Could 10-year-old Riley be a Winter Olympic champ one day?
At ten years old, Riley Sharpe is already being tipped for future Olympic success after he smashed it at the British Freeski and Snowboarding Championships (Brits) last week. The snowboarder beat competitors twice his age to the overall slopestyle and big air gold medals in Austria. Those two disciplines are both Olympic events, but Riley will have to wait until he is 16 to compete with the best in the world in 2034. He also took home the Brits under-16 rail jam trophy and the under-12 snowboard cross title.But what do all these terms mean and how did Riley get so good at them?
Slopestyle, Big Air, Rail Jam... What do they all mean?
Let's start with slopestyle - this is where a freestyle skier or snowboarder starts at the top of a large snowy hill and has to work their way down the course by showing top skills and tricks over a course of rails, jumps and other tricky objects. They are marked on creativity, difficulty of tricks, how well they link all the apparatus together and overall style and finish. Big Air is where athletes show off the biggest trick they can do, after building up lots of speed down a huge snowy jump. They often do multiple twists, flips and have to land without touching the ground to score the most points. Rail Jam is where all the athletes head down a short course of different rails, riding them on their snowboards or skis and flipping and twisting off them. Unlike slopestyle, there are no huge jumps (or kickers as they are known) in a rail jam. Snowboard and ski cross are all about speed and control. Around four to six athletes line up at the top of a fast course and it's a straight race to the finish line. They have to face small jumps and tight corners on their way.
Where did Riley learn how to snowboard?
Riley began snowboarding at the age of two on a family holiday! He was a natural on the snow and his family decided to move to the Alps in France for a few months to help him improve. His mum and dad say they wanted him to keep getting better, even when he was a youngster! "He excelled faster than anyone expected. He is obsessed with it," Riley's dad James told BBC Sport.By the age of eight, Riley was competing in big competitions, against other kids his age but also against older teens and adults. However, he may have to wait a few years to compete on a world stage as the age limit for the World Cup events is 15. However, the prestigious X-Games allow any age competitors as long as they have been invited to compete. "Nothing scares me," Riley said. "I can't wait for next season already. I want to keep pushing and showing what I can do."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
North Wales Chronicle
20 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Republic of Ireland grateful to debutant Max O'Leary in Luxembourg stalemate
The 28-year-old Bristol City keeper, who was first called up six years ago, denied Danel Sinani and substitute Vincent Thill either side of half-time to ensure Ireland emerged with a 0-0 friendly draw in their final game before they launch their World Cup qualification campaign in September. Skipper Nathan Collins headed against the post and substitute Jack Taylor blasted against the bar at the end of either half but the visitors, who extended their unbeaten run to four games in unremarkable fashion in front of a crowd of just 6,312, could not find a winner for head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson on his 58th birthday. Our June international window ends in stalemate — Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) June 10, 2025 A team shorn of the bulk of its Sky Bet Championship players because their season ended more than a month ago will look very different when the qualifiers come around, but few who were handed auditions in their place at the Stade de Luxembourg staked a persuasive claim to line up against Hungary or Armenia. O'Leary had to collect Tomas Moreira's 13th-minute cross under pressure from Sinani and then saw Gerson Rodrigues, whose participation following his conviction on three charges of assault and battery, one against a former girlfriend, continues to prove controversial – a banner in the stadium read 'Red card for violence against women' – drag a shot harmlessly wide in a low-key start. But the Republic almost fell behind nine minutes later when Evan Ferguson's loose pass allowed Sinani to slip away from Killian Phillips' desperate sliding challenge and send O'Leary diving to his left to palm away a curling attempt. Rodrigues drove a 37th-minute ball across the face of goal which was only just too strong for Eldin Dzogovic at the far post after Luxembourg once again made ground down the left as a game low on quality limped towards half-time. However, Hallgrimsson's men went close two minutes before the break when Dara O'Shea helped Will Smallbone's free-kick back across goal for Collins to head against the upright. A couple of chances for Kasey McAteer early in the second half 🇱🇺 0-0 🇮🇪 — Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) June 10, 2025 Kasey McAteer injected some life into the laboured Irish attack with an enterprising run and shot which slid wide of the far post within two minutes of the restart, but had it not been for Jason Knight's block at the other end, skipper Laurent Jans would have put the home side ahead with 49 minutes played. McAteer might have headed for goal from substitute Ryan Manning's cross but chose instead to pick out Troy Parrott, who was unable to convert with the game opening up, and O'Leary had to save from Aiman Dardari as Luxembourg responded. Chances came at both ends with Taylor sweeping fellow substitute Festy Ebosele's 63rd-minute pull-back just wide and O'Leary saving Thill's drilled attempt with his left foot seconds later, but it was Taylor who came closest to winning it at the death when he rattled the crossbar with an 88th-minute piledriver.
