Liam Gill

Biography

Liam Gill represented Canada in all three freestyle snowboard disciplines at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne, finishing eighth in big air, 11^th in slopestyle and 13^th in halfpipe. He went on to be selected to both the slopestyle and halfpipe junior national teams in 2020-21. For 2021-22, he was named to the halfpipe senior national team. Gill was Canada’s lone competitor in the men’s snowboard halfpipe event when he made his Olympic debut at Beijing 2022.

Gill made his World Cup debut in his hometown of Calgary in February 2020, competing in both slopestyle and halfpipe. He subsequent World Cup appearances have all been in halfpipe, starting with his first overseas event in Laax, Switzerland in January 2021. He earned a career-high 16^th-place finish at Copper Mountain, Colorado in December 2021.

Gill’s first taste of international competition came at a Nor-Am Cup event in March 2017. His next appearance on the circuit in January 2018 resulted in a gold medal in slopestyle in Sun Peaks, B.C. The feeling of winning ignited a fire in him. But his season was cut short when he broke his collarbone in March, forcing him to miss the national finals in Calgary.

Gill won halfpipe gold for Team Alberta at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, but also competed in three other snowboard events: parallel giant slalom, slopestyle, and snowboard cross. He went on to compete in slopestyle and big air at the 2019 FIS Junior World Championships. But in April 2019, he broke his collarbone again, this time undergoing surgery to attach a plate and screws.

Gill is a proud descendant of a long line of Dene people from the Northwest Territories and represents the Dehcho Dene as a member of the Liidlii Kue First Nation.

A Little More About Liam

Getting into the Sport: Started snowboarding at age 4 and was competing by the next year… Grew up competing in skiing and snowboarding, but by age 11 he enjoyed snowboarding more, even giving up the chance to compete in ski freeride final because he didn’t want to pass up a good day of riding his board… Outside Interests: Enjoys rock climbing, skateboarding, fly fishing, and attempting to beat his fastest time to solve a Rubik’s cube… Would like to learn about film and media editing and production… Odds and Ends: Favourite motto: “Win or lose, it’s always fun”… Collects coffee mugs from his travels…