Queenstown athlete Cool Wakushima represented New Zealand at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, competing in Slopestyle. In the month prior to Beijing she achieved her career best World Cup result with a 5th place finish at the LAAX Open Snowboard Slopestyle World Cup.
The season prior she finished in 7th place at the FIS Slopestyle World Cup in Silvaplana and 8th place at the FIS Snowboard Slopestyle World Championships. She claimed the gold medal in Big Air and the silver medal in Slopestyle at the Aspen Open in February 2021.
Cool began snowboarding in Japan when she was six years old. Her family moved to New Zealand when she was nine and she now considers NZ home. Growing up with an older brother and a younger brother Cool has always been competitive, learning from a young age what it felt like to lose and how great it felt to win!
Once she moved to New Zealand she got into the competitive side of snowboarding and started competing in local slopestyle competitions and the Junior Freestyle Nationals each year. The feeling of butterflies in her stomach before she drops in and the sense of relief when she lands a good run that lands her on the podium are the reasons she loves competing.
2021 was Cool's first season competing on the FIS World Cup circuit, where she achieved a 7th place at the FIS Slopestyle World Cup in Silvaplana and 8th place at the FIS Snowboard Slopestyle World Championships. She claimed the gold medal in Big Air and the silver medal in Slopestyle at the Aspen Open in February 2021.
During the 2022 season Cool secured her best ever World Cup result with a 5th place finish at the LAAX Open Snowboard Slopestyle World Cup.
Cool represented New Zealand at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
