At just 21 years old, Liam Brearley has made history by becoming the first Canadian to win the slopestyle crystal globe in World Cup history.
A crystal globe is awarded to athletes with the most points within their discipline during their seasons.
“Going into the contest, I had no idea that no one from the Canadian team had won it before,” said Brearley. He joked that he thought Mark or Craig McMorris had won it since the pair hold almost every other Canadian snowboarding record. “It came as a cool surprise,” continued Brearley. “I’m happy to be able to be the first one to do it.”
Brearley went into the event behind Japan’s Ryoma Kimata in the slopestyle World Cup standings but his win vaulted him into first place.
For the Gravenhurst native, he capped his season off with a gold medal in the World Cup slopestyle event on Saturday in Silvaplana, Switzerland.
Liam Brearley ➡️ CRYSTAL GLOBE 🏂
After a gold at the final World Cup stop of the season in Silvaplana 🇨🇭, Brearley becomes the first Canadian to win a Crystal Globe in snowboard slopestyle 🔥
The snowboarding phenom is just 21 years old 🤯
🎥 @fissnowboard / Instagram pic.twitter.com/HbjqgY2RZJ
— Team Canada (@TeamCanada) March 23, 2024
Brearley isn’t the first person from Muskoka to win a coveted crystal globe. He follows Bracebridge native Collin Cameron who earned the honour last year as the top sit-ski cross-country skier.
Competition is still top of mind for Brearley, but he says he’s starting to think about what’s next.
“I definitely want to branch out and start doing more backcountry or maybe some street filming,” he says, adding content creation is an avenue some other winter athletes have taken.
That, he adds, is a few years away. Right now, Brearley’s sights are set on qualifying for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
He says qualifying for the Olympics starts in the fall of 2024 and continues until the fall of 2025. With a lot of competition for only a few spots, Brearley says he’s in a good spot to potentially qualify.
“If you don’t have a decent rank at least within your team going into this next season, then it’s going to be very difficult for you to try and qualify for the Olympics,” he says.