As Olympic events kick off in Milan, Italy, a Nova Scotia snowboarder is in the middle of it all.
Liam Moffatt, from Truro, is one of five athletes from Nova Scotia competing at the 2026 winter games.
In an interview with our newsroom Moffatt says the vibes are really great, compared to his first Olympics four years ago in China.
“Everyone’s excited. It’s awesome to have all the athlete’s kind of together again, unlike four years ago when we were all kind of secluded from each other,” says Moffatt.
The 2022 games in Beijing happened right in the middle of the pandemic.
“It was definitely a different experience to what I’m seeing so far,” explains Moffatt.
His journey
The 28-year-old grew up in Truro, riding in at Ski Wentworth about an hour and a half from the Halifax area.
Moffatt says when he was younger he was “pretty hooked” into competition and snowboarding, specifically.
“I had some early success just competing against kids that were way older than me and found out pretty early that’s kind of what I wanted to do,” explains Moffatt.
Then at 15-years-old, he and his parents decided he would be stricter with training which eventually led to the national team.
Since, he’s competed at the World Cup with several top 10 and even top 8 finishes at World Championships.
Photo: @fissnowboard
What does it feel like being an Olympian?
Moffatt says he’s proud of how far he’s come but he doesn’t think he should be looked at any differently.
“I don’t deserve any special treatment by any shape or form,” says Moffatt. “I’m proud of it. It’s something I’ve worked toward for a very long time.”
As for medal contention, Moffatt says, he obviously wants to get to the top spot and achieve the highest goals but there are things you can’t control.
“Anything can really happen. For me, I know that my riding is capable of being in medal contention. I just want to be able to present that type of riding.”
“I’m just trying to show up as my best self and try and compete.”
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