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Alice Robinson’s Quest for Gold at 2026 Winter Olympics

February 08, 2026 / 01:47:16

This episode features Kiwi ski legend Alice Robinson, discussing her experiences in skiing, mental health, and preparation for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy.

Alice shares her journey as a professional skier, including her speed of 140 km/h and her training mindset leading up to the Olympics. She reflects on the pressures of competition and how her approach has changed over the years.

She talks about the importance of having a supportive team, including her coaches and friends, and how they help her manage the pressures of being a top athlete. Alice also discusses her experiences during the pandemic and how it affected her mental health and performance.

Throughout the conversation, Alice emphasizes the significance of enjoying the journey in sports and not letting results define her self-worth. She expresses hope for the future and her desire to inspire others in New Zealand and beyond.

The episode concludes with Alice sharing her aspirations for the upcoming Olympics and the lessons she has learned from her career.

TL;DR

Kiwi ski legend Alice Robinson discusses her journey, mental health, and preparation for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy.

Video

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Welcome to the Dom Harvey podcast

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sponsored by Generate. Great

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conversations with fascinating people.

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On this episode, Kiwi ski legend Alice

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Robinson. She skis downhill at 140 km an

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hour.

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>> Like in the offseason I've been having

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to think about skiing a lot more than I

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usually do because normally I can come

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back to New Zealand and just check out.

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This year I found a lot more um interest

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just because of the Olympics coming Is

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it something you think about every day

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when you're training or like or do you

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have

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>> do you have any like post-it notes on

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the bathroom mirror or

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>> just have like my screen saver? It's

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just a picture of Cortina.

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>> We talk about fear. We talk about

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pressure and why her mindset heading

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into the 2026 Winter Olympics is very

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different to anything that's come

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before.

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>> Oh, good. You're here. Come on. This is

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the center of performance. Whenever

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there's a top performance in New

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Zealand, it all comes from here. That's

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Lisa Carrington. She's been doing that

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for days. That's the boys who got the

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hole in one in Tour.

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>> He did it again. Hey Finn, how's the

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performance going?

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>> Top tier.

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>> Nice. This is our generate room. In

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here, you'll find our top performers

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helping Kiwis maximize their Kiwi Saver

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investments. Get in here, Finn.

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>> Maximize. Generate.

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>> Putting performance first.

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>> Alice Robinson, welcome to my podcast.

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>> Thanks so much for having me.

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>> It's We We literally just met like 2

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minutes ago in the car park.

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>> We did. That was a quick meeting and now

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we're into it.

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>> Now we're into it. And uh this is going

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to be good. Now one your specialty is um

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what's it called? DS

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>> GS.

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>> GS what's

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>> so it's giant slum.

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>> So it's like the technical like on the

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technical side of like ski racing events

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it's called um like if you think of a

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basic turn if you imagine skiing that's

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kind of what giant slum is. Yeah.

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>> That's a terrible start by me

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getting that mixed I've watched um so

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much of you in the past week as well. So

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your your event's like 2 minutes 2

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minutes of

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>> um chaos. So it's like also giant song's

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two runs and then it's your combined

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time. So it's like a minute a run

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basically. And then when I do super G

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and downhill then it gets a bit it's one

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run and it's more like between a minute

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and a half to 2 minutes. Yeah.

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>> And you're going at just a a terrifying

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pace like a like a 100k an hour on the

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snow.

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>> Um yeah. So GS is a little bit slower

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because the turns are a bit closer

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together but super G and downhill you

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can get up to I think the fastest I've

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gone is like 140 138 which is pretty

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quick. Yeah.

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>> Oh my god. Well, since you like doing

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everything at pace, which is actually

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the opposite of what this podcast is.

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It's a long form conversation.

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>> Make sure I'm not talking too fast.

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>> I thought I thought we could start with

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like a quick fire section. So, we'll

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just go through these really quickly.

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>> Sounds good.

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>> Okay. Favorite chiliff snack wash down

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with a red ball, of course.

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>> Oh. Um, gummy bears.

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>> Who takes you first after a big race?

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>> Um,

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probably mom. Mom and dad. Yeah.

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Do they travel with you much?

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>> Um, they normally come for about like a

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month in the middle of the season, but

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they're not around all the time. But,

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um, they love it. Yeah. When they can.

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>> They They couldn't be with you

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full-time, e, because you're out of the

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country like half the year.

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>> Yeah. Yeah. At least half the year,

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maybe a little bit more.

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>> Most underrated part of being a pro

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skier.

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>> Ooh. Underrated.

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>> Free stuff. What do you get?

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>> Yeah, I think probably, yeah, the free

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stuff. I mean, getting to go to so many

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cool, amazing ski resorts. Um,

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traveling.

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Yeah. I mean, it's I love most of it to

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be fair.

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>> First thing you do when you get home to

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Queenstown?

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>> Oh, um, hang out with my dogs. Um,

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honestly, just like go and stand outside

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and be in the scenery because it's so

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beautiful. It's like you don't

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appreciate it when you're there for too

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long and then you come back and you're

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like, "Yeah, this is pretty nice."

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>> Hidden talent off the slopes.

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>> Ooh,

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>> I saw a video on your Instagram. Looks

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like you're like twerking on a kitchen

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top and then jumping down.

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>> Um I was quite a good horse rider, so

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I'm going to go with that. Yeah.

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>> Oh yeah, I saw another video. You look

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like you're on a beach or in the desert

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in Morocco or something riding a horse

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going really fast as well.

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>> Yeah. No, I love that. Yeah.

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>> Uh favorite ski resort outside of New

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Zealand.

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>> Oh, Cortina in Italy in the Doommites.

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Yeah, it's amazing.

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>> We're going to get into Cortina. That's

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where you That's where you're off to

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sooner for the Winter Olympics next

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February. Um,

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>> who's harder to beat? Uh, Michaela

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Shiffren or your own self-doubt?

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>> Probably Michaela Shiffren to be fair.

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>> Um, what's your pre-race pump up song?

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>> Oh, um,

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I do I love like Thunder Struck AC/DC.

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That's a good one. Or Serious by Alan

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Pass's project. Yeah.

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I don't know that one. I I know Ellen

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Parson's project. That's an old

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>> It's like the Chicago Bulls like intro

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song when they're in their prime.

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>> Who got you into that? That's That's an

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old song, right?

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>> Probably. Yeah. Parents, I think,

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>> right?

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>> Uh best and worst things about living

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out of a suitcase.

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>> Oh. Um worst is for sure like finding

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laundry machines. Um it's a bit of a

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nightmare like trying to run into random

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foreign speaking hotels asking them to

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do some laundry for you. Um, the best is

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probably you have to be like you you

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can't hoard stuff. You have to be like

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very cutthroat with what you're carrying

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around. So, it's kind of easy to have

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everything you need with you.

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>> Yeah, you must become a you must be a

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pro packer by now. You must be so good

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at it.

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>> Um, yeah, you'd think so. I'm still like

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>> still learning

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>> still struggling a little bit. I'm like,

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I really should be better at this.

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>> Yeah. To put this in perspective, uh,

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we're recording this at my Pod Lab

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studio and in about 4 days from now,

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you're flying out of the country and

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you're not going to be home for like

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another nine months. Yeah. Yeah. So,

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it's going to be quite a serious packing

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operation on Sunday. Yeah.

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>> Yeah. And last one in our quickfire.

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What's heavier, the skis or the

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pressure?

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>> Oh, God. Um,

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the skis.

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>> Yeah.

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>> No,

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>> no,

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>> this was me trying to trick myself.

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>> The pressure is not that big, but

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>> Yeah. Yeah. Because I want to Yeah. I I

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want to talk about that. Let's get

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straight into it. So, yeah. the 2026

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Olympics. Um they start in actually on

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Wangi Day uh the 6th of February in

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Cortina, Italy next year.

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>> Just to like set the scene about how

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much pressure you're under, I I I put

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into chat GPT um how you were going to

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go at the Winter Olympics next year. And

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this is what AI said.

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>> Oh god.

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>> Uh I lean towards Alice Robinson being a

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serious contender for a medal in GS at

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the 2026 Winter Olympics. likely in the

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top five with a good shot at the podium

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if everything aligns.

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>> Yeah,

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>> [ __ ] that.

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>> That's a lot of pressure.

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>> GPT is really putting on the pressure

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these days. Um, no, it is a lot. Yeah.

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No, I think for sure it's um always

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something special when it comes to the

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Olympics, especially being from New

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Zealand because um in our sport that's

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kind of the time that everyone starts

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paying attention. Even though we're like

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competing with the same competitors on

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the same format pretty much um every

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year, every weekend, there's still for

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sure being the Olympics is a special

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event of course.

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>> A pinnacle event.

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>> Yeah, it's a pinnacle event and it's

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>> yeah the same race or same competition

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and same format that we do all the time,

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but just having that title on it, it

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makes it Yeah. raises the stakes, which

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is exciting. Um

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>> I'm really trying hard this year not to

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put too much pressure on myself because

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I feel like I've done that in the past

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and it hasn't really benefited me that

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much. And I think I had a really good

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relaxed mentality like going into

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something like the World Championships

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last year that did me really well. So,

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um I'm trying not to I guess over

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dramatize or not dramatize but over

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magnetize the the size of the event. Um

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I just want to treat it like another

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race because it's kind of what we do

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every week. So, I'm trying to kind of do

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the same processes that I do and then

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hopefully the results will just take

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care of themselves. M do like do you

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ever lose sleep over the Olympics or

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thinking about it?

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>> No. No, I don't. Um I haven't. No,

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honestly, I think for sure this year

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like in the offseason I've been having

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to think about skiing a lot more than I

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usually do because normally I can come

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back to New Zealand and just check out

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um completely of the sport because it's

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not, you know, a big sport here that was

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getting talked about all the time and

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this year I found a lot more um interest

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just because of the Olympics coming up.

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So for sure it's been, you know, in the

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back of my mind a lot more this year

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than, um, you know, another year

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thinking about other events, but um, I

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wouldn't say I'm losing sleep over it. I

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mean, it's exciting. I like see it as an

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opportunity and not as like a threat.

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I'm trying to kind of put it in that

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perspective.

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>> Yeah. How often do you think about it?

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Is it something you think about every

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day when you're training or like or do

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you have

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>> do you have any like post-it notes on

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the bathroom mirror or

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>> just have like my screen saver? It's

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just a picture of Cortina.

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>> Well, yeah. Yeah, some some some high

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performing performing athletes I've had

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on the podcast too. Everyone's got like

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a different sort of thing.

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>> Um I wouldn't I mean now that you say

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like you're thinking about it every day

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I feel like when I'm training it would

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be hard for I guess especially New

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Zealand I feel like every day someone

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will come up to me at training and bring

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up something to do with the Olympics or

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if it's people being like oh I'd like to

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come watch or like I'm going to be you

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know cina's coming up. So I feel like it

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has had a lot of air time. Um, and I

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guess when I'm training every day,

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obviously I'm thinking about skiing and

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not just about Cortina, but you know,

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I've got my first World Cup event in

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like three weeks. So that's kind of more

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what's in I'm trying to look at like the

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more short term, but of course being the

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Olympics and logistics and things like

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that, it's getting um yeah, a lot more

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thought than any other comp any other

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race gets throughout the year.

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>> Cuz what what you do requires I'm

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imagining here. I've got no actual idea.

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I've never been off the beginner slate

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myself actually. No, that's a lie. I I

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last went skiing.

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>> I'll take you next time.

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>> Absolutely not. I'm not going anywhere

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near the snow with you.

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>> Um my my ex-girlfriend took me to the

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snow a bunch of years ago and she was

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like, "Oh, you do you ski?" And I'm

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like, "Yeah, I used to ski I used to be

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a real gun. I used to ski all the time

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and went to the top of the chair lift,

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got off, and then we're at the top of

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this um this the top of this um

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decline." And I just I dropped my nuts.

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So I ended up taking my skis off,

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>> sliding sliding down a little bit on my

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bum.

