Mercedes Nicoll

Biography

Mercedes Nicoll had a standout performance in her second Olympic Games at Vancouver 2010 where she posted the second-best Olympic result ever by a Canadian halfpipe snowboarder (male or female) when she finished sixth. During a training run at Sochi 2014, she fell more than 22 feet onto her hip and face. With the adrenaline flowing, she got up and competed. But she had sustained a concussion that forced her out of competitive snowboarding for two years. With a lot of patience and rehab, she returned to her board and won her fifth national halfpipe title in March 2016. She was Canada’s top-ranked female halfpipe snowboarder at the PyeongChang 2018 test event and then competed at her seventh world championships.

Nicoll has been representing Canada in World Cup competition since December 1999, just a couple of years after she first made the switch to snowboard from skiing. She has eight World Cup podiums to her credit and twice finished fourth in the overall World Cup standings for halfpipe (2004-05 and 2009-10). Another career highlight was her fourth-place finish at the 2010 Winter X Games Europe. Nicoll has always had a drive to make it to the next competition. That was especially important after she fell during the opening round of competition at Turin 2006. She finished 27^th and knew that she needed to return to the Olympic Games. She made her fourth Olympic appearance at PyeongChang 2018.

A little more about Mercedes

Getting into the Sport: Started snowboarding at age 13… Had been a skier but after moving to Whistler when she was 12 she found friends who were snowboarders so she made the switch the next year… Had also been a figure skater as a child… Outside Interests: Studied social media and online marketing at BCIT… Enjoys painting and used it as a form of therapy during her concussion recovery… Enjoys yoga and outside sports…  Works casually during the summer for the Whistler Resort Municipality in operations and events… Volunteers with the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation Odds and Ends: RBC Olympian… Favourite Olympic memory is the love that Canadians had for all of the athletes at Vancouver 2010 and seeing how the country could come together to support them… Collects her competition bibs and accreditations… Favourite quote: “Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.” – Marilyn Monroe…