Rachelle Rogers talks about the YOG trials and the joy in being nominated for the team to go to Innsbruck…
After a couple of days training GS before the trials, the big day
finally came. We were really lucky with the weather, it was sunny
with a little bit of cloud cover, but this soon went away, leaving
behind a clear blue sky. The slope was a flat to gentle gradient
with grippy, but not icy, snow. We were all gathered in the start,
and although there were smiles on our faces, you could sense the
nerves in the air around us.
The
first run didn't go so well for me, being the first actual
race-scenario run of the year, my 'mental prep' was a bit rusty and
I wasn't fully focused, consequently my technique went down the
drain and I ended up doing several turns on my inside ski, nearly
falling over a couple of times, so from an optimistic point of view,
it was a good recovery exercise! After doing a run of really clean
turns, Alice MacAulay took the lead, with me in 2nd and Katie Guest
in 3rd.
The
second and third runs went much better than the first, for me, I
found the right mind set and my performance was technically good. I
came down to win the 2nd run, but only 0.08 in front of Alice's
first run time.
So
the race was on for the final run and both of us were battling it
out, Alice went down first and matched my 2nd run time, creating
suspense for the spectators! I put in another technically good run
and we all waited at the bottom of the run to find out the final
result. Turns out I just beat her to it by 0.01!
I'd
just like to say well done to Alice for putting in a great
performance, much improved from when I last saw her ski back at the
British and Scottish in April. It was such a close result between
the two of us, that we provided a nail biting and highly suspense
entertainment for the spectators!
I am
really excited and happy to be shortlisted!! I really hope I make
the final selection, as I am really looking forward to seeing the
other BSS athletes, going from the other sports. I got a chance to
meet them all on the BOA preparation camp for the WYOG at
Loughborough, and it would be really nice to see them all again.
If I
go, I hope to perform well at the Games and to make the most of the
experience of a Olympic environment, as well as being given the
opportunity to race against the top athletes my age of the countries
competing.




