The first contest of the year turned out to be one of my best. As always, I had no expectations going into it, and my anxiety levels were probably higher than normal. I had ended my previous season with a broken pelvis and collarbone, and hadn't felt like I got a lot out of summer training in New Zealand. And after competing well the year before, it's hard not to put pressure on yourself to keep getting good results. I'm pretty good at putting pressure on myself. But that's why I value my coach and my teammates and family so much. They are always there to remind me to have fun and ski the best I can, because that's all I can do.
Competition day turned out to be perfect. The sun was out and the temperature wasn't in the negatives like it had been all week. I went into qualifiers with an easy run; the same I had been doing the entire year before but without a 900. The judges didn't seem to like it very much and I realized I was playing it too safe. For my second run, I added the 900 and received a higher score, qualifying in 3rd place for finals. My coach, Ben, knew I didn't want to push it too hard since I was nervous and it was the first contest of the year, so we agreed to keep the same run for finals. In training, I kept hitting the deck on my first hit 540, so I was really focusing on popping harder in finals. Finals began and I landed my first run but it was sloppy and had a few bobbles because I was still so nervous. I knew I needed to clean up my second run if I wanted to podium, and after a small talk with my coach, I was up again. I pushed out of the start gate, and I guess I was carrying some extra speed because even though I popped hard on my first hit, I still clipped the edge of the deck pretty good on my 540. Somehow, I played it off like nothing happened and I continued my run, carrying speed all the way down. My full run ended up being this: 540, allyoop, 900, allyoop 540, 700. At that point, I was just happy I made it down with my skis still on. It was an extra bonus when I heard my score and realized I was sitting in first with two more girls to go. I watched anxiously, but content that I had podiumed no matter what, as the next two went. Their scores didn't hold up, and at the end I was announced the winner.
Obviously, it's always nice to win, but I think winning this contest meant more than the usual. I had so much doubt going into it, and it was nice to prove myself wrong. Not only did it amp me up for the rest of the season, but I showed my sponsors I was still the same skier I was before I got injured. The only thing that made the day better was watching my teammate, Tai Barrymore, dominate the mens field and come out with his first big win as well. Our coach was happy, to say the least.
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