In January 2012, Jenise Spiteri, then a college student, posted a Facebook status that read, “Wanted: someone to teach me how to ride pipe tomorrow. anyone available??” The post garnered two likes, 10 comments and one share.
A decade later, Spiteri, 29, is competing in the women’s snowboarding halfpipe competition at her first Olympic Games. She is the first snowboarder to compete for Malta in a Winter Games and the only athlete representing the country this year in Beijing.
As a child in California, Spiteri wanted to become an actor. But as a high school senior she decided to pursue professional snowboarding.