Exciting news! Yesterday, the Australian Olympic cross-country team was finally announced, and I have been selected as one of six athletes heading to Beijing to rep the green and gold. I am ecstatic to have the opportunity to compete in my second winter Olympic games. Here is the link to the official announcement:
*Fun fact: this team has the highest female representation of any Australian Winter Olympic team, with 23 women making up 52.3% of the team. #yeahthegirls !!!
I am headed to China alongside an amazing team. We have all been training and living together over the past two months in Davos, and somehow we aren’t sick of each other (yet). Between Seve and Phil’s dance moves, Casey’s professional pizza chef skills, and Lars’ high fashion advice (he’s half Norwegian so he knows what’s up), I have learned a lot from my teammates. Add some team bonding games to the mix (everyone should download the app/game Psych and check it out) and sunny days with perfect corduroy, and the positive vibes have been unstoppable! As long as those vibes don’t manifest as a Covid test prior to the games, we are ready to give it our all in the upcoming races.
Here is a list of all the races I will be competing in at the Olympics:
15k Skiathlon Mass Start (Feb 5th)
Skate Sprint (Feb 8th)
10k Classic Individual Start (Feb 10th)
Team Sprint (Feb 16th)
30k Skate Mass Start (Feb 20th)
Racing! Photo cred to Manuel Lusti
More racing in the glorious Sparenmoos. Again, photo cred to Manuel Lusti.
Top Left: my favorite people
Top Right: the best za’ by casey
Middle: Lars in his self-proclaimed most fashionable outfit
Bottom Left: perfect Davos corduroy on the best skis (Lars agrees, phew!)
Bottom Right: Playing rummykub with the crew
I am putting in the finishing touches of training, staying well fueled on lots of cheese thanks to Swiss champs last weekend, and soaking up as much vitamin D as possible (which is tough when you basically pull your buff up over your forehead every time you have to pass someone out on the trails… also getting a lot of practice at holding my breath during intervals as I ski by people). Meanwhile, stay tuned for an exciting piece of media soon to drop by the Olympic Aus XC crew. I will leave you these classics to watch as teasers.
I kissed a girl, the OG vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oom8PKakXuU&t=74s
&&
More brilliant work by the Aus XC Junior squad with beautiful choreography and artistic angles by Seve De Campo himself:
Cheese I won after making the final at Swiss Champs
Sparenmoos, Switzerland… sunny and cold skiing! Probably my favorite place I have ever skied!
Skiing Zertig with Casey. Epically chapped lips still recovering from all the sunshine we’ve been getting but we wouldn’t trade it for the world!
Skiing with Jo, one of my besties from college at MSU who is also a pro lasagne chef and shares my birthday (week). She lives in Davos now and is an absolute genius who flies her own drones!
I hope to post more before leaving for Beijing since it seems like it will be incredibly difficult to do much of that over there on electronics (at this point actually considering just throwing my laptop off a cliff, seems like it will be safer that way according to the media). But if not, check the insta for fun stories, pics, and updates while at the Olympics! For now, i’ll leave you with these glorious pictures taken while running around Lake Davos:
Very excited to get another one of these pics with Triple Olympian Phil Bellingham!!!!!
Stay tuned!!!!
-JJ