The halfway point for Canada’s winter athletes in their path to the 2022 Olympics is Feb. 4, 2020, which can bring excitement to some and act as a burden to others.
For Prince George’s Meryeta O’Dine, and most other Olympians, she relies on community support and sponsorships to make it to the world stage financially in addition to rigorously training for her minutes down the mountain.
The 22-year-old is once again calling on her hometown community for support in any way, shape, or form as she begins her quest for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
With a goal of fundraising $25,000 for the 2020 season on Canada’s national snowboardcross team, she says she has big aspirations coming into the new season of slope-shredding.
“Not only am I competing on the World Cup tour, but I will also be embarking on a mission for another snowboard discipline, Free-Ride aka Big Mountain events,” O’Dine explains in a Facebook post. “This year’s training theme has been about sport diversity and recovery. With those two things in mind, I have bested my physical testing records at each summer team training camp, returning home with confidence in my training abilities.”
The local Olympian’s debut at the PyeongChang 2018 Games was cut short.
O’Dine took a tumble in a trial run for women’s snowboardcross, suffering a concussion and major bruises to her head that forced her to play cheerleader on the sidelines for the remainder of her time in South Korea.
Since then, she recovered from her injury and has raced on World Cup circuits in Canada, United States, Germany, Italy, and Austria, where she snagged a pair of bronze medals in November last year.
With eyes set on the 2022 podium in China’s capital, she hopes Prince George will hear her stories and understand what it takes to compete at her sport’s highest level.
“It's with great excitement, before I embark on my first trip of the season to Switzerland, that can I invite the community to hear parts of my stories and share an evening of laughs with our local comedians.”
In addition to comedians, the ‘Races and Ridges’ fundraiser O’Dine is throwing includes a dinner, silent auction, and a dance.
The event takes place Saturday, Sept. 21 at the Kinsmen Community Complex (777 Kinsmen Pl.) next to Big Brothers Big Sisters Prince George starting at 6 p.m.
More information is available on O’Dine’s Facebook event.
Her first race next year on the World Cup circuit begins in Swiss Alps, Jan. 16 to 22, 2020.
O’Dine won gold in women’s snowboardcross on her home course at Tabour Mountain when Prince George hosted the 2015 Canada Winter Games.
