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 Paralympic ...

. She was born in Alert Bay,

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, and is of Indigenous 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. She is one of only few Olympians coming from Canadian

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

. She belongs to Haida 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 synovial joint, joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and h ...

(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, 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 The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

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.

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* * * * * 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 competitors First Nations sportspeople 21st-century Canadian sportswomen {{Canada-snowboarding-bio-stub