Meet Spencer O’Brien, snowboarder
Spencer O’Brien is a snowboarder from Alert Bay, British Columbia, with Kwakwaka’wakw heritage. Her family and community have always been supportive and have given Spencer purpose and strength in her sport of slopestyle. She competed for Canada at the 2014 Winter Games and has medals from the FIS Snowboarding World Championships and X Games. Spencer is excited to share her 2018 Olympic experience with her family in PyeongChang, especially her inspiring 80-year-old grandmother.
Connect with Spencer on Facebook, and scroll down to watch a video taken last fall.
Speed round fun with Spencer
What’s your most used emoji?
?
What’s your favourite pump-up song?
“Wild Thoughts” by DJ Khaled and Rhianna [Heads up for parents: this song has explicit lyrics]
Hopscotch or tag?
Hopscotch
Read the book or see the movie?
Book first, movie second.
Do you collect anything? If so, what?
Coffee mugs from different cities.
What was your favourite subject in school?
English and PE.
Hiking or biking?
Biking
Ocean or lake?
Lake to swim, ocean for everything else.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Baking
What activities did you do when you were a kid?
Everything! Snowboarding, skiing, dance, volleyball, softball, basketball, field hockey, soccer, track and field, gymnastics, figure skating, piano.
Cats or dogs?
Both.
If you could travel in time where and to when would you go?
The 50’s, just to dance.
Who is a role model you’ve looked up to?
Muhammad Ali
Early bird or night owl?
Neither, I like sleeping.
What is something you’ve never tried but would like to?
Living in another country.
Can you tell us about a time you failed?
Every day. In snowboarding you mess up tricks all the time. It’s about getting up and trying again until you get it the way you want it.
What’s one thing you can’t live without?
Good food.
Why is physical literacy important for kids?
In order to know your body, you have to use it in as many ways as possible. All of the sports I played growing up contributed to the snowboarder I’ve become. Power from softball, grace and awareness from ballet, explosive jumping from volleyball … it’s all related and it all helps to make for a healthy and well-rounded body and soul.
Read more
- Dance training helped Canadian snowboarder Spencer O’Brien learn ‘body awareness’
- Spencer O’Brien: Pro snowboarder benefits from multisport experience
Inspired by Spencer? Get started by taking the first steps to becoming a snowboarder.