Jakarta. Meet Zazi Betari Landman, a 13-year-old who has become Indonesia’s first snowboarding athlete.

Zazi was born in Jakarta to an Indonesian mother and a Dutch father. She was raised in Barcelona before her family moved to Laax, Switzerland, to give her access to one of the world’s top snowboarding training environments. Her journey on snow began at the age of four with skiing. At seven, after watching riders jump and spin through the air, something clicked. She turned to her parents and said, “I want to do that.” From that moment, she switched to snowboarding.

Zazi’s technical skills quickly set her apart. By the age of eight, she was placed in an adult snowboarding class, and by 10, she was already competing internationally. Reflecting on her progress, Zazi said on her Instagram account, which has nearly 20,000 followers, “I started getting better and better, and I was like, I want to be professional. I want to compete. I want to be in the Olympics.”

Her achievements have followed. In 2024, Zazi won first place in the under-13 Girls and Boys category at the Volcom Sunrise & Sunset Park Takeover in Grandvalira, Andorra. In early 2025, she placed fifth at Switzerland’s Laax Banked Slalom, competing in the older girls category. She is now preparing to compete at the Laax Open Kids event in March 2026.

Zazi currently trains with one of the sport’s top riders, Iouri Podladtchikov, the gold medalist in the halfpipe at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Podladtchikov retired in 2020 after a series of severe injuries limited his ability to compete at the highest level. Training alongside Zazi helped him return to competition in 2025, and he is now targeting a comeback at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.

Her journey, however, has not been without setbacks. During a competition in Font-Romeu, France, Zazi suffered a serious fall that resulted in a knee injury and ended her season. She spent three months on crutches and briefly considered quitting the sport. Instead, she committed to physiotherapy and pushed herself to return to snowboarding.

Now, Zazi is pursuing an ambitious dream: representing Indonesia at the 2030 Winter Olympics. “My dream is to be in the Olympics and compete for Indonesia,” she said in one of her Instagram reels.

Beyond representing her country, she hopes to inspire others by showing that where you come from does not limit what you can achieve — even if you are from a tropical nation with no snow.

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