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>> Yeah. Yeah. And then um it was

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>> like the classic safety move like feet

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first. Yeah.

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>> It was terrible. And I just had no shame

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about it. I'm just aware of my

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limitations.

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>> That's fair.

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>> So where I was going with this is like

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for for that minute or two minutes when

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you when you're doing it, whether it's

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in training or an event, I'm guessing

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you're not thinking about anything.

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>> But it's every other little moment on

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the mountain when someone comes up to

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you and says, "Good luck. We're rooting

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for you. All the best." Like it just

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must just compound to that pressure.

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>> Yeah. I think for sure. Um absolutely. I

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think especially for me I mean for me

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I've been doing this for like even

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though I'm like still 23 I've been doing

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this for a long time like I've been

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racing on the World Cup since I was 16.

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So I think personally I've kind of gone

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through and also being having success

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really young like 17 that definitely

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like affected me a lot having like a lot

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of pressure and it affected me for like

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quite a few years like feeling like that

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pressure external pressure really

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affected me a lot and I think that's

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something in the last couple years I've

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really tried to work on and grow. Um, so

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now like when people make comments or

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say they're watching or anything, it

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doesn't really I don't really think

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about it that much. Like I try not to

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feel extra um people like people's

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external pressures onto myself. I just I

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think for me I put the most pressure on

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myself.

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>> Um so for Yeah. So for like other people

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putting like saying they're rooting for

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me, I just kind of see it as

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>> I'm just kind of like a side story of

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what they're thinking. So I know I'm the

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one who's like fully invested in this.

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So I'm the one who cares the most. And

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um yeah, I try not to I try just to

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focus on myself and not think about the

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the extra pressure, but for sure

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something about the Olympics and um

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especially for being from New Zealand,

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this is like the event that everyone

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pays attention to. So it's definitely

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more a little bit more angsty than you

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know compared to the regular World Cup

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weekend. But for other athletes like

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from other countries, they feel this

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like every weekend and I guess it would

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be the same as you know a mainstream

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sport in New Zealand. So, I feel like I

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get let off the hook a little bit there.

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So, I'm going to I'm going to try and um

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not let the Olympics

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add any extra pressure than I would feel

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like every week because at the end of

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the day, it's the same event but just a

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different title to it.

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>> It's a good space to be playing in. Have

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you got a sports psych?

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>> Yes. Yeah. I started working with a

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sports psych about two years ago and I

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think that's helped me a lot. I mean, I

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don't I'm not like the athlete that

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needs to talk to a sports psych every

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week or every day. I kind of just have

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like, you know, monthly check-ins or

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something like that just to go over a

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few things and as long as everything's

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going smoothly, then um then I don't

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feel the need to do it too much. But I

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think more so my sports site

00:12:33

communicates with my coaches who then

00:12:35

kind of communicate with me. So they

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kind of like are like secretly doing the

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work that maybe I'm not as aware that

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I'm using a psychologist as maybe I am.

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So they're tricking you.

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>> Yeah, they're tricking me.

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>> Um yeah. Oh, that's cool. Oh, that's

00:12:50

really cool cuz even though Yeah, you

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mentioned before you're 23. Um, you

00:12:53

turned 24 in December, so I'm not sure

00:12:55

when this podcast is going to come out,

00:12:57

but you'll be like still 23 or 24.

00:12:59

>> Yeah.

00:12:59

>> Um, but but even though um you're still

00:13:01

very young, you've you've been through

00:13:04

you've experienced wild success, but

00:13:05

also wild failure already. So, I suppose

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you've been through

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>> like the full cycle of what it is to be

00:13:10

a high performing athlete.

00:13:11

>> Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean for me, I feel

00:13:14

like, yeah, I'm 23, but I feel like I've

00:13:16

been through a lot of different phases

00:13:17

of an athletes life. I guess some

00:13:21

athletes, they don't reach, you know,

00:13:22

they reach their peak a bit later, but

00:13:24

then they just stay there. Or some I

00:13:26

guess I was like a bit of a prodigy,

00:13:28

like especially in ski racing, like

00:13:29

doing well at 17 or winning a World Cup.

00:13:31

It's very um rare just because it's a

00:13:34

sport that's it's a traditional sport.

00:13:36

Like it's not like a sport young people

00:13:39

usually excel at. like the top skier

00:13:41

last year was top three girls last year

00:13:43

all over 30. Um, so it's not like a

00:13:46

traditionally dominated by young people.

00:13:49

So doing well young is quite rare. So I

00:13:50

kind of went through that. And also

00:13:51

being from New Zealand and then having

00:13:53

this really early success and I was

00:13:55

almost like oh my god this is so easy.

00:13:56

Like I'm like I'm just a kid like school

00:13:59

kid from New Zealand like beating all

00:14:00

these Europeans at their sport. Like

00:14:02

what is this? I was kind of like oh my

00:14:03

god like here I am sort of thing. Um,

00:14:06

and then that same time was around like

00:14:08

the co times when everything kind of

00:14:09

shut down and then I was kind of like,

00:14:10

oh wait, like I'm an 18year-old on the

00:14:13

other side of the world, like trying to

00:14:14

be the best in the world at something

00:14:15

and have like no idea what I'm doing

00:14:17

kind of over here by myself and

00:14:19

struggled for quite a few years trying

00:14:21

to figure out how I even was good in the

00:14:23

first place cuz I guess I just had like

00:14:24

natural ability, but I didn't have any

00:14:27

maturity or consciousness of how I

00:14:29

actually got to that point or didn't

00:14:31

have like any structures in place that

00:14:33

um, you know, routines that made me feel

00:14:36

like I knew what I was doing. So, I

00:14:37

definitely had some really low lows. Um,

00:14:39

especially like the last Olympics was

00:14:41

really tough for me being in China and

00:14:43

um definitely went not the way that I

00:14:45

wanted or expected. Um, and there were

00:14:48

definitely some factors in that that

00:14:50

played into that not going well, but it

00:14:52

was a really tough learning curve. So,

00:14:54

>> kind of having that Yeah. really early

00:14:55

success and people saying to me and then

00:14:57

you compare yourself to other people

00:14:58

have had that success and people

00:14:59

normally like other people have had

00:15:01

success at 17 have gone on to be like

00:15:03

the greatest in the sport ever. So

00:15:05

people kind of saying to me like oh my

00:15:06

god you could be like you know the next

00:15:08

greatest j skier of all time like no one

00:15:11

else has done this at this age and that

00:15:12

was me kind of then putting that

00:15:13

pressure on myself like okay at this age

00:15:16

I need to do this at that age I need to

00:15:17

do that I need to do that by that age.

00:15:20

um it's a lot of pressure and then when

00:15:21

it started not going that way it kind of

00:15:23

stressed me out more because I was like

00:15:24

okay well now I need to play catch up

00:15:26

because I'm not there now but I need to

00:15:27

be there like at this point um so that

00:15:30

stressed me out comparing myself to

00:15:32

others and then I think over time I kind

00:15:34

of started to realize that being from

00:15:36

New Zealand especially and like every

00:15:39

athlete and person's lives and journeys

00:15:41

are so different so um kind of accepting

00:15:44

that and being like okay this is where I

00:15:45

am this is what I'm going through um my

00:15:48

story is going to be different to their

00:15:50

story doesn't make it like better or

00:15:51

worse. But um I think accepting that has

00:15:54

helped me a lot and kind of coming back

00:15:56

to now getting back to the top of the

00:15:58

sport. For sure.

00:15:59

>> Yeah.

00:16:00

>> Thanks for that explanation. That's

00:16:02

really that's really cool.

00:16:04

>> Yeah. I'm just thinking like if it was

00:16:06

if it was me like when things are going

00:16:07

bad that's probably when you just like

00:16:09

overthink everything and you try extra

00:16:11

hard and you want to overtrain or

00:16:14

>> Yeah. Which is not great.

00:16:16

>> Um yeah, thanks for all that mental

00:16:18

stuff. That's really cool. Uh now some

00:16:19

of the physical stuff. So when you're

00:16:21

when you're in the start gate at the top

00:16:23

of a GES course, what's what's going

00:16:25

through your mind?

00:16:26

>> Oh um that now I feel like I'm thinking

00:16:30

more than I used to. Like

00:16:33

I mean you've got to like memorize the

00:16:35

course. So I'm doing like visualization

00:16:36

and then kind of have a few technical

00:16:38

focuses that I'm thinking about. Um and

00:16:41

then there's also a part of you that's

00:16:42

kind of like just trying to get fired up

00:16:43

to go. Like when I was younger, for

00:16:45

example, I didn't think about like

00:16:46

anything. I just would try and get as

00:16:48

fired up as possible. But now I think

00:16:50

>> like earplugs and listening to thunder.

00:16:54

>> I mean now I don't even listen to music

00:16:56

really before my races cuz I try and be

00:16:58

like happy enough in my own thoughts

00:17:00

without needing music. U but like when I

00:17:02

was younger I just listen to music and

00:17:04

like not really think about anything and

00:17:06

just try and like be like I'm just going

00:17:08

to send this so hard. I'm going to send

00:17:09

it. I'm going to send it. And that's all

00:17:10

I thought about and kind of laughed it

00:17:12

off. Whereas now I feel like okay, you

00:17:14

don't need to ski at 120%. You need to

00:17:16

ski your best and like execute what you

00:17:19

like the technical goals or like the

00:17:21

places on the course cuz every course we

00:17:23

ski is different, right? So we have one

00:17:25

inspection and then you get to go and

00:17:27

there's parts of the course that are

00:17:28

more difficult. Um

00:17:30

>> an inspection is that like a practice

00:17:31

run?

00:17:31

>> Yeah. So well it's like a you don't get

00:17:33

to run the course, but you slide down

00:17:34

and like check out the course. So you

00:17:36

don't get any practice runs.

00:17:37

>> What do you mean slide down? So, so you

00:17:40

go down at like like snail speed. So,

00:17:43

like you stop, look at it, like slide

00:17:45

back in, have a look. You can't ski it

00:17:47

>> to be honest. Like,

00:17:48

>> so like if you think about a beginner

00:17:50

sliding down, it's kind of like

00:17:51

>> Well, the slopes the slopes that you're

00:17:53

going down there, they're so steep. I

00:17:54

don't know if I'd even be comfortable

00:17:55

doing that.

00:17:57

>> Kind of like so intimidating.

00:17:58

>> Yeah. I mean, you're like with your

00:17:59

coach looking at it. So, it's kind of

00:18:01

like the collaboration time like, okay,

00:18:02

we're going to

00:18:02

>> What are you looking for exactly?

00:18:03

Because I've watched so many of your

00:18:05

races and it's just like a a downhill

00:18:07

gates that you go around and

00:18:09

>> Yeah. So, for example, like every like

00:18:13

course set's different. So, obviously

00:18:14

all the slopes are different. So, like

00:18:16

one week will be on a flat course like

00:18:18

in Austria for example, and you're

00:18:20

looking at the course setting and it has

00:18:22

to be like within a certain meter

00:18:24

regulation, but they might do like two

00:18:25

big turns and then you go around like a

00:18:27

blind roller like okay, the gate's over

00:18:29

there. Cuz you can't see it when you're

00:18:30

skiing. So, if you went and did it like

00:18:32

straight away, you wouldn't know where

00:18:34

to go because it could be like around a

00:18:35

blind turn or um that turn could swing a

00:18:39

lot more or something like that or just

00:18:41

like tricky things like the corset can

00:18:43

be like challenging or easy. So, you

00:18:45

just check it out and then yeah, but you

00:18:48

still don't know how fast you're going

00:18:49

to be going or anything, but you just

00:18:50

that's why. So, you have we call it

00:18:51

inspection. So, it's like checking out

00:18:53

the course before you go and then um

00:18:57

yeah, so you get one inspection and then

00:18:58

there's one run. do the first run,

00:19:00

second run inspection, second run. So

00:19:03

yeah, in GS inspection isn't important,

00:19:05

but in a run like a in like super G, my

00:19:08

second discipline, it's really important

00:19:10

because you don't get any training runs

00:19:12

and you're going like 130 km/h and you

00:19:16

get one look at the course going really

00:19:17

slow and you have to kind of guess how

00:19:20

fast you're going to be going. So you

00:19:22

could be looking at a jump um going over

00:19:24

like you're going to fly 30 meters here,

00:19:26

you're going to be going 130 and you got

00:19:28

to know where you have to land to be

00:19:29

able to like make the next gate sort of

00:19:31

thing without missing something. So it's

00:19:34

um not that easy in that sense. It's

00:19:36

quite important the inspection. But

00:19:37

yeah, um when you think about someone

00:19:40

like a beginner sliding down, it's kind

00:19:42

of at that speed.

