Jenise Spiteri

Last updated

Jenise Spiteri
Personal information
National team Malta
Born (1992-09-20) September 20, 1992 (age 31)
Redwood City, California, U.S.
Alma mater Sierra Nevada College
Height5 ft 4 in (163 cm)
Sport
Sport Snowboarding

Jenise Lynae Spiteri (born September 20, 1992) is a Maltese-American snowboarder. The first Maltese Olympic snowboarder, she competed in the halfpipe event at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Contents

Biography

Spiteri was born on September 20, 1992, in Redwood City, California. [1] She has Maltese ancestry, with her grandfather having emigrated to the United States from there after his home was destroyed in World War II. [2] [3] She grew up initially wanting to be an actress, appearing in several commercials when young. [4] [5]

Snowboarding career

Spiteri began her snowboarding career in 2010 while at Sierra Nevada College, after writing a social media post that read "Wanted: someone to teach me how to ride pipe tomorrow. Anyone available?" [6] [7]

Spiteri competed for the team at Sierra Nevada and decided her goal was to represent Malta at the Winter Olympic Games. [4] A teammate made the suggestion and Spiteri realized it made sense as a way to pay homage to her grandfather, who died in 2010, as he had a connection to the Olympics through his company that produced figure-skating equipment for Olympians such as Michelle Kwan. [4]

Despite going through several injuries, including a torn ACL in 2012, another in 2017 as well as a torn meniscus the latter year, Spiteri continued snowboarding. [6] She was a top-15 finisher for Malta at the 2014–15 FIS Snowboard World Cup and just barely missed qualifying for the 2018 Winter Olympics by one spot, despite competing through her ACL and meniscus injuries. [6] As snowboarding is expensive, Spiteri lived out of a car, then a van, and worked several odd jobs (including being an extra in Euphoria ) while reusing her gear each season, additionally opening a GoFundMe account to help pay for the costs. [4] She also ran several social media accounts, gaining over 30,000 subscribers on YouTube. [6] [8]

Spiteri finally qualified for the Olympics in 2022, and thus became Malta's first Olympic snowboarder, their only participant at the 2022 games, and only their second participant all-time at the Winter Olympics in any sport. [4] [7] She served as Malta's flag bearer and competed in the women's halfpipe event, placing 21st, eating a bao between runs that she forgot she had kept in her pocket. [1] [8] [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaun White</span> American snowboarder and skateboarder (born 1986)

Shaun Roger White is an American former professional snowboarder and skateboarder. He is a five-time Olympian and a three-time Olympic gold medalist in half-pipe snowboarding. He holds the world record for the most X Games gold medals and most Olympic gold medals by a snowboarder. He has also won 10 ESPY Awards throughout his career in various categories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gretchen Bleiler</span> American snowboarder

Gretchen ElisabethBleiler is an American former professional halfpipe snowboarder. She won a silver medal at the 2006 Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torah Bright</span> Australian professional snowboarder

Torah Jane Bright is an Australian former professional snowboarder. She is Australia's most successful Winter Olympian, former Olympic gold and silver medalist, two time X Games gold medalist, three time US Open winner, two time Global Open Champion, three time World Superpipe Champion, former TTR World Champion and recipient of the Best Female Action Sports Athlete at the ESPY awards. In 2014 Bright became the first Olympic athlete to qualify for all three snowboarding disciplines; halfpipe, slopestyle and boarder-cross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelly Clark</span> American snowboarder

Kelly Clark is an American snowboarder who won halfpipe gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Clark was born in Newport, Rhode Island. She started snowboarding when she was 7 years old, began competing in 1999, and became a member of the US Snowboard team in 2000. On January 25, 2019, at the Winter X Games in Aspen, she announced her retirement from the sport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hannah Teter</span> American snowboarder

Hannah Teter is an American snowboarder. She is an Olympic champion, having won the gold medal in the halfpipe at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy and silver at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. She has also won bronze at the 2005 FIS World Championships at Whistler, British Columbia, and has a total of six World Cup victories in her career. In January 2010, Teter was named to the US Team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. She won the silver medal in women's halfpipe at the Vancouver Games. Teter came in fourth at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maëlle Ricker</span> Canadian snowboarder

Maëlle Danica Ricker is a Canadian retired snowboarder, who specialised in snowboard cross. She won an Olympic gold medal in the snowboard cross event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, to become the first Canadian woman to win a gold medal on home soil at the Olympics. She is also the 2013 World Champion and two-time Winter X Games Champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindsey Jacobellis</span> American snowboarder (born 1985)

Lindsey Jacobellis is an American snowboarder from Roxbury, Connecticut. The most decorated female snowboard cross athlete of all time, she dominated the sport for almost two decades as a five-time World Champion and ten-time X Games champion. In her Olympic debut at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Jacobellis won the silver medal in snowboard cross but was unable to medal at the next three Olympics until winning gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Jacobellis also won gold in mixed team snowboard cross at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queralt Castellet</span> Spanish snowboarder

Queralt Castellet Ibáñez is a Spanish snowboarder. She won a silver medal in the women's halfpipe at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, making her the first Spanish woman to win an Olympic medal at a Winter Olympics for 30 years. She was a silver medalist at the 2015 World Championships.

