Machibet AffiliateMeet snowboarding's Luke Littler, Mia Brookes, 18, the metal-loving record-breaking champ targeting Winter Olympics gold | The Sun - Machibet Affiliate

THERE must have been something in the water around Cheshire in January 2007.

Mia Brookes and Luke Littler were born just two days and 20 miles apart.

Mia Brookes celebrates her snowboard slopestyle win, holding a British flag. — Mia Brookes is the youngest snowboarding world championCredit: Reuters

Snowboarder performing a trick in the air during a slopestyle competition. — She became the first woman to complete a Cab 1440 moveCredit: EPA

Mia Brookes of Great Britain holding her gold medal after winning the Women's Snowboard Slopestyle at X Games Aspen. — She is eyeing up medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-CortinaCredit: Getty

Luke Littler of England celebrates during a darts match. — Luke Littler was born just two days later and 20 miles awayCredit: Getty

And while Luke the Nuke exploded on to the darts scene, the effect Brookes has had on the snowboarding world is almost as seismic.

Even in a sport loaded with talented teenagers, Brookes has earned a reputation as a wunderkind.

She even succeeded where Littler failed, becoming world champion as a 16-year-old - though of course Littler would not be denied at 17, ensuring the pair both became their sports' youngest world champs.

Her historic effort in Bukuriani in 2023 also earned Brookes the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award that year - 12 months before Littler received the same gong.

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Brookes admitted: "I never really watched any of the darts - but I saw a lot on Instagram about it.

"It's a weird but cool sport.

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"I do like kebabs but I'd probably go for maybe a burger or pizza. I'll eat anything, to be honest."

To be fair, Littler might similarly claim snowboarding is "weird but cool" - yet it is something Brookes was seemingly born to do.

She was on the slopes for the first time at eight weeks old - thankfully in a carrier - but on a snowboard by herself from the age of 18 months, driven around Europe in the family motorhome by dad Nigel and mum Vicky, both keen snowboarders themselves.

Her rapid rise saw her competing in British events, aged eight, and in Europe at 11, and she was just 19 days too young for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

She said: "I'm grateful I didn't go to the last Olympics because I'd have just been 15 - but this time, yeah, we're ready for it.

"If I go there and do my best, I'll be happy but obviously winning would be the pinnacle.

"When I was 12 or 13, I used to train where they are going to hold the Olympics so I know the resort really well.

"It'll be nice to go back there - but in the Olympics! Crazy!"

But while Brookes plans to mark her 18th birthday by getting a tattoo in Los Angeles, she vowed against the "cliched" inking of the famous Olympic rings on her following Milan-Cortina.

Brookes' staggering rise was halted for three months in 2021 when she was left unconscious for 40 minutes and airlifted from the snow following a serious crash.

Luke Littler vs Mia Brookes

LUKE LITTLER

SPORT: Darts
DATE OF BIRTH: January 21, 2007
BIRTHPLACE: Runcorn, Cheshire
HEIGHT: 5ft 8in
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS: 2025 World Championship, Premier League Darts, Grand Slam and World Series Finals champion
BBC YOUNG SPOTY: 2024
SIGNATURE MOVE: 180, double 10s
FAVOURITE FOOD: Kebabs, pizza
FAVOURITE MUSIC: Pitbull

MIA BROOKES

SPORT: Snowboarding
DATE OF BIRTH: January 19, 2007
BIRTHPLACE: Sandbach, Cheshire
HEIGHT: 5ft 5in
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS: Slopestyle world champion 2023, Big Air World Cup winner 2024, X Games gold 2024
BBC YOUNG SPOTY: 2023
SIGNATURE MOVE: Cab 1440
FAVOURITE FOOD: Anything
FAVOURITE MUSIC: Pantera

She struggled with headaches for several weeks but with no broken bones, once she was clear from the concussion, she could get back on her board.

Adrenalin-junkie Brookes has been practising new tricks this campaign, having pulled off a gutsy global first in her World Championship triumph.

The keen skateboarder and surfer, like fellow teen Sky Brown, became the first female rider in competition to land a CAB 1440 double grab - a move where you ride backwards into a jump then rotate the body FOUR times in the air.

Incredibly, she revealed: "I'd only ever tried it once before on snow, so on the day it was the second time of trying it ever.

"It was definitely scary but when you're in that moment, everything else just blacks out and you're just focusing on doing that.

"I couldn't believe I'd landed it but, because I still had to finish my run, I could only think about it for a split second.

"So I acted like, 'Well, I'll celebrate afterwards' and kept my pace going."

Metalhead Brookes cites veteran rockers Pantera as her favourite band - and she is no slouch on the electric guitar herself.

She said: "At school, I felt like I never used to fit in because I was so different, always snowboarding and listening to different music.

"I definitely don't like Taylor Swift. Everyone on the snowboard scene knows I always listen to metal music at whatever time of the day or wherever. That's my thing.