Mia Brookes (born 19 January 2007) is a British

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 Paralympic ...

who won the slopestyle event at the

FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships 2023 The 2023 FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships were held in Bakuriani, Georgia from 19 February to 4 March 2023. This marked the first ever snow sports World Championships to be contested in Georgia. A total of 30 medal event ...

Early life

Brookes is from

Sandbach Sandbach (pronounced ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire East borough of Cheshire, England. The civil parish contains four settlements: Sandbach, Elworth, Ettiley Heath and Wheelock, Cheshire, Wheelock. At the 2021 United Kingd ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, England. She learned to

snowboard Snowboards are boards where the user places both feet, usually secured, to the same board. The board itself is wider than most skis, with the ability to glide on snow."snowboarding." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 17 Mar ...

aged 18 months, at Kidsgrove ski centre in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

where her grandfather worked. Her parents spent five ski seasons in

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (; ; (no longer in use)), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (), is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department in the regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the f ...

, France when Brookes was young, and she also continued her snowboarding at Chill Factore. Brookes has attended Sandbach High School; during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, she studied remotely so that she could compete in snowboard events in mainland Europe.

Career

Brookes has trained in

Laax Laax (; , ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Surselva Region in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden. History Laax is first undoubtedly mentioned 1290–98 as ''Lags''. Laax is first me ...

, Switzerland,

Livigno Livigno (; local ; ) is a town, ''comune'' and a special-administered territory in the province of Sondrio, in the region of Lombardy, Italy, located in the Italian Alps, near the Swiss border. History Livigno's first settlers were probably sh ...

, Italy, and

Hintertux Tux is a municipality in the Schwaz district in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Geography The parish of Tux covers the higher and largest part of the Tuxertal, a side valley of the Zillertal that branches off at Mayrhofen. The territory of the parish ...

, Austria. She joined the GB Snowsport programme at the age of 10, and aged 11, she competed at the 2018 British Snowboard Championships in Laax. In December 2020, Brookes made her international debut, finishing second in a Europa Cup event in

Piz Corvatsch Piz Corvatsch () is a mountain in the Bernina Range of the Alps, overlooking Lake Sils and Lake Silvaplana in the Engadin region of the canton of Grisons. With an elevation of , it is the highest point on the range separating the main Inn val ...

. She was unable to compete in

FIS Snowboard World Cup The FIS Snowboard World Cup is an annual snowboarding competition, arranged by the International Ski Federation (FIS) since 1994. Since its inauguration, different disciplines have been added and removed, along with categories used to group them ...

events until she was 15 years old. In 2022, she won the

FIS Snowboarding Junior World Championships FIS Snowboarding Junior World Championships are the Junior World Championships in snowboarding organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). Hosts Men's events Giant slalom Parallel giant slalom Parallel slalom Halfpipe Snowboard ...

big air Big air is a high-injury-risk sports discipline where the competitor rides a vehicle, such as a motocross motorcycle, a skateboard, a snowboard, or a pair of skis, down a hill or ramp and performs aerial tricks after launching off very large jum ...

event, and finished second in the slopestyle event. She was unable to qualify for the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...

, as she was too young. She finished second in the 2022–23 FIS Snowboard World Cup slopestyle event in Laax, and came sixth in the event at the 2023 X Games. Brookes won the slopestyle event at the

. At the age of 16, she was the youngest ever snowboard world champion and the first British person to win a snowboard slopestyle world title. In her winning routine, she became the first woman to land a CAB 1440 in competition. Brookes was named Young Sportswoman of the year by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' in 2023. In December of that year, she was shortlisted for the

BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year Award The BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award is presented at the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year award ceremony. It is awarded to the sportsperson aged 17 or under as of 1 January of that year, who has made the most outstanding co ...

. On 19 December 2023, she was named

BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year The BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award is presented at the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year award ceremony. It is awarded to the sportsperson aged 17 or under as of 1 January of that year, who has made the most outstanding co ...

in a live TV broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

. Brookes won the 2023 edition of the Big Air World Cup, after finishing the fourth and final competition in third place. Her best result in the competition was second at the event in Edmonton.

Major results

World Championships

World Cup

World cup podiums

References

External links

*
Mia Brookes
at GB Snowsport * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brookes, Mia 2007 births Living people English female snowboarders Sportspeople from Sandbach Sportspeople from Cheshire 21st-century English sportswomen People educated at Sandbach School