Australia’s Winter Olympic Team was announced last week ahead of next month’s Olympic Games in Sochi and, with 56 athletes chosen, it’s the largest team ever fielded by this country for the Winter Olympic Games.
Expectations are high and understandably so; the team includes three Olympic Gold Medallists, FIS World Champions, overall World Cup winners and a few X-Games medallists to boot. It’s an exciting time for snow-sports in the sunburnt country and I predict we are going to see some intense performances by our team and wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the Aussie flag hoisted on a few occasions.
Many of the athletes are peaking just at the right time for Olympic glory and, even more excitingly, around half of the team is female.
In the lead up to the Winter Olympics Women’s Agenda will bring you a series of exclusive interviews with some of our female athletes. You will learn what makes them tick and how on earth they came to be champions in these high-action and intense snow-sports.
Britt Cox was the second youngest athlete to represent Australia at a Winter Olympics and the youngest competitor at the 2010 Vancouver Games at just 15 years old. She is also Australia’s first female World Cup medallist in mogul skiing and, in her lead up to the games, has been a consistent top 10 finisher in the last rounds of Olympic qualification events.
Mogul skiing can be described as skiing big bumps, at high speed, with a few sky-high tricks thrown in. All done with style and usually to high velocity music. Most skiers wouldn’t even complete the course. Britt is one of the best in the world — and she’s still finishing high school.
Congratulations on your recent results –you have been consistently through to the finals in the qualification events and have even placed first out of the whole Australian Team. It must feel good to come into this season with such strong results straight up — does it add to your confidence?
Thanks! Yes it feels great to have come into the season with some solid results and knowing that I have the capability to ski even better adds to my confidence.
There are so many great skiers competing for the limited places on Olympic teams – particularly in the US — has it been different this season?
I have really noticed the women’s field rising up to another level this season. This happened in 2010 and now being another Olympic year all the athletes are pushing the boundaries as they are vying for their Olympic qualification. It’s great to see the women bring their A game each week; it’s progressing the sport and I find that very exciting.
Do you think it will be beneficial to have already one Olympics experience under your belt?
I feel very lucky to have an Olympic experience already under my belt and I think I gained a lot of valuable knowledge from Vancouver that I want to take with me to Sochi. However, I know Russia will be a lot different and that keeps things interesting and exiting. One of the things I have learnt from sport, and in particular when it comes to the Olympics, is you have to expect the unexpected so I want to be as prepared as possible and ready for whatever scenario Sochi may present.
Did you always want to do moguls? How did you start skiing?
I grew up in Falls Creek, Victoria and was on skis as soon as I could walk. From age 6 through 13 I raced Alpine with the Falls Creek Race Club but after school or after race training I would go skiing with my Dad and brother and some of his mates and I would chase them down little bump lines or we would build a jump somewhere amongst the trees. I loved doing whatever my big brother was doing and chasing him in the bumps was my favourite. I competed in my first mogul competition when I was 8 and the combination of my love for the sport and thrill for competition made a perfect fit for me.
What is your home mountain and why do you love it?
My home mountain is Falls Creek. I grew up at Falls and love going back there to my family each year. Falls is ski-in-ski-out which is a luxury and the village has a magical and homely alpine atmosphere. I now spend a lot of time training on the world class mogul course at Perisher with the Olympic Winter Institute Mogul skiing program during our domestic season.
Are you always living out of a bag right now? How many months of the year are you on the road?
I am always living out of my bag but I actually don’t mind it at all. I am away from home about 9 months out of the year. The times I am home (Falls Creek/Mt Beauty) are a few days here and there in between training camps – just enough time to unpack and repack. I’m so lucky to have an awesome team that I travel with. As long as I’m skiing moguls, keep busy and having a great time, the travel is all worth it.
Do you ever miss summer?
I do. Before I started doing back-to-back winters I spent the summer holidays at the beach each year with my family. I try to get a bit of surfing in when I am in Australia, but not as often as I would like.
Does anyone else in your family have the ski bug?
Skiing is a major part of our family. My parents met working the season at Falls Creek over 30 years ago and have lived there ever since. My brother is also the head mogul coach for Team Buller Riders- a freestyle skiing program run out of Mt Buller.
What do you do in your time out?
There’s a lot of work that goes on behind in the scene in my sport. Mogul skiing not only involves speed and turns but also an aerial component, for which we train on the water ramps. These are jumps built from wood with a plastic bristled surface. We jump off these ramps into a pool or dam to practice inverted flips and spins in a safe environment to master them before we take them to snow. I also spend countless hours in the gym working on my strength and conditioning which is very important in Mogul skiing. When I’m not ‘training’ I enjoy surfing, mountain biking and spending time with my family. I’m also trying to fit my HSC in there!
The lead up to the Olympics is unlike any other year, how do you focus on your training, your tricks, your run?
The lead up this year (and last year) has been pretty full on and busy but I am enjoying each moment. It’s important that I break bigger goals down into processes each week and each day and focus on what I can control in each moment.
How do you learn a new trick?
We learn our new tricks on the water ramps, which is a much safer environment than on snow. When learning a new trick we do it hundreds of times on water before taking it to snow and we even use the water ramps to refine our current tricks when there is little or no snow at certain times of the year. In 2012 alone I did approximately 1,000 jumps on water (that’s about 80, 000 stairs).
Who is your skiing hero?
I remember watching Aussie aerial skier Alisa Camplin win gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. That was very inspiring to me and she has been a huge influence on me as an athlete. I also see Lydia Lassila as a great role model and have learnt a lot of valuable things from her.
Who is the person to beat at the Olympics?
The women’s field has really notched up this season. Consequently Olympic qualification for some of the larger teams such as Canada and the U.S has been really competitive, so it will be interesting to see who goes. The 2010 Olympic Champion, Hannah Kearney currently has the yellow bib (leading the World Cup ranking) but anything can happen on competition day!
Is there any music that gets you in the groove?
I like to listen to something upbeat during my warm-ups but I don’t rely on this to get me in the zone because I can’t control what’s being played on the loudspeakers during the competition.
Will you take time out after this Olympics? If you could do anything next January what would it be?
I will take the usual ‘active break’ that we have during the first few weeks back home each year and then I’ll be straight back in the gym and water ramping. I actually really miss training during these breaks but I do hope to get some beach time and surfing in. I’m also in my final year of high school so I will have plenty to keep me busy.
As for next January, I plan to be competing on the World Cup circuit!
What three words best sum up your ski discipline?
Action packed, competitive and exiting!