Calgary snowboarder youngest member of the Canadian Olympic team

The youngest member of the Canadian Olympic team is stoked about being in Beijing.

When most people turn 16, the goal is to get a driver’s licence. But for Calgary’s Brooke D’Hondt, who turns 17 in March, the goal was to qualify for the upcoming winter Olympics.

Not only did she get her licence in the last year — she just booked her ticket to the 2022 games.

“I think it definitely didn’t set in for a couple of days until I saw everyone else posting on Instagram about it and I was like, ‘I’m going too!'” the teen said of learning she’d be headed to China.

For D’Hondt, the dream started at 13. She recalls watching the Canadian national halfpipe team training in Calgary and getting in a few runs.

“I was like, ‘Hey, maybe this could be me in four years,'” she told CityNews.

While Shaun White will make Olympic snowboarding history as the oldest U.S. halfpipe rider ever, D’Hondt will be one of the youngest at the games.

“I think I’m just going to be thinking every moment I can in preparation for the game in the gym and on snow for the next couple of days, for sure,” she said.

Her first moments on a snowboard were when she was just five years old. Several years later, just days after her 13th birthday, D’Hondt finished second in halfpipe and fourth in slopestyle at the 2018 junior championships.

But she admits training for the biggest winter games in the world has been an adventure.

“It’s definitely been like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. Hundreds of COVID tests, and getting visas, and getting all this crazy stuff. But I’ve had a great support system helping me so it hasn’t been too difficult,” D’Hondt added.

When she’s not busy at school or training to be a lifeguard, the teen continues to rise in the snowboarding community.

“I’ve definitely had little girls come up to me before and that means a lot,” she said. “It’s so cool when people come up to you and I try to just be my best self around them because I know how much it would mean to me when I went up to other pros.”

Twenty-three snowboarders have been named to Team Canada for the upcoming Olympics. D’Hondt and two other snowboarders — Elizabeth Hosking and Derek Livingston — will be competing in the halfpipe events.

The Olympic village officially opened in Beijing on Wednesday, with athletes from across the world now arriving ahead of the opening ceremonies.

The Beijing Olympics begin Feb. 4