00:19:44

>> That whole thing sounds um that's one

00:19:45

thing I love about the podcast by the

00:19:46

way, like getting to learn. I was saying

00:19:48

like no one probably knows anything

00:19:49

about skiing. So it's kind of confusing

00:19:51

but

00:19:52

>> No, no. I think for like for anyone that

00:19:53

doesn't know anything about skiing like

00:19:54

me, it's um it explains there's a lot

00:19:56

more nuances to the sport than just

00:19:57

going downhill really [ __ ] fast.

00:19:59

>> Yeah. I mean there's so many like

00:20:00

variables in this sport and yeah courses

00:20:03

are changing. Like I guess it's one of

00:20:05

the challenges of even though it's an

00:20:06

individual sport and you're not like you

00:20:09

know you're not playing tennis where

00:20:10

you're versing someone else or playing

00:20:11

like soccer or rugby where you're

00:20:13

playing another team. You're by yourself

00:20:15

obviously because it's just timed. But

00:20:17

kind of the variable factor isn't the

00:20:19

other team, it's like the slopes that

00:20:20

you're on or the conditions or the

00:20:21

course that that's what's changing all

00:20:23

the time. So or the weather. So like one

00:20:25

day could be sunny and you're on a flat

00:20:27

slope.

00:20:28

>> The next day could be a snow blizzard

00:20:30

and you're on like a really steep

00:20:31

glacia. So that's kind of where the

00:20:33

varants play in.

00:20:35

>> And that's kind of the part that you've

00:20:36

got to adapt to like every week is the

00:20:38

different conditions, different terrain,

00:20:40

things like that. Yeah.

00:20:42

>> How do you control the fear or or is

00:20:43

there no fear? Um, see, when I was

00:20:46

younger, I would say I was pretty

00:20:47

fearless. Um, I didn't think about like

00:20:51

I've never been like scared of like

00:20:53

hurting myself, for example. Um, which

00:20:56

some athletes are. Some athletes have

00:20:57

like zero fear at all. Like they're not

00:20:59

scared of hurting themselves. I think

00:21:00

for me,

00:21:01

>> healthy.

00:21:02

>> Well, I think those athletes, they can

00:21:05

be so fast, but they do end up hurting

00:21:07

themselves quite a lot. And then, you

00:21:08

know, it's different, but then they're

00:21:09

also very fearless when they're coming

00:21:11

back from injury. They're not like,

00:21:12

"Okay, I've hurt myself. I'm scared to

00:21:13

hurt myself again." and they just all

00:21:15

go. And then there's some athletes who

00:21:16

are very scared and it's like to a

00:21:18

detriment that like they don't push

00:21:20

enough because they're scared. So I

00:21:22

think for me I think I'm trying to find

00:21:25

a decent balance between not having fear

00:21:28

but also to the fear to the point that

00:21:30

it's detrimental but also you've got to

00:21:32

be smart to have like longevity in the

00:21:34

sport that you know if it's a downhill

00:21:36

course and it's you're going 140 clicks

00:21:40

maybe and you're going into like a

00:21:41

straight section maybe not like pinning

00:21:43

that gate or taking cuz you can

00:21:45

basically you can take risks doing this

00:21:48

like on one turn. you know, some

00:21:50

athletes might go really straight and

00:21:52

cut a line to make up time, but then the

00:21:54

risk of you crashing gets a lot higher.

00:21:57

So, I think it's about balancing the

00:22:00

fear, but also the risk takingaking to

00:22:02

the reward. Um, and I think some people

00:22:04

have kind of better than others. And

00:22:06

some people maybe are, you know, have no

00:22:09

fear and they're so fast, but then they

00:22:10

hurt themselves a lot. So, it's a bit of

00:22:12

a balancing act. And I think when I was

00:22:14

younger, I was more on the I don't have

00:22:15

any fear side. And I think now um

00:22:19

especially in giant slalom I didn't have

00:22:21

fear of hurting myself. I had more fear

00:22:23

of you know crashing or not finishing

00:22:25

the course and then just being a DNF

00:22:27

rather than like hurting myself. But I

00:22:29

think also getting a little bit older

00:22:31

and seeing a lot of my like um

00:22:34

colleagues or peers in sport have like

00:22:36

serious injuries has made me

00:22:39

not be scared of injury but just kind of

00:22:41

be a bit more aware of the risks.

00:22:43

>> Mindful mindful. Yeah. of like, okay, if

00:22:46

you're going full ballistic and you're

00:22:48

not thinking, especially as I've moved

00:22:49

more into the speed disciplines, which

00:22:51

is super G and downhill, you have to be

00:22:54

aware of the risks because what normally

00:22:57

like one person every weekend is blowing

00:22:58

their knee or breaking their leg or

00:23:01

something. So, you don't want to be like

00:23:02

a unaware of what you're doing. You need

00:23:04

to be mindful, I think, to have

00:23:05

longevity in the sport, like I said.

00:23:07

>> Yeah. You got to be smart about it.

00:23:08

>> Yeah.

00:23:09

>> Risk versus reward.

00:23:10

>> Yeah. Exactly. Um, so what happens when

00:23:12

you when you fall over when you crash at

00:23:14

like 120, 130, 140 ks an hour?

00:23:17

>> Well, I mean, does it hurt or is the

00:23:18

snow soft?

00:23:19

>> No, it's not. It's like ice. So, it's

00:23:20

like this. It's like um Well, for me, I

00:23:23

mean, touchwood, I haven't had any like

00:23:26

big injuries. Um, which is very, I

00:23:29

guess, lucky for our sport at this

00:23:31

stage, but I mean, I have had a couple

00:23:33

crashes. Um, so basically, if I crash in

00:23:36

GS, like the chances of you hurting

00:23:37

yourself might be like 5 10%. If you

00:23:40

crash and downhill, the chances of you

00:23:41

like seriously hurting yourself is like

00:23:42

50%. Just because your skis are a lot

00:23:45

longer, you're going a lot faster, and

00:23:47

the forces are a lot higher. So, I've

00:23:48

had one big crash in downhill. Um, and I

00:23:53

remember I was terrified cuz I was in a

00:23:55

training run, and I went into the nets

00:23:58

um on this like zigzag section. I was

00:24:00

going probably like 120 and I just

00:24:02

completely This was like a bad

00:24:03

inspection. So, I had no idea where I

00:24:05

was going cuz it was in this forest. It

00:24:06

was so dark and it just was this hill

00:24:08

that turned like four times and I didn't

00:24:11

remember where I was. I got lost like on

00:24:13

the course cuz in downhill if you don't

00:24:14

know where you're going, you're just

00:24:15

screwed cuz you're like skiing blind

00:24:17

going 130 and you have no idea. I got

00:24:19

lost where I was. So I went straight

00:24:21

over this roller completely misjudged

00:24:23

where I was went into the nets and then

00:24:26

I just looked down and I just saw like

00:24:28

blood everywhere and I was like, "Oh my

00:24:30

god, oh my god." And I was felt my body

00:24:32

and I was just in shock. I was like,

00:24:33

"Okay." Like first thing you think about

00:24:35

is like knees. Are knees okay? And I was

00:24:37

like, "Okay, I think my legs are fine,

00:24:39

but there's blood everywhere." And I was

00:24:41

like, "Oh my god." And I could see it

00:24:42

here. I was like, "Oh my god, I've cut

00:24:43

my head open." Like on my ski cuz my

00:24:45

goggles were cracked. So I was like, "Oh

00:24:46

my god, I've like cut my face on my ski.

00:24:48

There's bleeding everywhere." My nose

00:24:50

was then started bleeding. I had no idea

00:24:52

what was bleeding. So I just ski down to

00:24:54

I got up. Everyone was like, "Oh my god,

00:24:56

there's blood dripping everywhere." And

00:24:57

I was skiing down and I was like, "Oh my

00:24:59

god, what have I done?" Anyway, so I get

00:25:02

to the bottom and then I look at myself

00:25:04

and I've just completely grazed my lips,

00:25:06

my nose, like everything was fine, but

00:25:08

it was just like blood gushing, like

00:25:10

swollen. And I was then started kind of

00:25:13

crying and laughing cuz I was looking at

00:25:14

myself at my phone. And it was like it

00:25:17

looked like I'd had really bad lip

00:25:19

filler. Like my lips had just blown up.

00:25:21

I posted a photo of it on Instagram and

00:25:23

then like 5 minutes later it was in the

00:25:24

media everywhere like cuz I joked about

00:25:26

having bad Botox. It was like ski. It

00:25:28

was like this media. It was like ski

00:25:31

like ski racer Robinson looks completely

00:25:33

like transformed after quote unquote bad

00:25:35

Botox like on the run and I was just

00:25:38

looking this photo was going like

00:25:39

everywhere cuz I looked like like it

00:25:42

just looked ridiculous. So that was like

00:25:44

my kind of one experience and it was

00:25:45

like I still raced the next day.

00:25:48

>> Um but it was yeah that was my one

00:25:50

experience crashing in downhill so it

00:25:52

wasn't really that traumatic. It was

00:25:54

just kind of entertaining. But I've had

00:25:56

friends that um you know I've shattered

00:25:59

their legs and been flown off to in

00:26:00

helicopters um to intensive care. I've

00:26:03

had um you know friends do their knees

00:26:06

like another ski racer he like nearly

00:26:08

chopped his leg off. So I mean that's a

00:26:10

good story but the risks are very high

00:26:12

um if you crash if you know someone hurt

00:26:15

their head um really badly and was in a

00:26:18

coma for like a month. So the risks are

00:26:20

very high like in what we do. It's not

00:26:21

like a, oh, I might just, you know, pull

00:26:24

my leg muscle. It's like, no, this is

00:26:26

like very serious stuff. So, you

00:26:28

definitely like need to be aware of what

00:26:29

you're doing. Um, and not be too loose.

00:26:33

>> That's so funny. I I get the sense that

00:26:35

you're kind of relieved. You most people

00:26:36

be like, "Not the face, not the face."

00:26:38

But you're like, "Not the body, NOT THE

00:26:39

BODY, NOT THE FACE."

00:26:40

>> I'M LIKE, "THIS is fine." Like, just

00:26:42

please like hips down, please. No.

00:26:45

Seriously. Well, I can I can just uh

00:26:47

picture you would like one of the one of

00:26:49

the brides on Married at First Sign

00:26:50

Australia or something.

00:26:51

>> Exactly.

00:26:52

>> I found a quote from you online. Um this

00:26:54

is when you were 17 years old. So this

00:26:56

is like seven years ago

00:26:58

>> talking about sacrifices.

00:27:00

>> Um and it it stuck out to me because I

00:27:02

thought it this this this is a lot for a

00:27:04

17-year-old when you should, I don't

00:27:06

know, be in your last year of school.

00:27:08

>> Uh it's a lot of work to be competitive

00:27:09

in alpine skiing. You've got to be

00:27:12

overseas for 6 months a year. You've got

00:27:14

to be up at 5:00 a.m. most mornings. You

00:27:16

have to do it in all weather conditions.

00:27:17

It's not just sunny days. You've got to

00:27:19

go up when it's raining, when it's

00:27:20

snowing, when it's windy, when it's

00:27:22

freezing.

00:27:23

>> Mhm.

