{"id":1768320,"date":"2026-02-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1768320"},"modified":"2026-02-13T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T21:00:00","slug":"it-was-like-if-not-now-then-when-mia-brookes-coach-takes-us-behind-the-scenes-at-the-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1768320","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIt was like if not now, then when?\u201d Mia Brookes\u2019 Coach Takes us Behind the Scenes at the Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

If you\u2019ve watched any of the Winter Olympics, you can\u2019t miss the coaches. They\u2019re the people standing at the top of the drop-in, giving Proximo from Gladiator<\/em> energy as they prepare the riders for battle. <\/p>\n

On the BBC, Ed Leigh and Tim Warwood have namechecked a few of them, including Danny Kass (a veteran of the circus himself, like Oliver Reed\u2019s character, with the scars and the silver medal to prove it.) But despite the prominence of their role at the Games, most snowboard coaches\u2014unlike boxing trainers or football managers\u2014prefer to remain in the background. <\/p>\n

They are the last people to speak to the athletes before they risk their necks, and are often seen celebrating harder than the riders themselves when they land (or, in the case of Zoi Sadowski-Synnott\u2019s coach, organising an impromptu Haka<\/a> in her honour). But aside from the fist-bumps and the words of encouragement on the drop in, what is it that snowboard coaches actually do? <\/p>\n

\n

\u201cAside from the fist-bumps, what is it that snowboard coaches actually do?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Few people are better placed to answer that question than Mia Brookes\u2019 coach, Ben Kinnear, who played a pivotal role in one of the most dramatic moments of the Olympics so far, when Mia almost<\/em> stuck a trick she\u2019d never landed on snow before in the women\u2019s big air final. <\/p>\n

Ben has worked with Mia for a decade. \u201cI remember her turning up in Laax, and she turned 10 while we were there [for a GB Snowsport junior camp],\u201d he said. \u201cWe rode some powder in the trees and I remember taking a picture of her throwing methods through some little pillow line, with that classic Mia style already.\u201d <\/p>\n

Technically, Ben now heads up the entire park and pipe snowboard program for GB Snowsport, the UK\u2019s governing body. But much of his time is spent working with its brightest star. \u201cShe has the most demanding schedule,\u201d he explains. And either he or Mikey Williams, a private coach who Mia also works with closely, will accompany her to most contests. <\/p>\n

Like Mia, this is Ben\u2019s first Olympics. \u201cI\u2019ve tried to tell myself \u2013 and her \u2013 over the last year or so that it\u2019s just an event like any other,\u201d he says. \u201cBut until you get here, you don\u2019t quite comprehend just how many more eyeballs there are on you.\u201d Here, he takes us behind the scenes of the world\u2019s biggest sporting stage, shares his insights into what\u2019s coming next, and talks us through the thought-process behind Mia\u2019s full-send backside 1620.<\/p>\n

Our conversation has been edited for clarity and length. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>
Photo: Instagram\/GB Snowsport<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Whitelines: How do you prepare for an event like this? Has it been a long time in the making?<\/b>
\n<\/span>Ben Kinnear: <\/b>I suppose if you look two years ago, yeah, we\u2019ve had a mind on this event. But for Mia, I don\u2019t think that would have changed the way that she went about her business. X Games has been up there as a priority in the last couple of years, and the tricks she\u2019s learned lend themselves to the Olympics, but they weren\u2019t necessarily created just for this one event. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>As you know, snowboarding is very self-determined\u2014athletes like Mia have got a good eye on the tricks that they want to learn, and they keep an eye on the progression of the sport and what\u2019s needed to compete. But with Mia in particular, she always wants to put her stamp on things. It\u2019s not just chasing the tricks everyone else is doing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What does a normal training day look like, and was this any different? <\/b>
\n<\/b>Well,<\/span> no two days are ever exactly the same. One day we could be heading somewhere where we know there\u2019s going to be a bunch of other riders from other countries that Mia\u2019s gonna get on really well with, and who\u2019ll push her. And then they\u2019ll maybe have a fun expression session and start to play with new grabs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Or, it might be like we were in December, just Mia and me, purely on our own in a park in Ruka up in Finland, working very specifically on a frontside 10 and getting that done.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>What\u2019s great about Mia, more than just about any other athlete, is she will genuinely want to go snowboarding every single day. The mileage and repetition she gets because she enjoys it so much is part of what builds her amazing level of consistency\u2014but also her flair.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cMia always wants to put her stamp on things. It\u2019s not just chasing the tricks everyone else is doing\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n


\n<\/span>Sounds like the difference between learning to play a song on guitar, and really learning to <\/b>perform<\/i><\/b> it?<\/b>
\n<\/b>Yeah, that\u2019s a great way of putting it. And with Mia, her repetition is not because she\u2019s this bot coming out and saying \u201cright, I need to do five of these backside 12s\u201d. She\u2019s still this hungry snowboarder, who wants to go and throw methods over there, then come and do her five backside 12s, then go and ride rails for four and a half hours and film an edit. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Of course, contests aren\u2019t the be all and end all. But does the Olympics feel different? <\/b>
\n<\/b>It\u2019s definitely a new experience. I joked that I wasn\u2019t that fussed about the opening ceremony. But as coaches, we got given marching passes, doing that little 10 second walk out, it\u2019s kind of funny, but it almost legitimised my entire career choice in the eyes of some friends and family [laughs] <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>People are like \u201cah, I saw you on the TV\u201d. And now I have like my neighbours texting Hannah [Ben\u2019s wife] back home and trying to understand how snowboard scoring works in Big Air. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>It also seems like a lot of people are like, \u201choly crap, snowboarding looks so fun, I want to give it a whirl\u201d or, you know, the neighbours\u2019 children want to give it a shot. And that\u2019s kind of what it\u2019s all about.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>
Mia sending it in Big Air. Photo: Instagram\/Mia-Brookes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yeah, it\u2019s always a big chance to communicate the fun of snowboarding to a bigger audience. <\/b>
\n<\/b>The fun of it, but also like the respect between riders you know? Obviously the Big Air final showcased amazing progression, but also the mutual respect everyone had for the risks everyone was taking, and the sportsmanship on show. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Yeah, the way everyone congratulated each other\u2014like Mia hugging the women who\u2019d kept her off the podium, and Anna Gasser congratulating people, that\u2019s one of the coolest things about competitive snowboarding.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

