April 1994) is a French snowboarder competing in snowboard cross. She qualified for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and won the bronze medal in the snowboard cross. At the 2022 Winter Olympics she won the silver ...

and

Lindsey Jacobellis Lindsey Jacobellis (born August 19, 1985) is an American snowboarder from Roxbury, Connecticut. The most decorated female snowboard cross athlete of all time, she dominated the sport for almost two decades as a five-time World Champion and ten- ...

, finishing behind the pair for her first Olympic medal, a bronze. After her win she told

CBC Sports CBC Sports is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for English-language sports broadcasting. The CBC's sports programming primarily airs on CBC Television, CBCSports.ca, and CBC Radio One. (The CBC's French-languag ...

that "So far, it's pretty surreal. I'm so excited, I'm motivated for the future, but overall I would say it's just surreal." O'dine would later win the bronze medal in the inaugural mixed team snowboard cross event with compatriot

Éliot Grondin Éliot Grondin (born 19 April 2001) is a Canadian snowboarder competing in the snowboard cross event. Career World Championships Grondin has won three medals at the FIS Snowboarding Junior World Championships, with a silver in 2018 and 2019, whi ...

Personal life

O'Dine's brother was diagnosed with a brain tumour and died in 2020. This traumatic event forced her to stop competing as she took time away from the sport and saw a psychologist. O'Dine says she asked herself whether she wanted to keep being an athlete, saying that she wondered, "Is this really what you want? Is this realistic? Is this possible?" She overcame her mental health battles and found joy in the sport again. She told CBC sports that mental training is just as important as physical training.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ODine, Meryeta 1997 births Living people Canadian female snowboarders Sportspeople from Prince George, British Columbia Olympic snowboarders for Canada Snowboarders at the 2022 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in snowboarding Olympic bronze medalists for Canada