00:27:25

>> What's What's kept you in the sport so

00:27:26

long? Like, you're still quite young,

00:27:27

but to be doing it for as long as what

00:27:29

you have.

00:27:30

>> I can understand why Nico has retired at

00:27:32

a young age when everyone else thought

00:27:33

it was a bit unusual.

00:27:34

>> Yeah.

00:27:35

>> Yeah. I think I guess for me, I've

00:27:39

always just I've loved the kind of

00:27:41

grind. Um, I've always loved that

00:27:43

feeling of like getting up early and

00:27:45

like having a job to do and doing it.

00:27:47

And I think for sure like there's

00:27:49

sacrifices and I still, you know, when I

00:27:52

was younger, I think it was more

00:27:53

sacrifices when you're a kid because you

00:27:56

know you're missing out on your normal

00:27:57

like school and uni and um, you know,

00:28:01

going to school with your mates every

00:28:02

day, like that kind of thing. I was

00:28:03

actually really lucky that I was able to

00:28:05

stay at high school, my like local high

00:28:07

school my whole way through till I

00:28:08

finished. Um, so I felt like I still had

00:28:11

a nice kind of childhood high school

00:28:14

experience without being completely

00:28:16

isolated cuz I said that to my parents

00:28:18

when I was starting cuz a lot of ski

00:28:20

racing children um sorry they um they go

00:28:24

to like skimmies in the US if you're

00:28:27

from like Australia and New Zealand. I

00:28:28

know families that have fully lifted and

00:28:29

shifted and moved their whole lives to

00:28:32

the US to have their kids to go to these

00:28:34

ski ski academy schools. And I said to

00:28:36

my parents like, "Oh, I'm not doing

00:28:37

that. Like, I want to stay in

00:28:39

Queenstown." Um, and be at my local

00:28:41

school. So, I'm really glad that they

00:28:42

supported me in doing that in my local

00:28:44

high school was really supportive. But,

00:28:47

I don't know. I think for me, it's never

00:28:49

felt like a for sure it's a sacrifice.

00:28:52

You know, missing I've haven't had like

00:28:53

a Christmas or a summer at home for like

00:28:55

10 years. Um, I've always been away. So,

00:28:58

in that sense, it's a sacrifice. But, I

00:28:59

mean, for me, like I love competing and

00:29:01

I love skiing and it's like, you know,

00:29:03

the biggest passion for me. is something

00:29:05

that I've always been drawn to since I

00:29:07

was like 8 years old when I started.

00:29:08

It's always been this huge pillar in my

00:29:10

life. So for me, it doesn't feel like

00:29:13

like the sacrifice of what I'm doing

00:29:15

just feels very minuscule to the joy

00:29:18

that I get out of it. So I think that's

00:29:21

why I still enjoy doing it. And I think

00:29:22

that's why

00:29:24

>> and I think also when you know things

00:29:26

are going well and you feel like you're

00:29:28

having fun with what you're doing,

00:29:29

you've got a good crew around you. Um

00:29:31

you're working hard but you're seeing

00:29:33

the results. pay off for that hard work,

00:29:35

then it's it feels like it's all worth

00:29:37

it. I think the problems start to come

00:29:38

up if you're kind of sacrificing

00:29:40

everything. You're doing everything you

00:29:41

can, but you're miserable, your results

00:29:43

are lacking, then it's like what's the

00:29:44

point in doing this? But I think for me,

00:29:46

like

00:29:46

>> with the results that I've had the last

00:29:48

couple years and the sacrifices that I'm

00:29:51

making and also seeing how much work

00:29:53

like my whole team is putting in, um I

00:29:56

don't know, it just makes I love the

00:29:57

feeling of I feel like we're on a

00:29:58

mission, you We're like little Kiwi team

00:29:59

that are on the other side of the world

00:30:01

like darting around Europe um and North

00:30:03

America trying to come up like compete

00:30:05

against the the rest of the world. I

00:30:07

think we all kind of have the same

00:30:08

philosophy in that that we all really

00:30:10

like the the kind of hustle and the

00:30:12

mission around it.

00:30:13

>> Who who is on this team that you talk

00:30:15

about? Um yeah, so for example,

00:30:17

Christmas this year you're going to be

00:30:18

out of the country again. Who will you

00:30:20

spend Christmas Day with?

00:30:21

>> Um yes, so I basically I have like a

00:30:25

pretty much full Kiwi team. So I have

00:30:26

two coaches. um Tim Cafe and Niels

00:30:28

Coberger who they came on with me again

00:30:31

full-time like two years ago and then

00:30:33

but they've both kind of been in my like

00:30:36

in the scene with me like they're both

00:30:37

Kiwis so they've been around pretty much

00:30:39

since I started ski racing. Tim was my

00:30:41

coach when I was younger and then

00:30:42

stopped when I was like 17 for a few

00:30:44

years and then I brought them back and

00:30:46

then my best friend um we used to ski

00:30:49

race together and we used to kind of if

00:30:50

it wasn't for her I probably wouldn't

00:30:51

have been as good in ski racing cuz we

00:30:52

used to push each other a lot like we

00:30:54

would train together race together and

00:30:57

then she did her knee twice before she

00:30:59

turned 18 um her ACL so she was like

00:31:01

okay I'm going to stop ski racing and go

00:31:03

to physio school and I said oh it's fine

00:31:04

cuz we always wanted to race the World

00:31:06

Cup together I was fine you can be my

00:31:08

physio and then the last last year said,

00:31:10

"No." Yeah. 2023, I said to her, like

00:31:13

end of 2023, I said she'd already

00:31:15

finished physio school and been working.

00:31:17

Um, and I said, "Oh, why don't you come

00:31:19

with me for like 10 weeks and just come

00:31:21

on the road?" And she was like, "Okay."

00:31:23

And then we started doing that. And then

00:31:25

last year she came pretty much full-time

00:31:26

and this year she's coming full-time

00:31:28

again. So, it's pretty cool. I get to

00:31:29

have my best friend as my physio on

00:31:31

tour.

00:31:33

>> Um, so it's pretty fun.

00:31:34

>> That throwaway line actually came true.

00:31:36

>> Yeah. Throw throwaway line came true.

00:31:37

We're like, "Okay, it's fine." like we

00:31:39

were little 16year-olds like oh you go

00:31:41

to physio school I'll keep scarcing then

00:31:43

we'll be a team later on and it actually

00:31:45

came true which is really cool so yeah

00:31:47

my like childhood best friend's on my

00:31:49

team is my physio and then I also have a

00:31:52

serviceman which is like a technician so

00:31:54

they look after all my equipment cuz

00:31:56

that's like another part of skiing that

00:31:57

maybe people don't know but I travel

00:31:59

with about 50 pairs of skis

00:32:01

>> do you spend so much time at the excess

00:32:03

baggage counter

00:32:04

>> no this is a good thing I don't have to

00:32:05

deal with it

00:32:05

>> the serviceman does that

00:32:07

>> yeah yeah so that's like another big

00:32:09

part of the sport. So, he's from

00:32:10

Austria. He's hired by my ski company,

00:32:12

Solomon. And his job is pretty much just

00:32:14

tuning my skis every day and looking

00:32:16

after the skis. And he goes back and

00:32:18

forth from like the factory like

00:32:22

bringing in and out of skis cuz they

00:32:23

design special skis for us. Then we go

00:32:25

out and test them. They go back for like

00:32:27

more modifications then come back out.

00:32:29

So, that's quite a big the um

00:32:31

equipment's a huge part. So

00:32:33

>> I think that's where um the incident I

00:32:35

was telling you about at [ __ ] a papa

00:32:36

where I had to slide down. I think

00:32:38

that's the problem. I just hired skis.

00:32:40

>> Yeah, exactly. That's your issue.

00:32:43

>> Anything doesn't go well, you've got to

00:32:45

blame the equipment.

00:32:46

>> I needed a serviceman. Is that it? Is

00:32:48

that the whole team?

00:32:48

>> Yes. So there's five of us. But then we

00:32:50

do So we'll do Christmas day. I have a

00:32:52

race on the 27th of December, which is

00:32:54

pretty brutal. So we're normally

00:32:55

training on Christmas Day. Um, but we

00:32:58

have a friend who um owns a hotel and so

00:33:02

us and the US team, we all go there

00:33:04

together and have Christmas, which is

00:33:06

quite fun because we're all training.

00:33:07

>> So we have a bit of a crew. Um, we call

00:33:10

like the orphans, like the North

00:33:11

Americans and us because we're all the

00:33:12

ones that are on the road. So we like

00:33:14

gang up for Christmas, which is quite

00:33:15

nice. Yeah.

00:33:18

So even you explaining that team like to

00:33:20

to me that feels like an added pressure

00:33:22

like there's all these people that are

00:33:24

putting their own lives and families on

00:33:26

hold.

00:33:27

>> Um yeah so in order for them to achieve

00:33:30

a goal I suppose but ultimately it's

00:33:31

your goal. You know what I mean?

00:33:32

>> Yeah. Yeah. I know for sure. I think

00:33:34

that's something I struggled with a lot

00:33:36

>> um in the past is that feeling of so

00:33:38

much pressure. You know it's not like

00:33:40

you're a a team where everyone's you

00:33:42

know the pressure spread out. It's like

00:33:44

all on you. But I guess for me, I've had

00:33:46

these discussions with them. Like

00:33:47

they're all doing it because they want

00:33:48

to do it. Like

00:33:49

>> yeah,

00:33:49

>> they said that to me. They're like,

00:33:50

"We're not here for you. Like we like

00:33:53

doing this. I mean, they're here for me

00:33:55

obviously and they love it." But they're

00:33:56

like, "We love this is what we want to

00:33:58

do. This is like our dream of like, you

00:34:01

know, being on the road and competing

00:34:02

and doing this. Like they've wanted to

00:34:03

do it for so long." And that was a part

00:34:05

of also when I changed my team a couple

00:34:08

years ago. I wanted people like coaches

00:34:10

around who were like really appreciated

00:34:12

that position of being with like a top

00:34:14

athlete and being at the top because I

00:34:16

think a lot of coaches get cuz you know

00:34:18

coaches get recycled between athletes

00:34:20

and a lot of them are kind of been there

00:34:21

for so long they they're not very

00:34:23

appreciative of the position they're in.

00:34:25

They kind of like I'm a top coach like

00:34:27

you're lucky to have me sort of thing.

00:34:29

And I kind of wanted more people who

00:34:30

were like this is amazing like we're out

00:34:32

here doing this. This is so cool. not

00:34:34

someone who's going to take it for

00:34:35

granted and be like, "You're lucky to

00:34:36

have me as your coach." Sort of thing.

00:34:38

Cuz there's a lot of that um in sports,

00:34:40

I feel like.

00:34:41

>> No, there's a lot of there's a lot of

00:34:42

coaches that are like, "Oh, you're lucky

00:34:44

I'm here. You're lucky to have me." And

00:34:45

I was like, "No, I want people like, "Oh

00:34:46

my god, I'm so lucky to be a part of

00:34:49

this team." So, we have a really good um

00:34:51

philosophy. And also, it's probably

00:34:53

good. No one is like I mean, my two

00:34:56

coaches, they're both they're not

00:34:57

married or they don't have kids. So,

00:34:59

they're more than happy to be on the

00:35:00

road for 7 months and be chasing the

00:35:03

winter around. So for them it's kind of

00:35:04

their dream life as well. Yeah.

00:35:06

>> And is there ever any managing like

00:35:09

personalities or any personality clashes

00:35:11

like when you when you're in a tight

00:35:13

knit I'm suppose suppose it's like a

00:35:15

band traveling or something with

00:35:17

personality dynamics and things.

