Zeb Powell had no idea how monumental his 2020 win at the Winter X Games would become. At the time, Powell was just a 20-year-old from North Carolina in his debut on the big stage, but he became the first Black snowboarder to win gold at the games that year.
Powell has quickly become one of the more popular and exciting athletes in the sport, but he’s also inspired an entire generation of young Black snowboarders.
What have the past couple of years been like for you under this new spotlight?
It’s actually been a learning curve. Luckily, I’ve had many people around me who helped me prepare and walk me through the motions. It’s just cool to see it all come around full circle. [When] I first got to the X games, I walked in and I was so scared like, “What is going on? This is so new.” It feels like Hollywood for any young gun coming in for the first time. There are all these pros you’ve seen. So to get used to it now, with all the media and stuff, it’s super cool. I’m entirely in it now, so I’m just happy to do more.
How did being adopted affect how you thought about your Blackness growing up?
I don’t think it affected my consciousness. It was the way I grew up. I was in a family with a lot of adopted kids, so we were all different races and colors. I was never really thinking about color until I won, then Black people started reaching out to me like “Yo! I didn’t know you could do this.”
I was reading it thinking, “Dang. This is a real thing. So, I have to let them know [they can do it, too.]” It made me proud to be Black, for sure. It was something I didn’t really think about before. I’ve definitely leaned into that more, and I’ve started to lean into the cultural side of things more. There have been other Black snowboarders before me, but to be the first one to win X Games, like on the big screen, it’s all eyes on you. So it’s crazy, for sure.
Zeb Powell is a psychopath this kid is so fun to watch pic.twitter.com/PZ4kD1Q7ht
— direc rudeboi (@thiccnsatanicc) January 30, 2023
At what point in life did you realize you were more creative than the average person?
I don’t really know. I think I’ve fallen into that role and realized [that] I am [creative] in the past two years. I think I’m starting to wholly lean into it now … from a young age, I was always riding with my friends who snowboarded too, but they were always looking at me differently like, “What was that?” I don’t really like giving myself too much credit, so I never thought that I was different, I just thought I was doing my thing.
Who are you listening to right now?
A lot of Tyler, The Creator. A lot of Isaiah Rashad. Joey Bada$$, SZA. Those are the real heavy hitters right now.
Zeb Powell is a psychopath this kid is so fun to watch pic.twitter.com/PZ4kD1Q7ht
— direc rudeboi (@thiccnsatanicc) January 30, 2023