North Wales Chronicle
20 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Belgium will be ‘shaking in boots' ahead of Wales game in Cardiff
Belgium inflicted Craig Bellamy's first defeat as Wales head coach with an extraordinary 4-3 World Cup qualifying victory in Brussels on Monday. The Red Devils, ranked eighth in the world, let slip a three-goal lead before Kevin De Bruyne spared home blushes with an 88th-minute winner. The return fixture is in Cardiff on October 13 and new Stoke signing Thomas said of Belgium: 'That's a team that is top 10. People will say 'little old Wales' but we took the game to them. 'They're going to be shaking in their boots when they come to Cardiff to play us. We're hungry, we're a young group. 'I felt when it went to 3-3 it was in our hands. But it's a devastating game, football is a horrible sport sometimes. (Against) top 10 in the world and we feel we should have walked away with a win.' Wales seemed to be heading for a humiliating night when Romelu Lukaku, Youri Tielemans and Jeremy Doku struck inside the opening 27 minutes. There was a party atmosphere inside the King Baudouin Stadium as home supporters began a Mexican wave. Thomas said: 'Them behaving like that put it down to the pitch. The players got relaxed and we punished that. 'They might have been doing the Mexican wave but they weren't doing it when it went to 3-3. 'They're entitled to do what they want, but we deal with what's on the pitch. The whole game shifted. Your @EE Player of the Match after his first Cymru goal, @SorbaThomas 🌟 — Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) June 9, 2025 'They countered us a few times, but I felt we played their big players well. 'We're a young team and we're going places. That's one loss in 10. We'll learn from this and get better and better.' After Harry Wilson converted a penalty in first-half stoppage time, winger Thomas scored his first Wales goal and then set up Brennan Johnson's equaliser to cap a memorable week. The 26-year-old also started Friday's 3-0 victory over Liechtenstein and the following day left Huddersfield to join Stoke on a three-year deal. Sorba is a Stokie 🔴⚪ — Stoke City FC (@stokecity) June 7, 2025 'Personally it's been one heck of a week,' said Thomas, who has spent the season on loan at Ligue 1 club Nantes. 'I've secured my future and got my first Wales goal. I hope my family all watching at home were proud. 'I've loved my time at Huddersfield. They took me from non-league and made my dreams reality to play for Wales and put me in this moment. 'To get it (the move) done early was important because I can focus on my football. 'I want to play well in the Championship every week next season and give the manager a headache to keep putting me in the team.'
North Wales Chronicle
20 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Heimir Hallgrimsson seeks answers after disappointing draw
The visitors twice hit the woodwork at the Stade de Luxembourg but needed two saves from keeper Max O'Leary, making his senior international debut six years after first being called up, to emerge with something to show for their efforts. It will be a very different team which the Icelander sends out for the opening qualifier against Hungary in Dublin in September, but it will also need to be a very different performance if Ireland are to launch their campaign with the kind of result they will need to stand a chance of making it to the finals. Asked what he would take from the game, head coach Hallgrimsson, who presided over a far more impressive 1-1 draw with Senegal on Friday night, said: 'Firstly, you always use these games to get answers to questions. We got some answers – maybe more negative answers than positive from this tonight. 'The take from this is obviously when we go in September when the serious games start, we play a higher-ranked team first at home and then a lower-ranked team (Armenia) away just like we did now. We need to learn from this performance before September. 'We can take a lot of things. Mostly it's psychological or mental or whatever for the preparation. I know this is end-of-season so now everyone is in their off-season probably thinking, 'I don't want to get injured' or whatever they are thinking. 'But there's no excuse for a bad performance. Even if we would have scored in the end, I think still the performance was not good enough.' But for O'Leary, who saved from Danel Sinani before the break and substitute Vincent Thill after it, Ireland could have been looking at a repeat of their embarrassment when they were beaten 1-0 at home by Luxembourg in a World Cup qualifier in March 2021. Nathan Collins and substitute Jack Taylor hit the post and the bar respectively for the visitors, but they were pushed all the way by a side ranked 91st in the world by FIFA and Hallgrimsson was full of praise for the Bristol City keeper. He said: 'We have known that all these years, probably. I have worked with him for a year and he's always shown up, he's always done well in training, he's always supported the keeper that has been number one – which is Caoimhin [Kelleher] since I came and Gavin [Bazunu] before I came. 'He's just a fantastic team player, but he's also a good goalkeeper and now the fans got to see him.' Luxembourg boss Luc Holtz was pleased with what he saw from his team as they gear up for September's opening qualifier against Northern Ireland in the Grand Duchy. Holtz said: 'I'm very happy with the performance of my team. We managed to give big problems to Ireland. Ireland has a fantastic football team which plays with high speed and intensity and we managed to find solutions. 'This was a really good test for the upcoming match we play in September against Northern Ireland.'