00:35:19

>> Yeah. I mean there's never like any

00:35:21

blowups. Um for sure everyone has their

00:35:24

moments

00:35:25

>> but I think I don't know. I think we

00:35:28

kind of cover quite a few different

00:35:29

personalities that no one's ever kind of

00:35:31

competing or like I don't know like

00:35:34

everyone kind of understand like

00:35:35

everyone knows each other very well as

00:35:37

well that like it's more of like a

00:35:39

family vibe than a than like a team that

00:35:42

it's like if you're I know brother

00:35:44

siblings are annoying you or your

00:35:45

uncle's annoying you just get over it

00:35:46

cuz you know you have to. I think that's

00:35:48

kind of the same vibe on our team is

00:35:50

like if someone's you just you kind of

00:35:53

laugh it off but it's never like a big

00:35:55

issue and if there was I think we all

00:35:57

know each other well enough and are

00:35:58

comfortable enough that we can bring it

00:35:59

up and it's not like a like no one takes

00:36:02

anything personally if there's an issue

00:36:04

like everyone's very open. Um so it's

00:36:06

been going really well and hopefully

00:36:07

hopefully it stays that way.

00:36:08

>> Yeah. Yeah. I think that's the key

00:36:10

addressing issues immediately rather

00:36:12

than letting them sit

00:36:13

>> like open. I mean, and also we're all

00:36:14

having dinner together every night.

00:36:16

>> Like we're all staying, you know,

00:36:17

because we're moving between like hotels

00:36:19

all the time.

00:36:20

>> So, we have to kind of like, you know,

00:36:22

we have to have a dinner topic. So, if

00:36:23

something's irritating one of us, it

00:36:25

just, you know, kind of brings up the

00:36:26

dinner topic for the night and then it's

00:36:27

dealt with and then we move on. So,

00:36:30

>> um so good.

00:36:31

>> That um quote I read out before about

00:36:33

sacrifices when you were 17, seven years

00:36:35

ago. Since then, there's been uh two

00:36:37

Olympic cycles, soon to be a third. Have

00:36:40

the sacrifices got got greater or is the

00:36:43

is the structure, routine and discipline

00:36:45

pretty much the same?

00:36:46

>> Yeah, I mean I guess so when I was seven

00:36:49

yeah I guess it's

00:36:51

to be honest it feels like as I'm

00:36:53

getting older I'm becoming this is more

00:36:56

my life that the sacrifices don't feel

00:37:00

I don't know it just feels like you know

00:37:01

I've been doing this for a long time and

00:37:03

I'm spending more time overseas now that

00:37:04

you know being overseas for me doesn't

00:37:06

really feel like a sacrifice um because

00:37:08

I've spent so much time over there. So I

00:37:10

think the routine and also just maturing

00:37:13

and kind of like understanding that

00:37:15

world a lot more has made it a lot

00:37:17

easier in some ways. Um I think in other

00:37:20

ways for sure also you know PE I think

00:37:23

the hardest time being an athlete is

00:37:25

when your friends are all having like

00:37:26

heaps of fun at uni whereas now you know

00:37:28

everyone's finished uni they're like

00:37:30

working and they're like oh I hate

00:37:31

working and I'm like oh well I'm like

00:37:32

out here skiing all the time so like now

00:37:35

I'm kind of seeing the benefits of you

00:37:36

know not having fun at uni pay off. um

00:37:39

in a way, but

00:37:41

I think I I don't at least for like for

00:37:44

me I don't I really love like working

00:37:47

hard and having like a routine and like

00:37:49

working towards a goal that it doesn't

00:37:51

feel like a sacrifice, you know, not um

00:37:54

you know, missing out on some stuff for

00:37:56

that. Um and I think

00:37:58

>> your life your life's pretty good.

00:38:00

>> Yeah. I mean I en like I wouldn't be

00:38:01

doing this if I wasn't enjoying it. And

00:38:03

of course being an athlete, there's like

00:38:05

a lot of really hard things about being

00:38:07

an athlete, you know, with performance

00:38:08

pressures and I mean also, you know,

00:38:11

yeah, being from New Zealand on like the

00:38:12

other side of the world, but I feel like

00:38:14

on purpose, I've put some structures in

00:38:16

place to make it a lot more enjoyable

00:38:19

for myself. And I feel like that's

00:38:20

what's been happening. And also when

00:38:21

things are going well, it's it's fun. I

00:38:23

think

00:38:24

>> the hardest times been when things

00:38:25

aren't going well and then you kind of

00:38:26

like really feel the the hard dark parts

00:38:29

about being an athlete um when things

00:38:31

aren't going the way you want to which

00:38:32

I've also experienced. So

00:38:34

>> I've kind of feel the knowing how bad it

00:38:36

can be makes me appreciate the the good

00:38:39

times even more. Um and also like this

00:38:42

year I was saying to my coaches because

00:38:45

I got was got a lot of podiums. I got

00:38:47

second and I was disappointed with

00:38:48

second and I was like wow like

00:38:51

perspective is crazy. Like two years ago

00:38:54

or 3 years ago like during this winter

00:38:56

Olympic season if she told me like being

00:38:57

second I would have like given anything

00:38:59

to have been second. And now being here

00:39:02

I am like getting second being like

00:39:03

slightly disappointed about not winning.

00:39:05

I'm like okay no like we're good. It's

00:39:08

crazy how your perspective can like

00:39:09

shift from what like feels good and not.

00:39:12

So yeah.

00:39:13

>> Um

00:39:13

>> Yeah. I suppose you always want

00:39:14

something more.

00:39:15

>> Yeah. Exactly.

00:39:16

>> Until you hit number one and then there

00:39:18

there is something else. Then it's like

00:39:19

when's my next number one?

00:39:20

>> Well, then it's like I think the

00:39:21

pressure of how am I supposed to keep

00:39:22

this up? Yeah. And like who's chasing

00:39:24

me?

00:39:26

>> Yeah. Yeah. The goal is always changing.

00:39:29

>> What about um just one more question

00:39:31

about sacrifice? So you're immediately

00:39:33

family like your siblings, your mom and

00:39:35

dad. Yeah. What sacrifices have they

00:39:37

made? in order to um get you to this

00:39:39

dominant position in a sport that's

00:39:41

that's almost non-existent in New

00:39:42

Zealand.

00:39:43

>> Um yeah, I mean my parents have I mean

00:39:46

always been

00:39:48

so supportive. I mean they were both

00:39:50

like good athletes themselves but

00:39:52

>> were they brought in?

00:39:54

>> Well they secret but they're Australian

00:39:56

so

00:39:56

>> Oh I know that I was going to get to

00:39:58

that. Yeah.

00:39:59

>> Born in Australia moved to New Zealand

00:40:01

at four.

00:40:02

>> Yeah. So, um, they kind of played your

00:40:04

typical like country sports. Like dad

00:40:06

played rugby, mom played like field

00:40:08

hockey. So, they both were like big

00:40:10

sports people. Like we were a sports

00:40:11

family. That's like what we connected

00:40:14

over as like a family was athletic

00:40:16

stuff. Um, so they always were super

00:40:18

encouraging of us doing sports. Um, and

00:40:21

my and but they weren't like tiger

00:40:23

parents by any means. like they were

00:40:25

very like relaxed but like they were

00:40:27

also like my dad was also like you know

00:40:29

very passionate about sports and always

00:40:31

you know encouraged me to to push myself

00:40:33

and always wanted me to um you know to

00:40:35

do what I was doing properly and like

00:40:37

work really hard and take it seriously

00:40:38

and like you know said to me like you

00:40:41

know if you want to be supported and you

00:40:43

know doing this scarier thing like you

00:40:44

better be out like running every morning

00:40:46

and like being fit like you know kind of

00:40:48

thing. So they were always super

00:40:50

supportive and not in like an unhealthy

00:40:52

like psychoparent way, but in like a

00:40:54

very like we want you to like like

00:40:57

encourage us to work really hard and to

00:40:59

have good work ethic.

00:41:00

>> Well, it's an expensive sport, so that

00:41:03

was like

00:41:03

>> they want to make sure you're not going

00:41:04

to get bored after 5 minutes.

00:41:05

>> It's like make sure you like we want you

00:41:07

to do this properly if you're going to

00:41:08

do it. Otherwise, like we're not doing

00:41:09

this kind of thing.

00:41:10

>> You've got a one-year lift pass. You're

00:41:13

getting out there every day.

00:41:14

>> No. And I was really lucky that my

00:41:15

parents like supported me when I was a

00:41:17

kid. But I was also very lucky that I

00:41:19

was good at a young age that I then got

00:41:21

like the sponsors and the support to

00:41:23

keep going because it's yeah it's not an

00:41:24

easy sport to do. Um but they also, you

00:41:27

know, my mom was always the one like

00:41:29

getting up and my mom was, you know,

00:41:31

such a amazing like would always no

00:41:34

matter how hard something was, she would

00:41:36

like make it happen for us. Like if it

00:41:37

was, you know, having to drive us six

00:41:39

hours to go to the slope, she was more

00:41:40

than happy to do it. If it was like

00:41:41

coming traveling with me, she was like

00:41:43

just yeah, always wanted the best. And I

00:41:47

think my my siblings, they also ski

00:41:49

raced, but then weren't as into it and

00:41:51

did more other sports. Um, but I think

00:41:53

they definitely felt probably the like

00:41:55

especially my younger brother, like he's

00:41:57

such a little legend, but he was

00:41:59

definitely a bit like neglected, I

00:42:00

think, with like how much attention I

00:42:02

got from like the family. Um, but then

00:42:05

again, I think they've like they love it

00:42:07

now because they can come and support

00:42:09

and like be at the races and everything

00:42:12

like that. So I think they definitely

00:42:14

felt it in the sense that like I was

00:42:15

getting like a lot of had to have like

00:42:17

quite a lot of attention from the

00:42:18

parents like doing this sport. It takes

00:42:20

like um a lot of I guess focus and like

00:42:24

commitment from everyone. But then again

00:42:27

I feel like

00:42:29

like our family we did it in quite a a

00:42:31

good way that no one had to sacrifice

00:42:33

too much in terms of

00:42:36

>> you know me and my brother went to the

00:42:37

same high school and we did this like he

00:42:39

got to do everything like normal. my

00:42:41

like didn't upheave my whole family and

00:42:43

move across the world like other people

00:42:45

have done or like across the country.

00:42:47

>> Yeah. Next time if your brother ever

00:42:48

complains, just tell him that um Taylor

00:42:50

Swift's whole family moved to Tennessee

00:42:51

for her music career. So he can just

00:42:53

shut the [ __ ] up.

00:42:55

>> No, I mean I think we were quite lucky.

00:42:58

Um there was just I think a like almost

00:43:00

like the perfect storm for me

00:43:02

>> to cuz I just think Yeah, it was like a

00:43:05

perfect storm that I got to go to my

00:43:07

local school. we were living in

00:43:08

Queenstown that nothing felt too like

00:43:11

dramatic like it wasn't one of those

00:43:12

stories that like you know the family

00:43:14

had to lift and shift and you know so

00:43:17

many of these like top athletes the

00:43:18

whole family had to sacrifice everything

00:43:20

and move and

00:43:21

>> do all this I feel like we were quite

00:43:22

lucky that like already living in

00:43:25

Queenstown we had a good infrastructure

00:43:27

that

00:43:28

>> um it didn't feel like everyone's lives

00:43:30

had to change for me to do good in sport

00:43:32

and that was something that I really

00:43:33

didn't want because that put so much

00:43:35

pressure on me

00:43:36

>> like I said to my parents I that I don't

00:43:37

want um I'm like I could only for a

00:43:41

couple years I really struggled even

00:43:42

having my parents at the races because

00:43:44

it felt like so much pressure having my

00:43:46

family there that I didn't want I always

00:43:48

was said to my parents like I just want

00:43:49

everyone to have their own life and like

00:43:52

whether I'm ski racing or not it doesn't

00:43:54

affect anyone kind of thing. So I was

00:43:56

always very conscious of that that I

00:43:58

didn't want my ski racing to be the kind

00:44:01

of personality of the whole family. I

00:44:03

wanted everyone to have their own

00:44:05

>> um their own things. And then it's only

00:44:07

recently that I've kind of again been

00:44:09

able to be comfortable with like having

00:44:10

the whole family come and support at the

00:44:12

races.

