The Digest | New Jersey Magazine
Issue link: https://magazines.vuenj.com/i/1306768
W hen it became apparent that snowboarding was a passion and seemingly natural talent for their kids, Meghan's parents moved the family to Colorado where they could further their snowboard training. Meghan attended Vail Ski & Snowboard Academy and then the International Snowboard Training Center and along the way quickly began racking up championship accomplishments at competitions such as the FIS Junior World Championships, and World Cups. Now at age 23, Tierney has spent about 13 years on the slopes, honing her skills to become recognized as a leader in women's snowboarding, specifically snowboard cross. Snowboard cross was first introduced as an Olympic sport in 2006, following the sport's debut at the X-Games. e event involves waves of competitors simultaneously racing down a slope to be the first to cross the finish line. e downhill course includes various snowboard elements such as turns, drops, and berms to challenge the snowboarders' ability to tackle changing terrain. It is Meghan's sport of choice, although when she was younger she did more traditional courses such as half pipe, slalom and giant slalom, but the speed of snowboard cross was addicting, and she likes that it is a sport where the athletes win based on who is the quickest and not who a judge deems has the best form. Her road to the 2018 Olympics was not assured. While she was climbing the ranks in worldwide events, she fell during training camp in Austria in 2016 and had to sit out the remainder of the 2016-17 season with a broken vertebra. Her comeback was challenging. "It was tough, mostly mentally, to come back from my injury and just to be out so long. I didn't know if I'd even get back. I really tried to be positive. When I started back, I wasn't anywhere near where I had been, so it made me want to work harder. I guess in some ways it (her injury) was really for the best in the end for that reason," she said. V U E N J . C O M 38