Tuesday 20 March 2012

An update from skier Ellie Koyander

A couple of weeks ago, skier Ellie Koyander sent us an update about her progress in 2011.




"This season began well for me with a top 20 finish in Meribel, France back in December 2010.
I then flew home for a very short but really enjoyable break over Christmas, and then straight out to Mt Gabriel, Canada for the next World Cup mogul event."




"The whole spring, summer and autumn has been about being aggressive and just skiing with the dial cranked to '11' . I am 2 seconds faster this season which in any World Cup skiing discipline is a huge leap. Converting training into a competition product takes time and the Mt Gabriel comp was a great learning experience as I was able to turn my skiing up and was on the edge the entire run skiing faster than ever. I did have a few leg splits because of my new found aggressiveness which meant several deductions from the 7 judges but dynamically my skiing was great and I finished up 26th place knowing exactly how to push myself for the next event in Lake Placid, USA."

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"When we arrived in Lake Placid it rained and rained and rained all day on the first day - but training goes according to strict schedules and we skied regardless! Then the next day the temperature plummeted to a freezing -20C turning the mogul course into a blue/black ice skating rink! I had to focus on trying to keep my feet underneath me and to stay in control - skiing the ice demands a lot of mental agility. Again I pushed myself hard out of the start gate with more speed than ever before and went HUGE on my 360 at the top air! This was great, only I landed three meters further down the landing hill than in training , landing in the moguls and having to fight hard not to get spat out by the treacherous icy bumps and ended up 26th place again."



"I am feeling confident about my skiing and have been able to learn a lot from each event. With the pieces all working as well as they are, it is only a matter of time before I lay a perfect run down in a competition environment and I'm excited about that!"

"I now head to Sweden for the next event, pumped up and ready to ski fast, jump big and just go for it!"



Now, since Ellie sent us this update came the amazing news she's been selected as an Olympic Torchbearer on the 30th June in Burton on Trent - more details here 






You can follow the rest of Ellie's journey leading to the 2014 Winter Olympics at www.twitter.com/elliekoyander             www.facebook.com/elliekoyander       www.elliekoyander.com

And, well done Ellie so far!

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