00:44:13

>> But it makes me happier seeing when

00:44:14

everyone's like got their own things

00:44:16

going on and my ski racing is just like

00:44:18

a side quest. It's not the focus of the

00:44:20

whole family.

00:44:21

>> Yeah.

00:44:21

>> Yeah.

00:44:23

>> Do do you have any memories of Sydney?

00:44:26

>> Um yes.

00:44:27

>> Yeah. You only four when you moved to

00:44:29

NZ.

00:44:30

>> Yeah. Yeah. So I was really young. I

00:44:32

have like I mean I like grew up on like

00:44:35

we lived in um like Rose Bay, Bondi. So

00:44:38

it's pretty much like exact opposite of

00:44:40

like what a typical like ski racer. I

00:44:43

was like in another life I would have

00:44:44

been like a surfer or like a beach

00:44:46

volleyball player. Um but no I remember

00:44:48

like very but I mean I was so young I

00:44:50

remember us living there. I remember

00:44:51

going down to the beach and little

00:44:53

snippets of my life there. Um but I mean

00:44:56

obviously I spent the majority of my

00:44:57

childhood in Queenstown. So

00:44:59

>> why did the family move? Um, my parents

00:45:02

actually they came on holiday, like a

00:45:04

ski holiday, but they weren't big skiers

00:45:06

like at all. Like my parents, like my

00:45:08

mom had never skied till she was like

00:45:10

out of school, like 20 on a ski holiday

00:45:11

in Queenstown, and my dad grew up in

00:45:13

Brisbane, like far away from the snow.

00:45:15

So, neither of them were big skiers, but

00:45:16

they came to Queenstown on like a like a

00:45:18

lot of Australians do on like a ski

00:45:19

holiday. Just loved it and were a bit

00:45:21

sick of like Sydney and the hustle and

00:45:24

bustle and kind of wanted the kids to

00:45:26

grow up somewhere a bit more relaxed.

00:45:28

and my mom was just a little bit over

00:45:30

like Sydney scene. Um, and they were

00:45:31

like, "Okay, let's like go to Queenstown

00:45:33

for a year just to change scenery and

00:45:35

then just never left." Yeah.

00:45:36

>> Do you remember the first time you

00:45:37

touched Snoke?

00:45:39

>> No, I don't. I mean, I was three, so it

00:45:41

was on a holiday actually from

00:45:42

Queenstown. No, from Sydney to

00:45:44

Queenstown apparently. I don't remember

00:45:45

it. And then I remember my mom said that

00:45:49

when we moved there it was cheaper for

00:45:51

her to put me in ski the ski crash than

00:45:54

it was to get a babysitter. So she

00:45:56

wanted to get better at skiing. So she'd

00:45:58

go up and put me in like the skie land.

00:46:00

And I was like the only kid in there.

00:46:02

And she said she could go skiing all

00:46:03

day. And it was cheaper than getting a

00:46:04

babysitter at that time. So she just put

00:46:06

me in ski land like all the time. And

00:46:08

then there was no other kids in there.

00:46:09

So I just would be doing like little

00:46:10

laps by myself. I was like mom was

00:46:12

secretly like plotting to like have a

00:46:14

ski racing child like putting me in ski

00:46:17

land for all those years.

00:46:18

>> That that's amazing. Is it actually

00:46:20

called ski land? That's such a cool

00:46:21

name. Do you remember ski land?

00:46:23

>> I remember ski I do. I actually do

00:46:24

remember it. It was great. It's like

00:46:27

this little section of the ski school up

00:46:29

peak where it's for like under fives or

00:46:30

something that you like put them in when

00:46:32

the parents want to go skiing and they

00:46:33

>> And are the little kids skiing or

00:46:35

>> Yeah. So there's like a little there's

00:46:36

like a pretty much like a daycare sort

00:46:38

of thing and then there's like a little

00:46:40

ski slope

00:46:41

>> like are you on toboggins or

00:46:43

>> No, you're skiing skis. Yeah, there's

00:46:44

like a tiny little magic carpet and um

00:46:48

yeah, you go out and your parents Yeah.

00:46:51

You go out there and you normally I had

00:46:52

like a private instructor like a private

00:46:54

instructor. Mom said there was like no

00:46:55

other kids in there. She's like this is

00:46:56

great. This is like private ski lessons

00:46:58

babysitter like for like allin-one and I

00:47:01

get to go skiing all day. So she said

00:47:03

that was what I was doing most weekends

00:47:05

when I was like four was just in the ski

00:47:07

land. Yeah. So she was like secretly

00:47:09

without herself knowing like planning my

00:47:12

future as a ski racer.

00:47:14

>> Yeah.

00:47:15

>> Yeah. I don't think you you can

00:47:16

underestimate just the significance of

00:47:18

that.

00:47:19

>> Seriously. And I heard you described um

00:47:21

as an aggressive slashcompetitive kid.

00:47:24

>> Yes.

00:47:25

>> Uh is there any obvious like parent

00:47:28

where that comes from?

00:47:29

>> Um or is that

00:47:30

>> Well, I don't I think

00:47:32

>> Were you aggressive? Do you remember?

00:47:33

>> No, I'm not aggressive. I think I was

00:47:35

just very competitive. Like it was like

00:47:38

always like I just had to win

00:47:39

everything. It didn't matter if it was

00:47:40

like a sprinting race in the backyard at

00:47:42

like a birthday party like I had to win.

00:47:44

or if it was like the um I don't know

00:47:48

the soccer game or the net game or cross

00:47:50

country. Um I don't know. I was just

00:47:53

Yeah, I was definitely always sports was

00:47:56

like my thing, I guess. Like some kids

00:47:57

love music, some kids love, I don't

00:48:00

know. Um drama. I think I just always

00:48:02

loved sports was just any like anything

00:48:04

athletic. I just always loved it. Like I

00:48:06

loved athletics. So it was like my

00:48:08

favorite day of the year at school. I

00:48:09

loved um I don't know. I just always

00:48:12

loved it. And I think both my parents

00:48:13

were

00:48:15

probably quite competitive as well in

00:48:17

like in their own way. Um both being

00:48:19

like playing sports and things. So

00:48:22

>> yeah, I think any kind of anything I

00:48:24

could do at school like I did every

00:48:25

sport like I did Yeah. athletics. I did

00:48:27

you know touch rugby. I did the soccer,

00:48:29

netball, I used to horse ride quite a

00:48:32

bit as well. So I think I just did

00:48:33

everything I could.

00:48:34

>> Yeah. And before before being old enough

00:48:36

to sort of you regulate your emotions,

00:48:38

were you um were you a horrible loser?

00:48:41

>> Um I think I was. Yeah,

00:48:44

I think I don't think I was very good at

00:48:46

losing. Um, and I'm definitely cuz now I

00:48:49

actually I'm completely fine with

00:48:50

losing. Like

00:48:52

>> I mean you don't want it's never

00:48:53

>> you never you never want to lose but for

00:48:54

me like if I do my if I've skied really

00:48:56

well and I feel like I've done

00:48:58

everything I could and I lose. I'm like

00:48:59

more than happy

00:49:00

>> to lose because I feel like I've done

00:49:02

everything I could. I now I feel

00:49:03

frustrated if I feel like I did didn't

00:49:05

do enough and I could have done more.

00:49:07

That's when I feel the frustration. I

00:49:08

don't feel the frustration from the loss

00:49:10

itself. But yeah, I think as a kid I was

00:49:13

um yeah, maybe not the best loser.

00:49:18

Um was there a moment when you realized

00:49:20

that you had a gift?

00:49:22

>> Um I don't know if there was a specific

00:49:25

moment. I think as a kid it was even

00:49:28

from when I was like probably like as

00:49:30

early as I can remember, it was always

00:49:32

my dream to be um like the best in the

00:49:35

world at a sport. I don't think I knew

00:49:37

what sport it was. But like I remember

00:49:40

watching like Olympics as like a

00:49:43

sevenyear-old and being like I'm going

00:49:44

to do that. Like maybe more summer

00:49:46

Olympics. I think I probably was

00:49:47

watching the sprinting being like oh I'm

00:49:48

going to be a sprinter. Like you know

00:49:49

how everyone loves watching the like 100

00:49:51

meter sprint as a kid. I was like I'm

00:49:53

going to win the sprint 100 meter

00:49:54

sprint. Um, but I always loved sport and

00:49:56

I think um I'd played so many but I just

00:49:59

loved ski racing because I think it

00:50:01

combined so many things about my

00:50:03

personality like the the competit

00:50:06

competition but also the fearlessness

00:50:08

like adrenaline. You don't really get

00:50:09

that from a lot of other sports that

00:50:11

like rush I suppose. Um, and I don't

00:50:14

know it just always felt like a bigger

00:50:16

deal to me than any other sport. And I

00:50:20

don't know if I ever felt like I had a

00:50:21

gift, but

00:50:23

um I think probably when I won this like

00:50:26

international kids race when I was like

00:50:30

12 and then I also won the US nationals

00:50:32

um when I was like 13. I was like okay

00:50:36

um and know people were saying to me I'm

00:50:38

quite good. I was like okay maybe this

00:50:40

is something that I could do. And I

00:50:42

remember every time like you know you

00:50:44

like make a wish for something I'd

00:50:45

always be like I want to be like the

00:50:46

best ski racer ever. That was like what

00:50:48

I used to wish,

00:50:49

>> you know. And I suppose Oh, that's cute.

00:50:52

Do you do you look back and think, "Oh,

00:50:53

I should have wished for something even

00:50:54

bigger than that."

00:50:55

>> Yeah, I know. I know. It's pretty funny.

00:50:57

But

00:50:58

>> um Yeah. And it must be quite quite nice

00:51:00

and validating at that age. You people

00:51:01

telling you that you you've got

00:51:03

something special.

00:51:04

>> Yeah. I think I mean it's pretty funny

00:51:06

now to like look back at it because it's

00:51:08

like now seems a bit ridiculous to me

00:51:09

that people would like

00:51:11

>> tell a 12-year-old like, "Oh, you've got

00:51:13

something special." Like that seems a

00:51:14

bit like bit funny to me. But Um, at the

00:51:18

time, yeah, I think it was cool, but I

00:51:19

maybe it did give me like the motivation

00:51:20

to like keep pushing. Um, and I was

00:51:24

never someone who was easily

00:51:26

intimidated, I guess, um, by like hard

00:51:29

competitors or like older people. I

00:51:32

think especially when I went into the

00:51:33

open age group, that kind of became a

00:51:34

bit more of a drive cuz a lot of times

00:51:36

when people are successful in the

00:51:38

younger like kids age group, they get to

00:51:39

the open age group and just freak out

00:51:41

cuz they're now racing like 25 year

00:51:42

olds, 30 year olds. Um, but I think for

00:51:45

me, um, I kind of loved running that

00:51:47

like underdog mentality into like the

00:51:49

open age group that I was like, "Oh,

00:51:50

yeah, now this is awesome. I've got

00:51:52

like, you know, a measure because you

00:51:54

get start getting world ranked when you

00:51:55

get into the open age group." Um, and

00:51:58

getting these things called fist points,

00:51:59

which is like your ranking points.

00:52:02

>> And for me, it became like a challenge.

00:52:03

Okay, like this is where it starts to

00:52:05

go. And I think I kind of stepped up

00:52:06

from that. Um, which was cool. But I

00:52:10

don't think I ever thought I had a gift,

00:52:11

but I also I just loved the kind of

00:52:13

challenge of ski racing and I just loved

00:52:15

it as a sport.

00:52:16

>> Was there a moment when you realized it

00:52:17

could be your career?

00:52:20

>> I think probably when I won that like

00:52:22

international kids race in Canada, it

00:52:24

was kind of like a telling like, "Oh, if

00:52:26

you

00:52:26

>> At what age?" Like 12.

