With less than two months to go until the start of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy, the new winter sports season has opened with exceptionally encouraging signs for the United Kingdom. Two young athletes, Mia Brookes and Kirsty Muir, have begun their campaigns with an authority that cements their status not just as serious prospects, but as genuine contenders in their respective disciplines.
Mia Brookes back on top of the podium
Despite being only 18 years old, Mia Brookes already sits among the very best snowboarders in the world. Born in Sandbach, Cheshire, she has long been regarded as the cornerstone of Britain’s snowboarding renaissance — and her early-season performances have only strengthened that belief. Having taken victory at December’s Big Air World Cup in Beijing — the fourth World Cup win of her career — she backed it up a few weeks later in Klagenfurt, Austria, dominating a stacked final with remarkable composure. With her switch frontside 1440 stalefish in Beijing, followed by a Backside Dub 12 and Cab 14 combination in Austria, Brookes once again reminded the world why she became the youngest slopestyle world champion in history and the first Briton ever to claim that title.
Brookes’ pathway has always been shaped by progression. Raised on the dry slopes of Kidsgrove before refining her craft in Laax, Livigno and Hintertux, she grew up believing that limits were meant to be pushed — and she is doing so at breathtaking speed. Her Austrian win, secured with 184.25 points and a clear margin over her nearest rivals, confirmed that she is entering the heart of the season with even more room to grow. She does not hide her Olympic ambitions either: “I just wanted to put my tricks down and have fun. Getting the win is incredible,” she said, her calm demeanour contrasting sharply with the scale of her achievements.
Brookes now stands as one of Britain’s strongest medal hopes for the 2026 Olympics. Her style, consistency and technical boldness set her apart. For a country whose geography has historically kept it at the fringes of winter sports’ elite, the rise of an athlete capable of winning anywhere, in any format, and doing so with such command, marks a genuine shift. She is, quite simply, a generational talent.
Kirsty Muir confirms her status among the world’s elite freeskiers
If Mia Brookes is setting the pace in snowboard Big Air, Kirsty Muir is doing much the same in freeski. Born in Aberdeen, in the north-east of the United Kingdom, she has for several years been viewed as one of the most gifted skiers of her generation. Her career trajectory is that of an athlete built for the big stage: a rapid rise, major podium finishes, and then a resilient return following a significant injury. Her 2025–26 season arrived with genuine uncertainty, yet Muir quickly dispelled any doubts by winning the opening Big Air World Cup round at Secret Garden in China — a highly symbolic victory at one of the venues of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, where she had dazzled at just 17, finishing fifth.
This latest win, ahead of Naomi Urness and Liu Mengting, showed a skier operating with a level of mastery rarely reached at just 21 years old. Muir did not merely win — she controlled the competition with a poise reminiscent of her pre-injury form, fully focused on the execution of her tricks. “I just wanted to focus on my runs. The result comes afterwards,” she explained, well aware that her current technical level allows her to go head-to-head with the world’s best. A regular finalist, multiple World Cup medallist and double X Games bronze medallist in 2023, Muir is one of the central figures of Britain’s Olympic project.
As the season heads towards Italy’s Alpine venues, she will hope to climb a few places higher than in Beijing 2022 and convert her immense potential into an Olympic medal. Britain could not ask for a stronger or more complete contender: technically brilliant, mentally resilient, and now back to her very best just in time for the sport’s biggest stage.
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