Hi Everyone!
TeamLivy Update #3 : August 9, 2016
Welcome to my third training update for the 2016-17 season! Thank you for all of your constant support!
TRAINING HARD AT HOME
Over the past month, I have settled into my new home in Park City, Utah and put in a solid month-long training block with the US Freestyle Ski Team. My training has consisted of hard work at the Utah Olympic Park (pictured above), where I practice my jumping into a pool of water, as well as strength training at the Center of Excellence (COE), where most US Ski Team athletes strength & condition train on a daily basis. The COE has everything I could ever want to heighten the quality of my training. This includes one of the best gyms I have ever worked out in, a trampoline center that houses one of the best trampolines in the world, and other resources for me to utilize throughout the building such as nutritionists who cook us a healthful lunch on a daily basis, a tumble track, a full physical therapy division, and sports psychologists. Each resource has been exciting to utilize and has been helpful in supporting me in my journey to reach my peak performance when the time comes to compete.
CLICK HERE For a Video CLIP of My Training from the Last Month!
EXPLORING MY NEW HOMETOWN
Because I’ve been training the last month here in Park City, I have had the opportunity to explore my new hometown. When I’m not training, I have found many things to do, such as playing tennis, disc golfing up on the mountain, biking, going to the movies with friends and cheering on my brother in his soccer tournaments with his new soccer team, Park City Soccer Club. I have also been working on completing a Spanish course in an effort to lighten my school course load for my upcoming compeition season as well as to enable me to focus with a higher quality on the classes that I will be taking this year (3 out of the 4 of my classes will be AP). Along with this Spanish class, in the past few weeks I have finalized my school schedule for the upcoming school year, ensuring that it will work smoothly with my training schedule. I have also ordered all of my textbooks so that I have all of my materials in time for the start of the academic year, which will commence during my upcoming training trip in Australia.
2016 OLYMPIC GAMES IN RIO
Another highlight of my time at home has been watching and following the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio, where the United States are dominating! These Olympics are more exciting than ever for me, as I can see myself competing in the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. Watching the Summer Olympics has let the realization sink in that the moguls qualifications for the Winter Olympics are here (qualification for the US Freesytle Olympic Mogul Team begins this 2016-17 ski season). This is it!
My favorite sports to watch are women’s gymnastics, soccer, tennis and swimming. I find the women’s US gymnastics team to be particularly inspiring, especially team member Simone Biles. The focus and confidence that goes into her performance in each event exemplifies how hard of a worker she must be in training. Her grit and intensity that she brings to the stage when she performs is astonishing and motivating. This is a part of her character that I strive to achieve in my personal training as well as competition.
Simone Biles — Photo Credit: Associated Press
DOWN UNDER FOR TRAINING
On August 11th, I will be flying to Perisher, Australia for a 3 week ski camp, where it is wintertime. In order to prepare for this camp, in addition to finalizing the details concerning my education, I have also finished getting all of my equipment together for this season. This year, I have moved up a few centimeters in length of my ski (to 168 cm), which will promote a more aggressive and faster skiing style, the next step forward in the progression of my skiing throughout my career. I am very fortunate to have the best ski company in the world standing behind me — ID One USA. I love ID Ones because of their flawless and durable nature, consequently allowing me to develop my skiing style as one that is similar to the top men competitors on the World Cup Tour! Additionally, the graphics now showcase my favorite color: ice blue; I am absolutely in love with the ski! As for the company, ID One USA has been such a big supporter in the progression of my ski career. Not only are their skis fantastic, but the people who work behind the scenes are the greatest sponsors I could ever ask for.
My Ski Setup for This Season!
This upcoming training camp in Australia will allow me to focus on building my competition run for the upcoming year, which will ideally be a back full (backflip with a full twist) to a back layout, as well as refining my skiing and progressing my speed. Therefore, my goal is to put everything together cleanly and seamlessly before the end of the camp, which will culminate with a competition (Australian Nationals) in which I can put my skills to the test. After going through daily ramp training for a month, I am anxious to get back on snow and really put into play what I have been practicing every day. I am feeling very confident with how my skills are progressing thus far in the summer training season, and I am beyond ready to put them on snow!
Outside of skiing, I am ecstatic to have the opportunity to explore a new location halfway across the world! Coincidentally, I will be celebrating my 16th birthday (August 15th) during my trip to AUS where I hope to see a koala and a kangaroo!
Thank you all once again for your support; I hope you are having a great summer! My next update will be when I return from Down Under!
Best,
Olivia
