Agent of shred: Eagle Olympian Meghan Tierney starts a new chapter in life
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Longtime Eagle resident Meghan Tierney is used to navigating the twists and turns of the snowboardcross track, but over the last few years, she’s enjoyed a different kind of whirlwind ride.
Since her last appearance in the Olympics (where she finished 12th in Beijing), she wed her husband, James Daniel; changed her name to Meghan Tierney Daniel (she still goes by the nickname “Tierney,” as that’s what people have always called her); gave birth to a daughter (Charlie Ray, 14 months); passed the real estate exam in Colorado and started a new career selling homes.
She’s still a member of the U.S. Snowboarding Team, but with another child on the way, she’s not actively competing.
Instead, she has poured her focus into selling real estate and getting James up to speed as a recreational snowboarder. He just got out of the military in October.
“He’s gotten much better,” she said. “I’ve been trying to teach him everything I’ve been taught.”
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Tierney said becoming a real estate agent has been a lifelong dream of hers, but amid the hustle-bustle lifestyle of competitive snowboarding, she never had a chance to pursue it.
“I remember when I was in high school, I would always drive around Beaver Creek and Vail and I would just look at all the houses,” she said. “I feel like I have a little bit of an advantage in Eagle County, since I know it so well.”
She received her real estate license about two months ago, and has been using the title of two-time Olympian as a selling point. She says she’ll invest the same dedication that she put into snowboarding with her clients.
“I’ve been telling people that I may not have much experience in real estate, but I know how to work hard,” she said with a laugh.
When she was in sixth grade, Tierney met Anita Jacobellis, mother of 10-time X Games gold medalist Lindsey Jacobellis, who is widely considered the best female athlete ever to touch a snowboardcross track. Anita Jacobellis saw a likeness to Lindsey in Tierney, and became her tutor.
“She was so much fun to work with, she made me laugh every day,” Anita Jacobellis told the Vail Daily in 2018. “She’s a great kid, very wise and sophisticated in her thinking.”
Tierney excelled in the sport, but had setbacks along the way, as well.
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While at a training camp in Austria in November 2016 she crashed and broke her back. It didn’t require surgery, but the physical therapy was intense. She worked her way back to health and made the U.S. Olympic Team ahead of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games.
While she’s still on the U.S. team, she’s not actively competing, but the dream of returning to the starting gate is still alive in the 27-year-old.
“I definitely still have aspirations for 2026,” she said.
