sports

Jake Canter Wins Olympic Slopestyle Bronze After Near‑Death Injury

U.S. snowboarder Jake Canter, who survived a traumatic brain injury at 13, captured bronze in slopestyle at the Beijing Olympics, defying doctors who said he could never snowboard again.

Canter was kicked in the head on a trampoline at an action‑sports camp, fracturing his skull in four places and leaving him in a coma for four days. He lost hearing in his right ear and later developed meningitis, requiring surgery that left him relearning basic functions.

Nine years later, Canter returned to the slopes and won bronze in slopestyle at the Beijing Games, landing a 1980‑degree spin on his final run. His medal was a testament to perseverance and a challenge to the medical verdict that he could never snowboard again.