When and how did you move your first steps on the skis? how did your passion grow?
«My parents used to ski with me in their backpack before I could even walk! Then they got me my own little skis when I was 2 or 3 years old. So skiing has always been a fun part of my life, and I liked it because I got to play outside with my family and my friends».
In 2011 you made your debut in World Cup, how was it?
«I got my butt kicked (She smiles ndr). I remember doing the skate sprint in Drammen before World Champs thinking “I think I qualified! How did I do?” and learning I got 65th or something. It was pretty funny. But it motivated me to get better. It was also really inspiring, seeing how big the World Cup is over in Europe. It’s very different from North American racing in that there are way more fans, media, sprinting is much rougher…it’s just a different game».
Since then, you scored a lot of world cup points, podiums and medals. Could you tell me the best moment you remember?
«There have been a lot of awesome moments but one of my favorites was winning the 2013 team sprint with Kikkan, because it was the first time, I really thought we could be up there with the top athletes in the sport. I had to learn to believe in my own racing over time, learn to gain confidence in my skiing, and that race really helped».
Achieve more results means also have more pressure. How did you manage it?
«I try to only focus on the things I can control. I can’t control whether or not I end up with a good result, but I can control my warmup, picking the right skis with my tech, thinking about technique while I’m racing and only saying positive things to myself during the race. If I do all those things to the best of my ability, I’ll usually end up with a better result».
Maybe you don’t know, but you have a lot of fans in Italy (of whom Stefania Belmondo). How do you feel about it?
«I didn’t know, but that’s amazing! I really admire Stefania Belmondo. I used to watch ski racing tapes with my Dad when I was little, and she was one of my heroes! I liked how she raced with a lot of heart and never gave up».
Which are your strengths and which features you’d like to improve?
«My strengths are the gliding sections, for whatever reason, my best sections of the race are downhills, cornering and gradual uphills, where I can make the skis glide for a long time! I’d like to improve my classic striding, because I struggle in conditions where it’s hard to find good kick. I need to spend some time this summer learning to kick my skis with only 70% kick instead of 100% kick wax».
You look always so smiling, what is your secret?
«Baking lots of cookies (She smiles ndr) and appreciating all the little things. It’s easy to be happy when you take the time to notice all the little things that go well during your day».
Not just you, but all the Us ski team is scoring many results in the last years. And it seems you have such a strong team spirit and cooperation. Is this your strength?
«This is one of the biggest strengths we have as a team. That team spirit comes because we all decided to prioritize the team instead of ourselves and we spend time working to get to know each other and help each other be better. It also helps that we live together for 4 months. It would be hard not to be a close team when we travel together all the time».
The world cup season takes place mostly in Europe, you’re living far from home for at least four months: is this hard for you? what’s the hardest part? how do you handle it?
«Sometimes it’s hard, and I really miss home. I’m really close with my family and we comunicate through Skype once a week. I talk to my boyfriend back home every day! But other times it’s not so hard because it’s exciting to be traveling to new places and skiing around the world, and I realize how lucky I am to be able to be a cross country skier».
How do you support financially your skiing activity(travels, accomodations..)?
«In the US, skiing isn’t such a big sport, it’s all about American Football, Baseball, Basketball and Hockey. We get some funding from the National Team depending on whether you’re in the Red Group that covers camp costs and room and board while on the road. So for the summer, we have to find our own sponsors and work to promote them in exchange for financial support. I’ve been lucky to have some amazing sponsors helping me so that I can ski without worrying about how to pay for the plane ticket».
Could you explain shortly how is the us ski team organized in terms of coaches and training camps?
«We have 4 main coaches; a head coach, mens and women’s coach and development coach. We get together for 4 training camps per summer. While we’d like to do more, it’s hard to fly everyone in from around the country because the US is so spread out! Our training camps are usually around 2 weeks long and we have them in many different locations: Bend, Oregon; Anchorage, Alaska; Snow Farm, New Zealand; Park City, Utah. When we’re not training with the US team in camp, we all live and train with our club teams. This is important for the development of the sport because then we take what we learned in camp and pass it along to our club teammates and junior athletes. My club team is SMS (Stratton Mountain School) and we coach the junior skiers three times every week in the summer, so they get exposure to Olympic-level athletes and learn from us».
The Olimpic games will take place next year: which is your main goal for that event?
«My three favorite races are the team events (of course!) and the 10km skate».
