Olympic Dreams

Many athletes dream of going to the Olympics, others dream of the day that their sport will be added to the Olympic roster.  I happen to fall in the latter. When I began competing in halfpipe in 2002 I was participating in regional events in New England (Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and Maine).  In 2003 I went to Newfoundland for the first ever Junior World Championships for halfpipe.  That same year I went to Switzerland for the first halfpipe World Cup.  I remember thinking that in 2006 ski halfpipe would be an Olympic sport and I would be an Olympian.

2006 came and went. No Olympics, but I had competed in 2 X-Games very poorly.  I still had faith that we would be in for 2010 in Vancouver, but in 2007 it was decided that skier-cross would take our place.  I started focusing on what was in front of me, what the sport had to offer here and now.  In the following years I competed in 4 more X-Games and earned 5 X-Games medals.  I adjusted to the sport as it was, and became very comfortable with it.  I was not going to speculate about 2014 until it was announced, yay or nay.

Which brings us to today:  I was trying to figure out logistical details of a last minute trip to New Zealand (would the training be worth the money??!) when I got an email from my coach:

"IOC SAYS YES TO SKI HALFPIPE The IOC Sports Programme Commission has met and agreed to put forth Ski Halfpipe for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, RUS. The next step is the IOC Executive Committee will meet in the next few weeks to make the final decision. Big Congrats to the FIS for the courage to step forward. Fingers crossed! Final step coming soon..."

Well, that certainly made my decision about going down to N-Zed a lot easier.  When the Olympics are on the line, any and all sacrifices will be made to accomplish a goal- a trip to the Games, with a medal on top.  I suppose the day that I have dreamed of for so long has nearly arrived.  We still have a few more weeks before the IOC Executive Committee gives the final word, but the first few hurdles (and the largest ones) have been crossed.

For more details visit this link: http://aroundtherings.com/articles/view.aspx?id=35676