Happy Holidays!

About 10 days ago, I returned from the first three events of the 2018-19 World Cup season that took place in Ruka, Finland, and Thaiwoo, China. I’m beyond excited to be back into the swing of things on the competition circuit for this year and am looking forward to the remainder of the World Cup Tour after the start of 2019!!

To be entirely honest, the first 3 events of the year didn’t go quite the way I had initially hoped. Despite the disappointment, my performances at the first few events of the year make me motivated to achieve my best skiing at every event moving forward. I feel as though things are moving in a good direction; I have the pieces, I just need to put it all together! Below are a few more details about the World Cups I skied in the past month.

Event #1 – Ruka, FIN (Singles)

To start things off in Ruka, I felt fresh and ready to go. After two rounds of qualifications that served to get the initial-event jitters out of the way, I qualified through to finals in 11th. That morning marked the first time I competed a run with back full on top air and cork 7 on bottom air — an accomplishment I was psyched to start my season off with. In finals, though, despite skiing the best I had yet this year, I made a mistake on my bottom jump, unfortunately costing me a chance at the third and final round of competition. I finished up my day in 12th place, hungry for more. Although I didn’t achieve the day I had initially envisioned, our US Women’s Team started off the season strong with Tess finishing in 3rd and Jaelin in 5th!! Below is my run from finals and my favorite run from my time spent in Ruka:

 

Event #2 – Thaiwoo, CHN (Singles)

After a long day of travel to China (where we got to see the Great Wall on the bus ride to Thaiwoo), we then had a day of unofficial training. That set the stage for the second and third events of the year — another single moguls event and the first duals event of the season — in the host city for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games! On the first day of competition in Thaiwoo, I unfortunately made yet another mistake on my bottom jump in qualifications and didn’t progress to the next round of competition later that afternoon. That same day, I took a bit of time to think about how my past two events had gone as well as my competitive mindset. I was frustrated with the the fact that I had not yet laid down my best run in competition despite countless hours, weeks, months, and even years of preparation to get me to this point.

Event #3 – Thaiwoo, CHN (Duals)

The next morning, I attacked duals with a vengeance, determined to ski my best all day. While I progressed through my first dual with the best run I had laid down in competition yet this season, I made a few costly mistakes in my second dual against Jakara Anthony (the 2nd place finisher from the previous day’s competition) and lost by 1 point, ending my day in 11th. This day was a little bittersweet, as I had come closer to skiing to my full potential, but I hadn’t yet done so on a consistent basis.

A Little Reflection…

In hindsight, I feel as though I’m quite close to achieving my top skiing potential each time I ski a competition run. Before the start of the season in Finland, I had never competed the air packages I’ve been doing thus far this season, and while it’s frustrating that I haven’t performed to the top of my potential at an event yet this season, I’m encouraged by the fact that I’m quickly gaining experience with this new repertoire. It’s also pretty encouraging to see that other top girls on the World Cup Tour are competing tougher tricks and getting rewarded for it! I’m excited to stomp these tougher tricks in my competition run during the remainder of the season and partake in this change on the women’s side of the sport!!

Current Nations Cup Standings

Another plus for the month-long trip is the fact that the US is currently in the lead for the Nations Cup — the trophy awarded to the best country on the Moguls World Cup Tour at the end of the year! It was also pretty sweet to see my teammate, Jaelin, score back-to-back wins in Thaiwoo and secure the World #1 rank for the next World Cup this season. Seeing my teammates perform to the best of their ability certainly motivates me to execute my best stuff moving forward!

Home for the Holidays (:

Since I’ve been back home in the US, I’ve had the pleasure of watching my brother compete in his first US Selections (the qualifying events for the North American Cup Tour) for a few days.

Shortly after, I spent a relaxing Christmas day with my grandparents and family.

As for what’s next on the agenda, I travel to Winter Park, Colorado, for a bit of training before the World Cup Tour resumes in mid-January, where I’ll be competing in Calgary, Canada, Lake Placid, NY, and Mont Tremblant, Canada during 3 back-to-back weekends of events!! I’m grateful to have the opportunity to compete on the World Cup Tour and hungry to ski at my best moving forward!!!

Happy Holidays! As always, I am beyond thankful for your support and love! (:

All the best,

Olivia