Spencer O’Brien (born February 2, 1988) 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 ...

. She was born in

Alert Bay Alert Bay is a village on Cormorant Island (British Columbia), Cormorant Island, near the town of Port McNeill on northeast Vancouver Island, in the Regional District of Mount Waddington, British Columbia, Canada. Demographics In the 2021 Can ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, and is of

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

descent. She won the gold medal in slopestyle at the 2013 FIS Snowboarding World Championships. O’Brien has also won five medals (one gold, one silver, three bronze) at the

Winter X Games Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures d ...

. She is one of only few Olympians coming from Canadian

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

. She belongs to

Haida Haida may refer to: Places * Haida, an old name for Nový Bor * Haida Gwaii, meaning "Islands of the People", formerly called the Queen Charlotte Islands * Haida Islands, a different archipelago near Bella Bella, British Columbia Ships * , a 1 ...

and Kwakwaka’wakw in

. Spencer O'Brien has been credited as one of the world's top female snowboarders. She has acquired this title by achieving prestigious feats, such as in 2012 when she was declared the champion of th
World Snowboard Tour
A few weeks before the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, O'Brien was diagnosed with

rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and hands are involv ...

(On Nov. 25, 2013). She came in last (12th place) during the Olympic event, yet she did not attribute this to her disease. During the

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 ...

, O'Brien won the silver medal with a top-scoring run of 81.22 points, she is seen as an Olympic podium prospect for the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

Career

O'Brien grew up in the West Coast of Canada in Courtenay, BC a city on Vancouver Island. She started skiing when she was 2 years old, but then switched to snowboarding when she was 11. In 2008 O'Brien was voted Transworld’s Rookie of the Year. In 2017 Spencer won Bronze in the snowboarding slopestyle event at the Burton US Open in Vail, Colorado.

X Games

O'Brien has been a competitor for Women's slopestyle at the X Games since 2007. She has 5 X Games medals including 1 Gold which she has won in her 11th X Games appearance in 2016. In 2015 O'Brien became the first women to successfully land a Backside 900 trick in X Games competition.

References

External links

* * * * * 1988 births Living people Canadian female snowboarders People from the Regional District of Mount Waddington Snowboarders at the 2014 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic snowboarders for Canada Sportspeople from British Columbia X Games athletes First Nations sportspeople {{Canada-snowboarding-bio-stub