Nothing makes an Olympic debut more emotional than seeing your little brother cheering you on in the crowd,
That was the case for snowboarder Txema Mazet-Brown as he kicked off the British action on snow at Milano Cortina 2026 in the men's big air qualifying.
The 19-year-old finished 21st overall and despite just missing out on a place in the final, was thrilled to finally stamp his name in the Olympic record books in front of his family.
"I’m happy with my riding today, it’s my first Olympics so it was nice to land two of my jumps," he said. "It would have been nice to clean one up but I’m happy to put two down.
"There were definitely a couple of butterflies in my stomach but they were good ones.
"I’m definitely feeling super proud. It was super cool to see my family in the crowd. I saw them briefly at the end and my little brother was actually crying so I’m pretty happy for sure."
The first of the British snow sport athletes to get underway in Livigno, Mazet-Brown opened up with a switch backside 16 to score 67.50 for his first run.
But it was his second jump that wowed the judges, with an impressive cab 12 that notched 84.25 and saw him storm up the leaderboard.
With a bit of flair on the take off and landing, the teenager was on the cusp of qualifying for a maiden Olympic final, with only the top 12 making the cut.
With a fall on his third and final run, Mazet-Brown did not progress through to the final, but with two solid tricks under him, it was an Olympic debut to remember as he now looks ahead to the men's slopestyle event.
"I’m just going to use the time to recover and get my body feeling as good as possible," he said.
"I’m really looking forward to the slopestyle now. I’ve been doing better at big air in the past but I prefer slopestyle as you can show some more creativity."
Sportsbeat 2026