Snowboarders Brooke D’Hondt and Elizabeth Hosking celebrate the little wins on the road to Milano Cortina 2026
For halfpipe snowboarders Brooke D’Hondt and Elizabeth Hosking, celebrating their accomplishments—no matter how big or small—is essential.
“Success, for me, is different on a day-to-day basis,” said D’Hondt. “I think some days it’s just the little wins and other days, it can be a big goal that you had written down on your goal board your whole life.”
“I feel like I’m just falling in love with my sport again because of all those small wins,” Hosking agreed. “[I’m] just smiling so much.”
Both athletes had a big win to celebrate in 2022, when they qualified to represent Canada at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games. At just 16 years old, D’Hondt was the youngest athlete named to Team Canada that year.
Now 20, D’Hondt looks back fondly on her time in Beijing, describing making the final as one of her favourite memories. “Being able to hug it out with Elizabeth, who also made finals, was pretty special for me. And a little bit of my ‘I made it’ moment, I think,” she explained.
The relationship between D’Hondt and Hosking has grown even more since then. “We’ve been able to grow really close the past couple of years,” D’Hondt said. “And it’s really nice having another girl, almost like a big sister on the team.”
“[I’m] eternally grateful that I get this opportunity [to represent Canada] and to know that I have such amazing people behind my back too,” said Hosking.
For Hosking, Beijing was a chance to return to the Olympic stage and improve on her 19th place finish at PyeongChang 2018, where she had, also at the age of 16, been the youngest athlete on Team Canada. And improve she did, landing sixth place, which tied her for Canada’s second-best ever Olympic result in women’s snowboard halfpipe.
She rode that momentum into the 2022-23 season, earning her first two World Cup podiums before ending off the season at the FIS World Championships in Bakuriani, Georgia. There, she made some history, claiming the silver medal and becoming Canada’s first ever world championship medallist in women’s snowboard halfpipe.
But later in the year, she suffered a serious concussion during pre-season training that took her out of competition for over a year and a half. After months of recovery, December of 2024 marked her first World Cup back—and the start of a challenging season. But Hosking took things step-by-step and congratulated herself on the little things that accompanied her comeback.
“I think it’s been a season full of growth,” Hosking said. “[It had] a lot more challenges than I would have hoped. But overall, I think that’s what made the highs so much better.”
READ: “That fire hasn’t left”: Snowboarder Elizabeth Hosking wants to reach new heights in the halfpipe
This past February, Hosking earned a third place finish at the World Cup in Calgary—an emotional and well-deserved climax to a difficult season.
“Finishing off with a podium in Calgary, on home soil was just so crazy and so much fun,” she described. “I feel like I definitely have more to give, but it was also really fun for myself to see, ‘okay, I’m back’. And know that I have more, but I’m still a part of the best.”
For D’Hondt, this past season also had its share of ups and downs.
At pre-season training camp, she tweaked her knee, leading to a break from competition until that World Cup event in her hometown of Calgary.
But a ninth place finish at the world championships in March meant a weight off her shoulders.
“I just needed a top third result to kind of qualify for the Olympics, and I was able to get that. So I’m looking pretty good going into next season,” she said, alluding to Canada Snowboard’s selection procedures for Milano Cortina 2026. “[I’m] going into [this] season, just being able to ride and have fun.”
The road to the last Olympic Games was riddled with challenges for D’Hondt, who wasn’t certain she was going just weeks prior due to catching Covid.
“Just getting there was such a big accomplishment for me. And I think going to this one, my expectations are a little higher,” said D’Hondt.
After punching her ticket to the final, she capped off her Olympic debut with a 10th place finish.
“There’s no other feeling quite like it,” D’Hondt described. “You work your whole life to get there. Being able to step up and show everything you’ve worked for and trained for your whole life in that moment is pretty special.”
With the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games just around the corner, D’Hondt and Hosking are ready to make their return.
“I’ve had four years to kind of train and grow as a person and as a snowboarder,” D’Hondt said. “I think I might have an edge on some of the first timers.”
Acknowledging the little wins is important, but Hosking isn’t losing sight of the bigger picture.
“Yes, I’m looking at those small wins,” she said. “But I want a medal, that’s what I’m looking towards.”
