Features / snowboarding
Snowboarder Jenny Jones looks back at her ‘magical’ olympic win
A decade may have passed for Downend-born Jenny Jones since winning bronze at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games but it is “still absolutely a magic moment for me”.
“I think just going to the Olympics was my goal at that time and so to come away with a medal was definitely, as they say, the cherry on the top.”
Jones, who was trailblazer in the sport of snowboarding for more than a decade, was speaking to Bristol24/7 on a recent afternoon in a pause between races at charity event held to raise awareness about clean water.
is needed now More than ever
She won bronze in ‘slopestyle’ at the Russian games ten years ago: Britain’s earliest medal in a winter Olympics.
With the winds picking up pace on a recent afternoon, the event by Frank Water that was originally supposed to be a stand up paddleboarding race was turned into a race with Monster SUPs and KataKanus.
View this post on Instagram
Looking back, Jones said that her snowboarding journey started in Churchill, Somerset, where now the Mendip Ski Centre resides. She first tried the sport aged 17 when the dry slope was offering free lessons.
“Back then, being a professional snowboarder wasn’t really a thing. Olympics was not a goal, because there wasn’t anything in the Olympics in my discipline.
“It was on my 33rd birthday that I got a phone call. They said: ‘Jenny, do you know that snowboard slopestyle, which is my discipline, is going to be at the Olympics for the first time ever?'”
Jones spent the next two years training rigorously.
Speaking about the result, she said: “I got bronze, but I was very pleased. Really pleased to go there and do that, especially at 33.”
Jenny Jones was reflected on her olympic journey at charity event held to raise awareness about clean water – photo: Richard Johnson
Stand Up For Safe Water (SUFSW) was hosted to raise awareness about clean water in partnership with SUP Bristol. The event was held in the Floating Harbour overlooking the Cottage Inn pub on Cumberland road.
About her association with Frank Water, Jones said: “I just thought this is an amazing charity and it’s based in Bristol and it spans out and works with people in India and Nepal so I just thought it’s amazing.”
Corporate partnerships manager Lizzie Archer emphasised on the need for clean water across the world.
“Access to clean, safe water is a basic human right that too many still lack,” she said.
“Events like these not only raise essential funds but also increase awareness and inspire action within our local community and amongst our network of supporters.”
Main photo: Karen Johnson
Read next:
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
