Teen Olympic Snowboarder Listened to This Metal Band Before Attempting Difficult Trick

When British Olympic snowboarder Mia Brookes knew she needed something special to earn a medal in the Olympic Big Air event, she turned to Pantera for inspiration.

The teen snowboarder had quite the experience in the Big Air competition, falling on her first three jumps before earning 89.0 and a 78.0 on her final two jumps just to qualify for the finals. Ahead of Monday's final event, she was third in the standings and she confessed to Olympics.com (via Hellorayo.co.uk) afterward that it was a heavy metal soundtrack that kept her focused.

“I just listen to music to try to block out all the noise going on around me,” she replied. “Mostly heavy metal music like Metallica, Pantera, Judas Priest, stuff like that.”

But only one of those bands was present as she attempted her trickiest jump to date while trying to land a medal at Monday's (Feb. 10) finals in Big Air.

What Was Mia Brookes Listening to Ahead of Her Final Big Air Jump?

Per The Guardian, Brookes' soundtrack as she prepped for her jump atop the 150ft-high ramp was none other than Pantera. At the time, she stood in fourth place in the standings and needed something special to earn a medal.

The 19-year-old decided to attempt a backside 1620, a jump that had only been completed once prior in the history of snowboarding. While she appeared to have nailed the jump and landed squarely on her heels, the momentum caused her to overspin a bit and ultimately ended her chance at a medal.

She told The Guardian, “It’s not like it’s a trick that I could do. I’ve only ever done it on the airbag and the last time I tried it was five months ago. So that was the first time I’ve ever tried it on snow. But sometimes you’ve just got to grit your teeth and get it done."

“I thought I’d got it and I did get it. I got it to my feet but I just gave it too much power, listening to my music too loud, I spun it too quickly," she added, but smiled about the attempt commenting, "But yeah, I’m pumped."

“I was ­listening to a lot of Pantera," she added. "I tried it and I’m not lying in a hospital bed after this, to be honest. All jokes aside, it’s a gnarly trick to do. There is a higher risk, ­especially when you know I would be the second woman to do it. So, yeah it’s pretty scary.”

Though she finished fourth, there was speculation that had she landed the jump she could have medaled as high as silver.

Mia Brookes' History and Love of Metal

There were high hopes for Brookes as one of the stars of the Great Britain team. But while she placed fourth in Big Air, the slopestyle competition has yet to take place and she has thrived there as well.

READ MORE: Italian Metal Vocalist Wins Bronze Medal at 2026 Winter Olympics

In 2023, Brookes won gold in slopestyle at the World Championships. She also placed first in slopestyle at the 2024 and 2026 X Games. As for her Big Air history, her best showing came at the World Cup where she placed first in Big Air in 2023-2024 and 2024-2025.

Over the years, one constant in her training has been her love of metal. Back in 2023, when she became the youngest snowboarding champion in history, Brookes credited Metallica for helping her to take home the slopestyle gold.

"Listening to Metallica gets me hyped up and wanting to land all my tricks," Mia told the BBC (as shared by Hellorayo.co.uk.) at the time. "(Metallica’s music) gets me in that mindset in the mornings. If I'm standing at the top of a slope, it helps me visualize when I'm going to drop in."

She also joked once on Instagram that she would gladly exchange one of her World Cup trophies for "four Black Sabbath tickets." In another Instagram post, she shared that Pantera were her "favourite band evah."

To learn a little more about Pantera, revisit the band's history through a photo timeline below.