World Junior Championships

Skiing is a brilliant thing. I can honestly say I learn more about life and about myself from skiing, than I ever did from school. Something about pushing myself to the limit day in and day out really helps me understand myself. First I want to talk about my World Cup experience. Right before the World Junior Championships I got my first ever World Cup start in Oberstdorf. The World Cup is home to the best Nordic Combined skiers in the world. I felt like a teenage girl at a Justin Bieber concert. Competing with all these guys I’ve seen on tv winning Olympic medals was so cool. On the World Cup you must jump into the top 50 the day before to even compete. Some guys show up and can’t even compete because they jumped out of the top 50. It doesn’t sound like a hard task but against these guys it’s difficult! I qualified in 44th place allowing me to start on Sunday. It was bittersweet because although I qualified, I had a bad jump in the competition. However it was a great experience and I had no expectations. Next was the World Junior Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy where I learned a lot. First let me rewind you to last years World Junior Championships for Nordic Combined in Liberec, Czech Republic. I was seventeen years old and it was my first time at this event. I was a rookie with zero expectations. I had my two best competitions of the season and I walked away with a 33rd, a 26th, and a 9th in the team event. I also walked away with a big shiny smile on my face. This year I came into WJC’s with a goal. I wanted to finish in the top 15 and I KNEW I could do it. Honestly in my head I was getting a little greedy and thinking top 10. I’ve never gone into an event with so much confidence. I ended up jumping to 15th the first day and 14th the second day. The first day I skied backwards to 26th and the second day I once again skied backwards to 23rd. During the team event we jumped well but once again, I skied backwards from 6th to 9th. I know your seeing a trend here. Lots of skiing backwards. Every single day of competition, it was either pouring rain or dumping absurd amounts of snow. These were probably the worst conditions I had ever competed in. This taught me to make the best out of things I have no control over. It’s all about the mindset. When I was riding the slow chairlift up the jump in the pouring rain I would just smile and laugh. When I was walking through a foot of water through the parking lot I would splash around and dance. I tried to keep a smile on my face and be positive but I felt like a completely different skier than when finished top 15 on the Continental Cup. I walked away from these competitions with a sour taste in my mouth. It’s funny how expectations and mindsets can change. A year ago with similar results I was ecstatic and now I was disappointed. I took a step back once I had left Italy and realized there is always something to learn from these situations. As an athlete when you produce good results or make a breakthrough, you want that to be permanent. Well reality check, it’s not! My first six competition of the year went extremely well but I had a setback. I raced through the Olympic Trials a little under the weather and afterwards came down with a nasty cough. This cough lasted much longer than I expected and took me almost completely out of training for two weeks. I couldn’t ski or exercise outside with my lungs so I was reserved to the weight room. In my world, two weeks without exercise is unheard of. By the time I got to Europe I was healthier and had a week to prepare for WJC’s. I learned that I cannot expect top-notch results every single day. Especially when I come in unprepared! Every season has its ups and downs no matter what. The important thing is how you handle it. At first I was really upset because this was the competition I had trained for all year! Now I am excited for what’s to come. I will be on the Continental Cup Circuit for the rest of the year. This will take me to Germany, Austria, Sweden, and Finland. I’m excited to face the challenge I’m having on the cross-country course head on. My fitness isn’t what it was at the beginning of the winter but I’m determined to get it back. Also I have one more year left to compete in the World Junior Championships! Next year I plan on coming in more prepared and stronger than ever. I want to thank the NNF, Rudy Project, One Way, Feed The Machine, Madshus, all my family, and friends for all the support. Love you all!

World Cup Oberstdorf

World Junior Championships 10km Race in the snow

Val di Fiemme World Junior Championships