Faye Gulini is a professional American snowboarder born in Salt Lake City, Utah. She competes for the US Snowboarding Team in the disciplines of snowboard cross, slopestyle, and halfpipe. She is a four-time Olympian.

Scott James is an Australian snowboarder and four-time Olympian. He was the flag bearer for Australia at the 2018 Winter Olympics, where he won a bronze medal in the halfpipe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kazuhiro Kokubo</span> Japanese snowboarder

Kazuhiro Kokubo is a Japanese snowboarder who has won multiple medals in international events, including consecutive golds in US Open Halfpipe in 2010 and 2011. He competed at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics and 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, representing Japan.

Arielle Townsend Gold is an American Olympic medalist snowboarder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayumu Hirano</span> Japanese snowboarder (born 1998)

Ayumu Hirano is a Japanese Olympic champion and three-time Olympic medalist snowboarder and Olympic skateboarder. He won the silver medal in the superpipe in 2013 Winter X Games XVII at the age of 14, becoming the youngest medalist in X Games history, and won silver medals in the half-pipe at both the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang and the gold medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. He also competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo as a skateboarder, becoming one of the two athletes, the other being Jaqueline Mourão, who participated in all of the three consecutive Olympic Games in East Asia between 2018 and 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chloe Kim</span> American snowboarder (born 2000)

Chloe Kim is an American snowboarder and two-time Olympic gold medalist. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, she became the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboarding gold medal when she won gold in the women's snowboard halfpipe at 17 years old.

Taylor Gold is an American Olympian snowboarder. He competes in the halfpipe.

Kaitlyn Brooke Farrington is an American former professional snowboarder and amateur freestyle snowmobiler who grew up on a cattle ranch near Bellevue, Idaho, and now lives in Whitefish, Montana. She won the gold medal in the women's half-pipe competition at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Prior to her Olympic debut, she competed in the 2010 European Winter X Games and won the gold medal. On December 8, 2022, Farrington was announced as a backup crew member of the dearMoon project, a lunar spaceflight mission.

Sena Tomita is a Japanese snowboarder. She competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics, and the 2022 Winter Olympics, where she won the bronze medal in the halfpipe event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand at the 2022 Winter Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

New Zealand competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, from 4 to 20 February 2022. The New Zealand team consisted of 15 athletes—nine men and six women—who competed in five sports. Selection of the New Zealand team was the responsibility of the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malta at the 2022 Winter Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Malta competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, from 4 to 20 February 2022.

Snowboarding at the 2022 Winter Olympics were held at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou and Big Air Shougang in Beijing, China. The events took place between 5 and 15 February 2022. A total of 11 snowboarding events will be held.

References

  1. 1 2 "Jenise Spiteri". Olympedia. Archived from the original on May 31, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  2. ↑ Tom, Matthew (February 15, 2022). "Olympian Jenise Spiteri, a San Francisco native who trained in Tahoe, responds to 'haters' 12 years later". SFGATE . Archived from the original on July 14, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Jenise Spiteri becomes first ever Maltese snowboarder to compete at the Winter Olympics". Malta Daily . January 22, 2022. Archived from the original on July 14, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Petri, Alexandra E. (February 8, 2022). "For Malta's only athlete at the Games, it was a long road to snowboarding in Beijing: Ten years after asking friends on Facebook to help her learn the halfpipe, Jenise Spiteri is the first snowboarder to ever represent Malta at the Olympics". The New York Times . Archived from the original on July 14, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  5. ↑ Lindeman, Phil (January 22, 2016). "Take 5: Jenise Spiteri, the first Maltese national snowboarder". Summit Daily News . Archived from the original on July 14, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Nickle, Lori (February 9, 2022). "Dumpling-eating California snowboarder competing for Malta might be the most interesting person at the Winter Olympics". USA Today . Archived from the original on July 14, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  7. 1 2 Byrnes, Liz (2022). "Jenise Spiteri claps back at doubters: "Actually, I'm an Olympian.": Team Malta athlete has last laugh at people who dismissed her snowboarding dream after she competes at the Olympic Winter Games". Olympic Games. Archived from the original on August 14, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  8. 1 2 "Rainbow-haired snowboarder puts Malta in rare Winter Olympic spotlight". France 24. February 9, 2022. Archived from the original on July 14, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  9. ↑ Mendoza, Diego (February 9, 2022). "Malta snowboarder wins over fans after pulling bao bun from pocket after Olympic run". WKYC. Archived from the original on August 14, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.