Photo Courtesy: Canada Snowboard

By Ethan Ready

Olympic Medal

Prince George’s Meryeta O’Dine wins Bronze Medal for Canada

Feb 9, 2022 | 12:16 AM

PRINCE GEORGE — Meryeta O’Dine returned to the Olympic scene and came away with a Bronze Medal following the Women’s Snowboard Cross event at the Beijing Winter Olympics, becoming the first Prince George athlete to win an Olympic medal.

The 24-year-old snowboarder qualified for the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, however, a concussion suffered during a training run just days before competition forced her out of the running.

O’Dine qualified with the third-fastest time ahead of the competition getting underway on Wednesday in Beijing, and she used that momentum to her advantage.

In the opening heat, O’Dine held steady before breezing past the rest of her heat and finishing first to secure a spot in the quarterfinal.

In the quarterfinal, O’Dine sat behind the leaders until a crash following a jump caused some congestion on the track. But O’Dine manoeuvred her way through the traffic and finished first again, placing herself into the semifinal.

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Competing alongside fellow Canadian Tess Critchlow, who was born in Prince George but trains out of Great White, in the second semi-final heat, O’Dine continued to feed off the momentum she had gained over the course of the event, finishing atop the heat once again and earning a shot at a medal in the Big Final.

Lindsey Jacobellis of the United States came away as the Gold Medalist in the event, followed by France’s Chloe Trespeuch in second and O’Dine in third.

O’Dine will also compete in the Mixed Team Snowboard Cross event, which is scheduled to take place on Saturday in Beijing.