00:52:27

>> Yeah, it was like 13. It was like a

00:52:29

telling like, "Oh, if you win this, this

00:52:31

is like the stepping stone to becoming

00:52:32

like a professional cuz it's kind of

00:52:33

like, oh, you're the best in your age

00:52:36

group in the world sort of thing or like

00:52:37

in that in North America." So I think

00:52:40

probably then it was like and I don't

00:52:42

think any Kiwis had won it before. So it

00:52:44

was kind of like a okay this could be

00:52:47

something.

00:52:47

>> It sort of seems like a farfetched dream

00:52:49

at that point though being intermediate

00:52:51

age thing.

00:52:51

>> Well that's what I'm looking at it now.

00:52:52

I'm like if someone would for me like

00:52:54

seeing a 12 like I don't could never

00:52:56

tell. I mean unless it's like freakish

00:52:57

but I mean for me it seems a bit odd to

00:53:00

say to a 12-year-old like this is going

00:53:01

to be your career. Like for me now being

00:53:03

like 23 and being in the sport I'm like

00:53:05

why would you tell a 12-year-old that?

00:53:07

Like that's so weird. I don't know. I

00:53:08

think but I don't know. Yeah, maybe at

00:53:11

the time it didn't seem that I don't

00:53:13

think at the time it felt farfetched to

00:53:14

me at all. Like I think um I always had

00:53:18

kind of big dreams and aspirations. So

00:53:19

it didn't feel like anything unreachable

00:53:22

at all. Whereas now I think like oh my

00:53:24

god imagine telling a 12-year-old that.

00:53:25

Like it seems bizarre like go be a

00:53:27

12-year-old. I'm like it seems weird.

00:53:30

>> Yeah. It's like it's crazy though. From

00:53:31

where you were sitting right now that's

00:53:33

like half your life ago.

00:53:34

>> Yeah. Actually, I was thinking about

00:53:35

this the other this the other day and it

00:53:37

was freaking me out because I won my

00:53:39

first World Cup 2019 in Sultan which was

00:53:44

6 years ago and I think about okay I was

00:53:47

17 then

00:53:48

>> and then I think about 6 years before

00:53:50

that I was 11

00:53:51

>> and I'm like that's just been the same

00:53:52

amount of time but it feels like that

00:53:55

chunk from like 11 to 17 is such a

00:53:57

bigger time of your life than 17 to 23

00:53:59

but it's been the same amount of time

00:54:00

which like freaks me out that like yeah

00:54:03

it's kind of Scary.

00:54:05

>> When When did you first um first get

00:54:07

some money from it? Either through a

00:54:08

sponsorship or prize money. How old were

00:54:10

you then?

00:54:11

>> I think Yeah. 16 or 17. Yeah.

00:54:14

>> Yeah. And that's where I was like,

00:54:15

"Okay, cool." Like

00:54:17

>> was that Can you remember how much?

00:54:19

>> Oh,

00:54:19

>> was it like a big ceremonial happy girl

00:54:22

check?

00:54:22

>> Um

00:54:25

I think the first time was my

00:54:29

second Yeah, my first year. No, second

00:54:31

year fist. So I was 17. my first World

00:54:33

Cup podium. I think I got about like

00:54:35

€30,000. So, I was like, "Oh my god,

00:54:38

this is so cool.

00:54:39

>> I can do this for a job."

00:54:40

>> Yeah. I was like, "Oh my god." Like, as

00:54:42

a 17-year-old,

00:54:44

>> it's like, "Oh my god, like here we go.

00:54:45

This is happening." Yeah.

00:54:47

>> Oh my god, that's much better than

00:54:49

working at the Frankton Fort Square.

00:54:53

>> Oh, that's incredible.

00:54:54

>> Yeah. So, I think that was like

00:54:55

>> [ __ ]

00:54:57

Wow. Did you were your parents like,

00:54:59

"Oh, make sure you invest it."

00:55:01

>> Yeah. I don't think I mean I don't think

00:55:03

I even like thought I don't think I even

00:55:05

thought about it to be honest. I think I

00:55:06

was like at that at that point I was

00:55:09

still in high school and my parents were

00:55:10

like managing all that for me. So I

00:55:11

wasn't really like it wasn't like the

00:55:13

financial stuff has never really been a

00:55:14

driver for me. Um I mean it's obviously

00:55:17

you need it to keep doing it and do the

00:55:19

sport but I mean for me it wasn't really

00:55:20

about the the paycheck. It was kind of

00:55:22

just like a consequence of the like I've

00:55:25

been more fussed about the result.

00:55:26

Getting second at the World Cup was

00:55:27

insane. like and then the other stuff

00:55:28

that happened after that was just kind

00:55:30

of a byproduct but it wasn't like the

00:55:32

the driver at all but it was pretty

00:55:34

cool.

00:55:35

>> I suppose if you get the results

00:55:36

everything else will take care of

00:55:37

>> Yeah. Well, that's kind of I think for

00:55:38

me that's always been my mentality is

00:55:40

like the results first and then like

00:55:42

it's not like anyone I think goes into a

00:55:43

race being like I need to win this for

00:55:45

the prize money. You know, it's like

00:55:46

okay, no, I need to ski fast and win the

00:55:49

race and then you know what else happens

00:55:51

happens. But yeah.

00:55:52

>> Yeah. Um okay, so let's talk about um

00:55:55

some of your career. Hopefully we'll run

00:55:57

through sort of in a chronological sort

00:55:58

of way. So um the big breakthrough was

00:56:00

at 16 when you won the silver at the

00:56:02

2019 Junior World Championships.

00:56:04

>> So yeah almost so I won the junior

00:56:08

worlds when I was 17 which then gave me

00:56:11

an invite to the World Cup finals in

00:56:13

March. So that was like my second year

00:56:15

in the open age group. So I just turned

00:56:17

17. Um and then so 17 I turned 17 in

00:56:21

December and then in February I won the

00:56:23

World Junior Champs. Um and then in

00:56:26

March I got the invite to the World Cup

00:56:28

finals because I was World Junior

00:56:30

Champion and that's when I got second um

00:56:32

my first podium which isn't like cuz

00:56:34

normally like the World Junior kind of

00:56:36

gets invited as like a token thing to

00:56:38

the World Cup finals. It's not like

00:56:40

they're expected to do that well unless

00:56:41

they've already unless cuz you can be

00:56:43

like a junior until you're

00:56:46

>> 21 I think. So obviously there's been

00:56:48

juniors who have been on like in the top

00:56:50

five before, but if you weren't in the

00:56:53

cuz only the top 25, sorry, a little bit

00:56:55

confusing, only the top 25 get invited

00:56:57

to the finals, it's um so if you're not

00:56:59

in the top 25 and you get invited as

00:57:01

world junior champion, you're kind of

00:57:02

just there as like a token extra. And

00:57:05

then I went there and I was like

00:57:06

starting last like worst ranked by far.

00:57:08

And I ended up getting second and that

00:57:10

was kind of my big breakthrough. M

00:57:12

>> and then the next race was the World Cup

00:57:14

opener and that's when I won in Sultan

00:57:16

in October. So it was like a very quick

00:57:19

progression from like I think it was

00:57:21

only my like 10th World Cup start which

00:57:23

is like not many at all for getting a

00:57:26

win. It's like very um short amount of

00:57:29

races.

00:57:30

>> Yeah. Describe that moment. Is that

00:57:31

life-changing? Would you call it

00:57:32

life-changing?

00:57:33

>> Oh yeah, definitely. I remember when I

00:57:35

won my first race in Sultan. Um it was

00:57:39

it was huge cuz I beat Michaela Shiffron

00:57:42

who was at the time had just um like the

00:57:45

year before and had like the best season

00:57:46

ever. She's now like you know the

00:57:48

greatest ski like ski racer of all time

00:57:50

statistically and I was like a

00:57:51

17year-old from New Zealand who beat

00:57:53

Michaela Shiffron. It was like a massive

00:57:55

story. I think I got like 30,000

00:57:57

followers on Instagram like in like a

00:57:59

few hours. It was like cuz in Europe I

00:58:01

mean it's a huge sport for them. So for

00:58:03

them having a new like a Kiwi come in at

00:58:06

17 and beat Michaela was like it was

00:58:09

massive. It was really cool and I didn't

00:58:10

really realize it at the time, you know,

00:58:12

cuz I was just so young and I was like,

00:58:13

"Oh, you know, this is like ski racing

00:58:15

thing, but now I'm going to fly home and

00:58:16

like go to my high school graduation."

00:58:18

Like it was like kind of nothing but it

00:58:21

was a big deal. So that was definitely

00:58:22

life-changing. um in terms of you know

00:58:25

the I guess for cuz you know I say like

00:58:30

when I was 12 that oh I'm going to do

00:58:31

this is my job but I don't think it ever

00:58:32

felt real until I got like my first

00:58:34

podium at a World Cup because that's

00:58:36

when you're actually okay here like I'm

00:58:38

doing this now

00:58:39

>> and then getting a win was kind of like

00:58:40

oh okay like maybe I'm actually going to

00:58:43

be like not just okay at this but like

00:58:44

really good at this sort of thing and

00:58:47

then yeah and to have it like happen

00:58:49

that like that quickly I think was

00:58:51

amazing but like also like a little bit

00:58:53

of a blessing and a curse to like get

00:58:55

that success so quickly without really

00:58:57

understanding what I was doing.

00:58:59

>> Yeah, I can understand why you that's a

00:59:01

blessing, but why is it a curse?

00:59:02

>> Well, I think just because um I think

00:59:05

when you have success really young,

00:59:08

especially, you know, people, some

00:59:10

people have success when they're really

00:59:11

young. You know, they've grown up with

00:59:12

this their whole life. Their parents,

00:59:13

their coaches, this has been like, you

00:59:15

know, their kind of religion their whole

00:59:16

life. I think for me it just felt like

00:59:18

this kind of side quest that all of a

00:59:20

sudden I was winning and I was like,

00:59:22

"Okay, well like what do I do now?" Like

00:59:24

I've already

00:59:25

>> like done it, you know, and I be well

00:59:27

that's why I was like I was like, "Well,

00:59:29

>> what do I do?" And I just think I kind

00:59:31

of got a bit lost with,

00:59:34

>> you know, the processes that you have to

00:59:35

learn being a professional athlete. Like

00:59:37

what is my routines in the morning? Like

00:59:38

how do I

00:59:40

>> how do I train? Um what am I working on?

00:59:42

What are the things that work for me

00:59:44

when I'm feel pressure? I feel stressed

00:59:46

because I won so early, but I also had

00:59:48

like no pressure because I was 17 and

00:59:50

like so carefree and like freespirited

00:59:52

that, you know, I was always like, like

00:59:55

I said, my mentality has changed a lot.

00:59:57

Like what when I was in the start as a

00:59:59

17-year-old, I just would go full gas,

01:00:01

like no thoughts and everything. I I

01:00:03

don't remember any of those race runs.

01:00:04

It was just like full kind of black and

01:00:06

white, like don't remember anything. And

01:00:08

now as I've gotten older, I've had to

01:00:11

through failure. And you know, that kind

01:00:14

of mentality doesn't work all the time,

01:00:16

just going like full ballistic without

01:00:18

having any processes in place. And

01:00:19

that's when I kind of started to

01:00:21

struggle. Things weren't going well. I

01:00:22

was like, "Oh, I'm stressed because

01:00:24

things aren't going well. Like I don't

01:00:25

have any tools to deal with this. And I

01:00:28

feel extra pressure cuz I've already won

01:00:29

a World Cup. So if I'm not winning

01:00:30

anymore that I'm failing even though I'm

01:00:32

just 17 and I'm trying to figure it

01:00:34

out." So it was like a lot of kind of

01:00:36

extra pressure with like you know having

01:00:39

10 world cup races under my belt for

01:00:40

example now I have like 105 starts

01:00:43

>> which is normally people would have

01:00:45

probably about like before getting a win

01:00:46

would have like you know over at least

01:00:49

like 30 to 50 starts. So you've kind of

01:00:51

been doing this for long enough that you

01:00:52

understand the way the sport works and

01:00:55

the highs and lows. Um and I didn't have

01:00:57

any of that. You know I've done 10 World

01:00:58

Cup races

01:01:00

>> and I just thought okay I won. um I need

01:01:02

to do this every week now. And I was

01:01:04

also getting thrown, you know, so many

01:01:06

other things like, "Oh, now you should

01:01:07

start doing this discipline." And I was

01:01:08

like, looking back now, I'm like, if I

01:01:10

could do it again, I would have put like

01:01:13

zero. I would have like sat myself down

01:01:15

and said like, "Okay, this is awesome

01:01:16

what you've done, but this is not like

01:01:19

don't expect this to happen every week.

