Olympic Fever

As most of you know, I have just competed at my second Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. I am proud to now be a dual Olympian and am proud to have made the semi finals and finish in 8th place.

No one ever shows up to a race hoping to come 8th place. You are always out to win. However now that I have had two World Cup events in Russia since the Olympics (and the Rule 40 Media Blackout has ended), I have had some time for reflection.

I improved on my Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games result of 28th... That is a 20 place improvement!

I skied hard in every heat all the way through the Small Final- And even with some bad luck, managed to refocus and execute my technical goals under pressure. I skiied my (then) best result of the season.

I have committed to continuing in this fantastic/crazy/fun/difficult/challenging sport for as long as I can.

It feels like I was born to do Ski Cross.

I am so proud to have shared this journey with you all, but special mentions must be made to my AMAZING Team Sami Cheer Squad who were by far the most impressive group of people in the Olympic crowd that day. Thank you to my always supportive husband Ben, Mum and Dad (Jenny and Nick), my sister Navena, Dan, Robbie and the whole Australian Olympic Team for making my Olympic experience unforgettable. The sea of green and gold (and massive Sami Heads) was hard to miss!

They say it takes a village to raise a child, but to develop and support an elite athlete takes a family. So thank you to my OWIA Ski Cross Family- Shawn, Danny, Martin, Nadia (and Rob and Nathan!) and Anton for the hours of behind the scenes work. We are a unique team, who spend more time (and more intense time..) with each other than our actual families.

And now thank you to the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia for providing me with the program that I need to continue to perform every winter weekend. As always, I am so grateful for their support and endeavour to do them proud and pursue the podium.

And to my personal sponsors and supporters- Karbon, XTM, Bliz, Komperdell, SISU, Blue Chip Talent as well as the NSW Institute fo Sport, Ski & Snowboard Australia, Southern Alps Ski Club, Perisher, High Country Fitness and many many more people- THANK YOU for believing in me. Thank you for giving me the tools I need to grow as an athlete and a person. Also a big shout out to Channel 7, who showed SO MUCH WINTER SPORT over the Olympic period. I hear the broadcast was a great success!

As I said earlier in this post- I have had two more World Cup competitions since the Olympics- In Sunny Valley, Russia- Where I have continued my good form from the Olympics with 5th and 7th places. I now have 9 days to rest and recover from a whirlwind few weeks before World Cup finals kick off in Megeve France.

Enjoy this gallery below of some Images from the Olympics and from Sunny Valley!

Sami