British teen snowboarder blasts Pantera before Olympic Big Air run

When British Olympic snowboarder Mia Brookes needed something extra to lock in for one of the biggest moments of her career, she didn’t turn to a calm playlist or some mindfulness chat. 

She cranked Pantera.

The 19-year-old had a wild ride in the Olympic Big Air event, stacking it on her first three jumps before pulling out scores of 89.0 and 78.0 just to scrape into the finals. 

She wanted to pull off a backside 1620 to secure a medal, so she needed something to keep her focused on the goal. 

And what was that? A heavy metal soundtrack. 

“I just listen to music to try to block out all the noise going on around me,” she told Olympics.com. “Mostly heavy metal music like Metallica, Pantera, Judas Priest, stuff like that.”

Come finals day on Monday, Pantera got the nod. 

According to The Guardian, that was the soundtrack pumping through her ears as she stood on top of the 150-foot ramp, sitting fourth and needing something special to medal.

So she sent it.

The backside 1620 had only ever been landed once before. She got it to her feet, but overspun slightly and just missed out, finishing fourth overall.

“I just gave it too much power, listening to my music too loud, I spun it too quickly,” she said, still grinning. “But yeah, I’m pumped.”

This isn’t new territory either. Brookes has been repping metal for years, previously crediting Metallica for hyping her up to win slopestyle gold, and once joking she’d trade a World Cup trophy for Black Sabbath tickets.

She may not have gotten a medal, but she’s a winner in our hearts for the soundtrack alone.