RVC Snowboarder Aims for Olympic Gold

While his classmates spend their summer vacation going to camp or relaxing on the beach, eleven-year-old Robby Meehan is hitting the slopes in Mount Hood, Ore.

Under the guidance of his coach, former snowboarding Olympian Ron Chiodi, Meehan is training in slopestyle and halfpipe boarding with the goal of one day making it to the Olympic Winter Games. 

“My ultimate goal is to get into the Olympics,” said Meehan, who has already participated in national competitions and is now honing his skills on performing tricks and inverts on his board. “My coach is awesome because he knows what I have to do to make it into these competitions.”

Meehan explained that his love of the sport began when he was only two years old, after he watched his older brothers snowboard and he wanted to follow in their footsteps. Today, Meehan has earned sponsorship from major snowboarding companies such as Turbine Boardwear, Smith Optics and Candygrind.

This fall, Meehan will take his academic classes online in order to focus on training full time. The Hewitt Elementary School student was pulled out of regular classes midway through last year to accommodate his training and competition schedules.

“Everyone in the district was extremely supportive of Robby and made sure that he had all of the necessary curriculum to finish this school year,” said Meehan’s mother, Jo-Ann. “As long as he keeps up with his academics, we’re happy to support his dream.”

When he returns home from Mount Hood next week, Meehan says he will continue his training with “dry land practice,” which includes doing sit-ups, push-ups and strength training. He is also looking forward to relaxing and spending time with friends before the school year begins.

Despite his love of competing, Meehan says his favorite part about the sport is simply the fun of it. “I love just going out there with my friends and having a good time," he said.