Bella Biondini

The audience waved colorful flags of nations from across the world as snowboarders gripped the rails and prepared to launch. A mere second, later Meghan Tierney was airborne, flying through the snow course.

Notorious for its big jumps and banked turns, Phoenix Snow Course consisted of 23 features. The only sound was the scrape of her snowboard on the ice as she braced herself for the next jump. 

These were the moments she dreamed of since she was a little girl. Her mind was clear and she kept her focus on the finish line. Tierney put her faith in the countless hours of training and preparation that had led her to the Olympic world stage.

Tierney was born in Long Branch, N. J. She learned to ski in Vermont and then transitioned to snowboarding when she was 10 alongside her three siblings. Her family moved to Eagle, Colo. where she began training for her dream. 

“We all fell in love with snowboarding at the same time, kind of like dominos,” her brother, Chris Tierney said.

Now 23, Meghan Tierney is a member of Team USA, competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in snowboardcross, also known as boardercross.

The sport is not for the lighthearted. Snowboarders can reach speeds of 70 mph as they simultaneously race down an inclined course with banked turns, jumps and berms.

“The most challenging thing about boardercross is that you are not alone on one course,” boardercross coach Richard Pickl said. “There are four or six athletes struggling for the best line and the best spot. This is unique to winter sports, you need good strategies to become faster than your opponents.” 

After spending a few years on skis, learning to snowboard was an adjustment that didn’t come easy for Meghan. Her siblings took to it quickly, but she found snowboarding more challenging.

“I still remember the first time I ever linked my S-turn, which if you don’t snowboard, it’s when you go from your heel edge to your toe side-edge,” Meghan said. “I vividly remember doing that and being so excited.”

Refusing to fall behind, Meghan was determined to be where her siblings were. As she gained confidence, she began practicing with Chris, who also snowboarded competitively.

“Meghan started riding behind me a lot of the time and following me behind jumps,” Chris said. “That’s what I did. I’d say I’m doing tricks and to give me a little bit of room.”

He laughed. A couple of times she got too close and almost hit him but never did, he said.

The two grew closer as Meghan began to excel on the snowboard. Her dad put them in local competitions, where she tried different events such as slopestyle, halfpipe and boardercross.

When she wasn’t working out or racing, she would go up to Keystone or Breckenridge to practice with Chris.

“She’d follow me any chance she got to get better at the bigger jumps because that’s what was initially scary for her,” Chris said. “But it ended up being her strong suit by the time the Olympics rolled around.”

Meghan’s journey to Pyeongchang wasn’t without obstacles. The season before the Olympics she came off a jump short, her body slamming into the hard packed snow. Her L3, a vertebra in her spine, was broken.

Devastated, she pushed herself at rehab, as the Olympics crept closer. Meghan was out the entire season before the Olympics. As her body healed, she fought to rebuild her mindset. Obviously it hurt, but pain goes away, Meghan said. After the accident, she feared getting back on the board, but there was no time to waste.

“I was hoping to be back to where I was before, but I was way worse,” Meghan said. “It’s really weird to say that breaking my back was a good thing but it pushed me to work even harder. Before I was relying on talent alone, I wasn’t trying as hard as I could’ve.”

Her determination carried her back to the slopes. She pushed herself to be better than before. At the Olympic qualifiers, Meghan struggled through her first races, placing dead last.

She feared she wasn’t there yet. But in the last of the qualifiers she began riding well, placing 7th. 

Hopeful, Meghan believed she had a good chance but feared disappointment. The final decision was made at the coaches’ discretion. When she received the news, Meghan was elated. She called her friends and family from Turkey. She was going to the Olympics.

“I do it because I really love it, Meghan said. “My favorite thing about the sport is that you decide who wins. In other events judges decide. This is a race so whoever crosses the finish line first wins.”