Meet snowboarding’s Luke Littler, Mia Brookes, 18, the metal-loving record-breaking champ targeting Winter Olympics gold

THERE indispensable person been thing successful the h2o astir Cheshire successful January 2007.

Mia Brookes and Luke Littler were calved conscionable 2 days and 20 miles apart.

And portion Luke the Nuke exploded connected to the darts scene, the effect Brookes has had connected the snowboarding satellite is astir arsenic seismic.

Even successful a athletics loaded with talented teenagers, Brookes has earned a estimation arsenic a wunderkind.

She adjacent succeeded wherever Littler failed, becoming satellite champion arsenic a 16-year-old - though of people Littler would not beryllium denied astatine 17, ensuring the pair some became their sports' youngest satellite champs.

Her historical effort successful Bukuriani successful 2023 besides earned Brookes the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year grant that twelvemonth - 12 months earlier Littler received the aforesaid gong.

Brookes added the 2023-24 Big Air World Cup rubric and X Games crown to her already awesome postulation of silverware - and has kickstarted the existent play with 3 World Cup podiums.

Appropriately, this heavy-metal instrumentality present has her eyes acceptable connected Team GB's archetypal snowboarding golden astatine the Winter Olympics successful a year's time.

Before past is simply a engaged 2025 for the satellite No1 successful some slopestyle - tricks and jumps implicit obstacles and rails down a sloping way - and large aerial - nailing the champion tricks aft jumping disconnected a steep bank.

And she confesses her journey to Milan-Cortina successful 2026 volition beryllium fuelled, astatine slightest partly, by a akin fare to that of junk-food-loving darts improvement Littler.

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Brookes admitted: "I ne'er truly watched immoderate of the darts - but I saw a batch connected Instagram astir it.

"It's a weird but chill sport.

"I bash similar kebabs but I'd astir apt spell for possibly a burger oregon pizza. I'll devour anything, to beryllium honest."

To beryllium fair, Littler mightiness likewise assertion snowboarding is "weird but cool" - yet it is thing Brookes was seemingly calved to do.

She was connected the slopes for the archetypal clip astatine 8 weeks aged - thankfully successful a bearer - but connected a snowboard by herself from the property of 18 months, driven astir Europe successful the household motorhome by dada Nigel and mum Vicky, some keen snowboarders themselves.

Her accelerated emergence saw her competing successful British events, aged eight, and successful Europe astatine 11, and she was conscionable 19 days excessively young for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

She said: "I'm grateful I didn't spell to the past Olympics due to the fact that I'd person conscionable been 15 - but this time, yeah, we're acceptable for it.

"If I spell determination and bash my best, I'll beryllium blessed but evidently winning would beryllium the pinnacle.

"When I was 12 oregon 13, I utilized to bid wherever they are going to clasp the Olympics truthful I cognize the edifice truly well.

"It'll beryllium bully to spell backmost determination - but successful the Olympics! Crazy!"

But portion Brookes plans to people her 18th day by getting a tattoo successful Los Angeles, she vowed against the "cliched" inking of the celebrated Olympic rings connected her pursuing Milan-Cortina.

Brookes' staggering emergence was halted for 3 months successful 2021 erstwhile she was near unconscious for 40 minutes and airlifted from the snowfall pursuing a superior crash.

She struggled with headaches for respective weeks but with nary breached bones, erstwhile she was wide from the concussion, she could get backmost connected her board.

Adrenalin-junkie Brookes has been practising caller tricks this campaign, having pulled disconnected a gutsy planetary archetypal successful her World Championship triumph.

The keen skateboarder and surfer, similar chap teen Sky Brown, became the archetypal pistillate rider successful contention to onshore a CAB 1440 treble drawback - a determination wherever you thrust backwards into a leap past rotate the assemblage FOUR times successful the air.

Incredibly, she revealed: "I'd lone ever tried it erstwhile earlier connected snow, truthful connected the time it was the 2nd clip of trying it ever.

"It was decidedly scary but erstwhile you're successful that moment, everything other conscionable blacks retired and you're conscionable focusing connected doing that.

"I couldn't judge I'd landed it but, due to the fact that I inactive had to decorativeness my run, I could lone deliberation astir it for a divided second.

"So I acted like, 'Well, I'll observe afterwards' and kept my gait going."

Metalhead Brookes cites seasoned rockers Pantera arsenic her favourite set - and she is nary slouch connected the electrical guitar herself.

She said: "At school, I felt similar I ne'er utilized to acceptable successful due to the fact that I was truthful different, ever snowboarding and listening to antithetic music.

"I decidedly don't similar Taylor Swift. Everyone connected the snowboard country knows I ever perceive to metallic euphony astatine immoderate clip of the time oregon wherever. That's my thing.

"I play rather a batch of guitar myself, which goes manus successful manus with my euphony tastes, and I effort to instrumentality it with maine erstwhile I'm successful Europe."

Whether it is shredding the slopes oregon shredding her guitar, 1 happening is clear: Mia Brookes rocks.

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