Hello everyone! I apologize for not updating the blog in a
while. I guess a lot has happened in the past 3 weeks. At the end of February,
I flew over to Jasna, Slovakia for the Junior World Championships. We had a
couple days of freeskiing and training before the races began. We started off
with the Super-G and the Super-Combined. Although the track was a bit mellow,
the trail turned quite a bit and there were a few jumps to keep it exciting.
After a great top split, I made a minor mistake which caused me to scrub most
of the speed I had carried from the top steeps. The hiccup toward the end
caused me to finish outside the top 10, to place 22nd. I had a great
start to the Super-Combined but unfortunately I skied out, gunning for a top
10. It was an incredibly tight race, as I was only 0.40 seconds out of the top
10. Next was 2 Downhill training run days followed by 1 race day. After the
first training run, our team was off to a great start as Sam Dupratt finished 2nd,
I finished 9th, and Tanner Farrow finished 12th. The
second training run was cancelled do to weather; which didn’t bother us too
much because of our training run success. Unfortunately it turned into a not so
great day.
As a whole, we had great bib draws and we were excited for a
sweet day of downhill. I ran 22nd . Once again, I had a fast first
split, carrying my speed from the pitch to the flats, where I found some
trouble. Halfway down the course, I took off a little jump, which I landed
fine. I then began to pressure my ski to make a left foot turn across the hill.
Unfortunately, I started the turn a little early and was heading straight at
the gate. I then had to let off the ski a bit and then pressure hard again
under the gate, where I hit a bump.
That is when I felt my knee go from under me and started tomahawking
down the hill. I had excruciating pain in my left knee and was pretty positive
I messed something up down there. I was taken down in a sled and taken to the
hospital in a sketchy ambulance. I later found out I tore my ACL. It’s unfortunate
to end a season on an injury 2 years in a row, but I was pushing as hard as I
could. Though it would be nice to be healthy, I know I would have
been just as bummed out if I made it to the bottom safely and saw a 20th
place rank next to my name. This kind of thing happens when you push your
limits, but that’s what makes ski racing so damn fun.
This past week, I have been doing some physical therapy,
getting my knee ready for surgery. I will be going under the knife this coming
Wednesday and I will let you all know how it goes!
