Julia Marino and Her Prada Snowboard Go Viral at the Beijing Winter Olympics

Julia Marino secured Team USA’s first Olympic medal this weekend in a viral high-fashion moment.

The 24-year-old won a silver medal in the women’s slopestyle event on Saturday during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, finishing after New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski Synnot. While many commented on Marino’s performance — a frontside double cork 1080 — many also took notice of the snowboarder’s high-fashion equipment courtesy of Prada.

Marino did her Olympic runs on a white and red Prada snowboard from the design house’s Prada Linea Rossa Ski fall 2021 collection. While the Prada snowboard may have seemed like an unusual choice for the Olympics — where sports brands typically supply the equipment — Marino was tapped as a campaign star for the collection back in November, where she modeled the collection alongside Olympic silver medalist and freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy.

Both athletes appeared in a short film and images for the campaign where they raced down a snowy hill on their respective Prada equipment.

Silver medalist, the U.S.’ Julia Marino; gold medalist, New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski Synnott, and bronze medalist, Australia’s Tess Coady celebrate after the women’s slope-style finals at the 2022 Winter Olympics. AP
Marino’s Prada snowboard is available on the design house’s website for $3,600, along with the rest of the Prada Linea Rossa Ski collection. The collection includes other ski and snowboarding equipment, such as helmets, skis and ski poles, as well as apparel like jackets, ski pants, sweaters and sneakers.

Marino isn’t the only Olympian who’s looking to a high-fashion brand for the Beijing Winter Olympics. Three-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White and his Whitespace snowboarding brand teamed with Louis Vuitton for a custom Olympic luggage set that pays homage to White’s late friend, Louis Vuitton men’s artistic director Virgil Abloh.

Designer labels are no stranger to the Olympic games, with the likes of Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, Ben Sherman and many others partnering with various Olympic teams to create their uniforms for the Beijing Winter Olympics.