Snowed under and loving it
Kiwi Winter Olympian Tiarn Collins had barely touched snow for the first eight years of his life when living in Australia, but that all changed when he moved to Queenstown.
The 18-year-old will be the first Kiwi to compete at the Olympics along with fellow slopestyle snowboarder Carlos Garciaknight this Saturday.
Collins wasn’t interested in winter at all before he made the move to New Zealand as he enjoyed a skateboard in fine weather only. Upon moving to Queenstown he picked up a snowboard and the rest is history.
‘‘I’m really excited to be here in Korea. It’s crazy being at the place that’s been a dream of yours since you were a little kid. Seeing the rings all around the place is pretty inspiring.’’
Collins isn’t there to make up the numbers, he plans on making the finals and then anything can happen from there.
Arriving to the Winter wonderland that is the Winter games village in Pyeongchang, Collins is like a kid in a candy store.
‘‘At the moment most of us are just exploring the village outside of snowboarding – it’s huge. There’s games rooms and chill areas for us to all hang out in, as well as the massive food hall.’’
He admits he and Garciaknight are up against one of the strongest fields in slopestyle from the best snow sports nations on the planet, so a podium finish will be tough.
For the last 12 months he has been qualifying for the Olympics and realised his dream when he was named in the New Zealand team. Last season Collins travelled to six countries in seven weeks to get as many events in as he could.
Born in Brisbane, the skateboarding kid adjusted easily to snowboarding because of its similarity and has been a part of the Big Air world cup circuit and Slopestyle 2017, chalking up an impressive 6th place in Austria. He finished his 2017 season with a bronze medal in slopestyle at the Junior World Championships.