What took me by surprise is how emotional it felt after that event for <\/span>everyone <\/span><\/i>involved\u2014including all of us coaches at the top. Coming down, no matter the position, there was just this mutual respect. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Maybe it was just understanding how much time and energy we\u2019d all put in, being away from friends and family all the time, and all the sacrifices we\u2019d made. To then go and put on a show like that, and it feels like the world\u2019s really seen what it\u2019s all about, it does feel\u2026 Well, it\u2019s not even about it all being worthwhile, but it surprised me the level of emotion that I felt.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/b>OK, so talk us through the show then. It must\u2019ve been nerve-wracking when she went down in qualis? <\/b>
\n<\/b>Yeah, that\u2019s quite rare for Mia. But that just meant it was like ultra-focused, land at all costs on jump two, which she did. And that was quite good prep to come through that actually. It just shows how steely she is. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/b>And then the final was one of the most progressive displays of women\u2019s Big Air snowboarding ever. Did Mia know beforehand that she was going to try the 1620 on her third hit? <\/b>
\n<\/b>Well, we talk about stuff in advance. You know, with the different ways that it might play out. We knew that a really good 12 and a 14 might stand a chance, but obviously so much depends on what everyone else lands. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>And as soon as Suenguen Yu had landed both her runs, and she was dropping before us, I knew those tricks were only gonna maybe scrape a podium because of the level. I was like \u201cright, this is on now, you\u2019re gonna need everything.\u201d <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>There had been a little discussion earlier because Mia had to hold on pretty hard for that cab 14 [her first jump]. It was a bit on the heels. So we knew she could probably get five or six points more by cleaning it up. Anyway, between runs two and three, she went to get fluoro tested\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s that, like drugs tested? <\/b>
\n<\/b>No, the board gets taken into a tent and scanned for illegal fluoros or wax. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>I didn\u2019t realise that was a thing. Nuts.<\/b>
\n<\/b>Yeah, it only takes like 30 seconds or a minute. But by the time she got to the top of the elevator [taking riders up to the drop-in] we only had a few minutes. Mia tells me she\u2019s going to do a Cab 14 clean up, and I, and I just had to give her the facts quickly. Like look, Koko [Murase] is probably going to land the Cab 14 cleaner. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>If Koko fell in the last run, you might<\/em> just scrape a bronze. But it\u2019s going to be a tight one. You do a 16 and it\u2019s probably a 92, or 93. And at that point that was going to be first place. <\/span>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIt was like, if Koko fell in the last run, you might<\/em> just scrape a bronze\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But she\u2019d never done the 16 on snow before? <\/b>
\n<\/b>Yeah. We talked about it all week. We discussed whether it was possible in that jump or not because it felt kind of small. She\u2019d done it on an airbag, and we were close to having a go on snow but\u2014well, afterwards, I laughed, because she didn\u2019t want to try it earlier in front of maybe 10 people in training, and instead she waited until there\u2019s over a million people watching. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>It\u2019s so ballsy to go for something like that, in that moment. <\/b>
\n<\/b>Yeh, but the whole atmosphere up there was everybody going full send right from the very start. It was like, if not now, then when do you give it a crack? And Mia was excited for it. She got gee\u2019d up, then calmed her heart rate down enough to be calm and in that moment and then give it a shot. And I\u2019ll tell you what, I honestly thought she\u2019d landed because the crowd was so noisy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve got a radio in my ear but I remember all I got was static from whoever was at the bottom trying to tell me what happened because there was so much noise. And then I looked around and [GB Snowsport Ski Coach] Pat Sharples is in the start gate with his hands in his head and I was like does that mean she just landed? So for about 10, 15 seconds, I\u2019m like: \u201cno way\u2026\u201d <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>And even though she fell, it was the right call, right? <\/b>
\n<\/b>Yeh, Koko then laced up the last one. And that just confirmed it was the right call to go for it. I was incredibly proud of her, giving it a crack\u2014honestly, sometimes even I don\u2019t know how she can step up and do that. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Mia\u2019s got no regrets. I mean, you can\u2019t really ask for much more than landing your two biggest tricks and then having a crack at what was an NBD, at least for her. And the best thing is now, she\u2019s now full of confidence. I really noticed that when we got the bus a couple hours later, it made her pretty hungry for slopestyle.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Amazing. Well, I can\u2019t wait to see what Mia can do in slope. Good luck with it, and thanks for talking to us Ben. <\/b>
\n<\/b>Cheers!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve watched any of the Winter Olympics, you can\u2019t miss the coaches. They\u2019re the people standing at the top of the drop-in, giving Proximo from Gladiator energy as they prepare the riders for battle. On the BBC, Ed Leigh and Tim Warwood have namechecked a few of them, including Danny Kass (a veteran of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,280],"class_list":["post-1768320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-whitelines-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1768320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1768320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1768320\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1768320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1768320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1768320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}