Great News is that since the end of last winter I have moved from 108th in the world to 68th overall and from 10th to 7th for my age in the world. In January I competed in my first World Cup competition (same level as Olympics, except more difficult as more athletes are allowed to attend). It prepared me well for when I move full time on the World Cup tour with the Canadian Team as now I know better what to expect. A lot of this accomplishment is because of my support team without whom I wouldn’t have gotten off the ground.
Good News is that I have landed on the podium again at Sugar Bowl, my first North American Cup medal ever, as you can see in the picture. It was a tough race and involved me taking out two racers in the semi-finals and in the Final’s I had the worst lane choice in the start but moved in to 3rd position quickly. I maintained that position blocking Ontario’s David Holmes until the 3rd last jump. I decided to try and make an pass on Stan Rey in 2nd (not so smart now, but seemed like a worthwhile plan at the time), ending up flying 40 feet off of a 10 foot ‘hip jump’. When I landed on the flats well beyond the landing, I lost all feeling in my feet and legs from the shock and was hit in the face by my knee, I knew that I still had to try to cross the finish line. I immediately started skating to get my speed up when I was passed by Holmes and moved safely to the finish line to claim 4th place.
To be improved upon: Having trained on snow in November and December on a race course would have helped get me closer to achieving my goal of qualifying for and winning the Olympics this year (slight financial limitations). We all know that what I achieved these past two years since changing to this skiing discipline and aiming for 2010 far exceeded what would have been possible without dreaming big and going for it. The way I look at it now is this way: The Canadian 2010 Olympic Skicross team has an average age of 30 and I am still 21. With those who choose to support me, I will embark on a four year journey to continue with my work ethic and dedication to when I realistically take home the gold for us in 2014 in Sochi Russia and moving forward to the 2018 Olympics. I’m more excited that ever before because now I actually know it’s possible.
This winter I’m still planning on finishing the North American Cup tour with the BC Skicross Team to do my best in winning the Overall title as well as improving my result at Canadian Nationals from last year. I will not go back to Europe for more European Cup races as it’s not financially feasible this time around.
I’m honoured to have been chose to ‘forerun’ (opening the track on race day) for Skicross at the Olympics later this month, get glued to your TV because this will be the best Olympic’s Canadian history!
Big thank you to Virtually Canadian, Bell Alliance and Vancity without whom I would not have made it through this past month of racing.
Sven
Tags: Journal · Press Releases · Races · Training · Want to help SEND SVEN 2010?
