46 competitors from 13 different nations, including France, Switzerland, Holland and the USA, had gathered to compete in the 2011 Kimberley NorAm speed races in Canada.
Training has been going really well, I am skiing faster than ever and having won 2 of the downhill training runs, I was hoping for gold. I went all out in the races but unfortunately crashed in the downhill. As my coach helped me get my ski back on, he said 'If its any consolation, you were going faster than the most of the boys!'
In the first Super G, I was clocked at 97kmph (over 60mph), the fastest time for sitting women. I was flying along but with the finish in sight, was launched forward over the last jump resulting in a monumental crash. Shaken, I attempted the second race, managing to pull it back and win a silver medal for GB, but I still had my eye on gold.
The results were disappointing, but on reflection, there are positives to be taken from it. I am skiing fast, I just need to work on skiing over rollers and compressions at high speed. I have no idea how I managed to avoid injury but somehow I came out with only a few bruises and sore muscles and am now even more determined to return to Kimberley next year and conquer it!
Next step is training with Team GB in Austria followed by Slalom, GS and Super G races in St Lambrecht, after which we will travel to Spain for the Euorpa Cup Finals in La Molina in March.
