Maltese-American snowboarder Jenise Spiteri will be representing Malta in the Snowboard Half Pipe Event at the Beijing Winter Olympics this week!
A very excited Jenise shared some footage of herself proudly bearing the Maltese flag at the competition’s opening ceremony.
Malta’s sole competitor at this year’s Winter Olympics, Jenise is set to take the snowy stage this Wednesday, 9th February, and it’s safe to say that the entire country will be watching.
The qualifying rounds of the Snowboard Half-Pipe will take place in the Yunding Snow Park, Zhangjiakou City, at 2:30pm Malta Time.
Participants in this sport perform high-flying, acrobatic tricks while riding down a U-shaped course and receive points based on the difficulty and amplitude of their runs.
Who is Jenise?
Hailing from Cailfornia, Jenise has a Maltese father and an American mother. Her paternal grandparents were originally from Hamrun.
Jenise qualified for the games by participating in the World Cup event in Laax, Switzerland, paving her way to becoming an Olympian.
The avid sportsperson was supported on her journey to the Games by funding from the Olympic Solidarity Scholarship scheme.
Jenise, who is ranked 35th in the FIS Ranking schedule, will be competing in the first group of the qualifying event. She will be up against other experienced athletes from around the world, such as Chloe Kim, who won gold in PyeongChang 2018.T he first two rounds on Wednesday will give Jenise a shot at qualifying for the final, happening on 10th February.
“This is Malta’s third participation in the Winter Games. Although we compete against larger and more experienced countries, we make up for what we might lack in experience in spirit. We are confident that Jenise will be giving her 100% on Wednesday,” remarked Charlene Attard, Malta’s Chef de Mission at this year’s Winter Olympics.
The country made its Winter Games debut in 2014 in Sochi.
Will you be watching Jenise take the snowy stage?