01:01:21

Like every, like I said in ski racing,

01:01:22

every week's different. Every course is

01:01:24

different. Snow conditions change. Like

01:01:26

when I was young, I was really good on

01:01:28

like certain like when it was hard

01:01:30

conditions like icy and every week, one

01:01:33

week could be icy, one week it could be

01:01:35

um soft cuz it's warm. It could have

01:01:37

rained like the snow can be completely

01:01:39

different. The course set can be

01:01:40

different. It could be really a flat

01:01:42

course. It could be steep. Um there's so

01:01:44

many variables at play. And just because

01:01:46

you won this one race doesn't mean

01:01:48

you're going to win every week. And I

01:01:50

think I had in my head that

01:01:52

>> I've won this now. So if I don't win

01:01:54

every race now, I'm like a failure and

01:01:56

I'm doing something wrong. And I think

01:01:58

that's how I felt. So when I wasn't

01:02:00

hitting like the expectations like like

01:02:03

and then it compared me like and then it

01:02:04

just kind of got worse and worse because

01:02:06

I wasn't doing it and then I was like

01:02:08

why am I not doing this? Why am I not

01:02:09

doing well? And it just kind of got

01:02:11

worse and worse

01:02:12

>> and I struggled. So, I think when you

01:02:14

get old, like if you have success when

01:02:16

you, you know, you've been kind of

01:02:18

poking in top 10 for two years and then

01:02:20

you start getting a couple top fives and

01:02:21

then you get a podium and you kind of

01:02:23

round the podium for like a year and

01:02:24

then you get a win and you're like 24

01:02:27

like most people when they or you know

01:02:29

mid20s and you get your first win.

01:02:31

You've had like already five years of

01:02:32

experience to understand the way the

01:02:34

sport works. And I think I had none of

01:02:35

that. So for me, I was just kind of this

01:02:38

kid who thought they should be winning

01:02:39

everything with like zero understanding

01:02:40

of what it actually took like week in

01:02:42

week out to be doing that.

01:02:43

>> Well, I suppose um and fairness to you

01:02:46

like you know 5 years earlier you'd had

01:02:48

people telling you that you were that

01:02:49

good and

01:02:50

>> so I suppose in a way it was just this

01:02:53

um this destiny that you felt was

01:02:56

rightfully yours.

01:02:57

>> Yeah. I mean maybe in a way I think I

01:02:58

always felt like oh this is um you know

01:03:02

I'm going to be the best at this but

01:03:04

it's easy to say that and then to

01:03:06

actually do it in practice and this

01:03:07

isn't like a you know weekend sport this

01:03:09

is like a massive

01:03:11

>> industry in Europe you know for me

01:03:13

coming from New Zealand I don't think I

01:03:14

also understood like the scale of this

01:03:16

>> um the sport and like the following and

01:03:19

the

01:03:20

>> and the money involved and the ski

01:03:22

companies involved and the brands

01:03:23

involved and the media involved it and

01:03:26

the opportunities and the um all of that

01:03:29

and also just you know kind of learning

01:03:32

about life being a 17-year-old on the

01:03:34

other side of the world by yourself.

01:03:36

There's a lot of other things you have

01:03:37

to figure out like, oh, like how do I

01:03:40

approach things? Like, okay, I'm

01:03:42

overseas by myself in foreign countries.

01:03:44

Like, I don't know anyone. I don't speak

01:03:46

the language. Like, just feeling a

01:03:48

little bit lost in general as well.

01:03:50

Also, I'm in the middle of a pandemic,

01:03:51

which was kind of the following year.

01:03:53

Like, there was a lot of factors at play

01:03:55

um that made things hard for sure.

01:03:58

>> Yeah.

01:03:58

>> Yeah.

01:03:59

>> Oh, yeah. We'll get to the pandemic um

01:04:01

years in a second, but um yeah, at that

01:04:03

time when you when you you podium um you

01:04:06

were called things like a phenom and a

01:04:08

wonderkin.

01:04:09

>> Um

01:04:10

>> I always thought it was wonder kid.

01:04:12

>> Wonder kid. It's like a German like

01:04:14

wonder kid.

01:04:14

>> What's wonder?

01:04:15

>> It means wonder child in German.

01:04:18

>> I always thought it was wonder.

01:04:19

>> Yeah. Wonder kid.

01:04:21

>> Um what did that do for you? Like um

01:04:25

>> Yeah. Did it did it did it build your

01:04:26

confidence or did it just create

01:04:28

unwanted pressure? I think to a point

01:04:30

like when I because when I first got

01:04:32

into open age group um I did quite like

01:04:35

I dropped my world ranking quite fast.

01:04:38

Um and I think having those that kind of

01:04:41

oh you're good like that gave me a lot

01:04:43

of motivation to keep pushing to really

01:04:45

get good good. I think when I won my

01:04:48

first race

01:04:50

um it put pressure um for sure and like

01:04:53

I said it was like um like being called

01:04:57

a wonder kid it's like okay like in a

01:04:58

way it adds like confidence as well and

01:05:00

I won like another race that same

01:05:02

season. Um, and then I think for me when

01:05:05

it was all going well, it was yeah, all

01:05:07

good. And then when things started to go

01:05:09

wrong or like not go the way that I

01:05:11

wanted or like you know for me getting

01:05:13

like stuck in these like ruts of I've

01:05:16

dnfed one race which is like it did not

01:05:18

finish. Um, so it was just like no

01:05:19

result and then I would go through these

01:05:21

like spells of trying so hard that I

01:05:24

would like crash out and then you just

01:05:26

have like no results for like 3 weeks

01:05:28

and it's basically just like you weren't

01:05:30

there because you don't get any points

01:05:31

which then affects your world rankings.

01:05:33

So

01:05:34

>> those are the times then you kind of

01:05:35

start seeing media be like wonderkin

01:05:38

like what's happened sort of thing and

01:05:39

then it's like that's when it gets

01:05:40

stressful and um

01:05:42

>> I felt the pressure and I also was

01:05:43

comparing myself to someone like

01:05:46

Michaela because Michaela we won our

01:05:48

first races at quite a similar age and

01:05:51

she's now like the greatest skier of all

01:05:52

time statistically. Um she's won like

01:05:54

100 World Cup races so how many years?

01:05:57

>> Yeah. So on paper I mean she is the

01:05:59

best. Um and we won yeah our first races

01:06:04

at similar times. So there was a bit of

01:06:06

pressure too like oh you should be the

01:06:08

next Michaela. And looking back at it

01:06:10

now and I also like people like you know

01:06:12

Lindsay

01:06:14

>> Vaughn who's the second festival you

01:06:15

know she won her first race when she was

01:06:17

I think 20 so like 3 years older than

01:06:20

me.

01:06:20

>> So people like to me oh you're going to

01:06:22

be like

01:06:23

>> you know the next Michaela even cuz you

01:06:25

won the race at the same time your first

01:06:26

race. And I think I kind of put pressure

01:06:28

on myself like oh then now I have to do

01:06:30

like everything Kayla's done at the same

01:06:33

times like she won Olympic gold then at

01:06:35

18 and like won you know has gone on to

01:06:37

win all these races and then it kind of

01:06:39

took me like a year or two to realize

01:06:41

okay obviously you know we won off her

01:06:44

race at the same time but we have like

01:06:45

completely different stories. I mean

01:06:47

she's an American.

01:06:49

>> She's like is on you know probably a

01:06:51

part of the biggest organiz one of the

01:06:53

biggest organizations in skiing. I'm

01:06:54

like just a random New Zealander like

01:06:56

figuring this out by myself, you know,

01:06:58

like um

01:07:00

>> yeah, you're an outlier. I suppose it's

01:07:02

like Ste Steven Adams in in the NBA.

01:07:04

It's like

01:07:05

>> it's just completely different story. So

01:07:06

then when I stopped comparing myself to

01:07:09

to other people and expecting, hey, you

01:07:10

should be winning this, you should be

01:07:11

winning that. I was like, and then I

01:07:12

kind of I think that was just cuz I was

01:07:14

young. I didn't know. And then you look

01:07:15

at every ski racer like all top ski

01:07:18

racers have had such different, you

01:07:20

know, peaks, pits, falls. Everyone has

01:07:21

such different stories that there's not

01:07:23

like a timeline that you hit. And I've

01:07:25

spoken to other athletes about this as

01:07:27

well, like who have peaked, who have

01:07:28

started, you know, like some other

01:07:30

athletes have who have become amazing

01:07:33

skiers, like didn't win a first race

01:07:34

till they were like 22, 23

01:07:37

>> or even older. And they've gone on to

01:07:39

like have their most success at an older

01:07:41

age. Um, and they all said that as soon

01:07:44

as I let go of that feeling of I've got

01:07:46

to have done this by this point, by this

01:07:48

point, then they all feel a lot better.

01:07:49

So, I think as soon as I let that go,

01:07:51

it's when I kind of felt like free again

01:07:52

to write my own sort of story, I guess,

01:07:55

and not be feeling pressured to fit into

01:07:57

like these categories of having achieved

01:07:59

this at this age or achieved that at

01:08:00

that age. So,

01:08:02

>> yeah.

01:08:03

>> So, 2018, you made your first Olympics,

01:08:06

your debut in Pon Chang. Um,

01:08:09

>> yeah. youngest New Zealand Olympian

01:08:11

ever.

01:08:11

>> Yeah, I got Nico by like two weeks, I

01:08:13

think.

01:08:14

>> He got the medal, though. So,

01:08:16

>> yeah. Yeah. Nico, Zoe, and yourself all

01:08:18

about the same age, but you

01:08:19

>> Yeah, we're all 2001, so I just got them

01:08:21

cuz I'm December, but they're but they

01:08:24

got the medal. So,

01:08:25

>> um Yeah. What are your recollections of

01:08:28

that? You you just got the call up like

01:08:29

the shoulder tap to go like a couple of

01:08:31

weeks before.

01:08:31

>> Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. So, Pyong Chang, that

01:08:34

was my first year racing open age group.

01:08:36

So, fist. Um, and I'd done really well

01:08:40

that first year. I think I was like

01:08:41

ranked first my age in the world. So, I

01:08:45

got the call up to go and it was I mean

01:08:46

it was so cool because

01:08:48

>> how much notice? Like two weeks. Three

01:08:49

weeks.

01:08:49

>> Two weeks. Yeah, two weeks. Like

01:08:51

confirmed I think two weeks. I think I

01:08:53

had when I started doing well that year

01:08:55

I thought okay Olympics is a

01:08:56

possibility.

01:08:58

>> Um, but I mean I just got to go and they

01:09:00

like obviously I wasn't a medal

01:09:02

contender but they just wanted to give

01:09:03

me that exposure to get there and check

01:09:06

it out. So, I mean, for me it was so

01:09:07

cool cuz it was kind of like a no

01:09:08

pressure sort of situation. You know, I

01:09:10

was just 16 my first year racing open

01:09:14

age group. So, I was probably ranked

01:09:16

like 35th, I think, in the world or like

01:09:18

40th. Um, and they just said, "We want

01:09:21

you to go and get the opportunity to

01:09:23

experience like the Olympics and, you

01:09:26

know, learn about the differences

01:09:27

between the Olympics and another event."

01:09:28

So,

01:09:29

>> I got to go and I felt like I actually

01:09:30

got to experience like a bit more of the

01:09:32

Olympics without the pressure, which was

01:09:34

cool. So, it was overall like I didn't I

01:09:36

mean nothing great results wise, but it

01:09:38

was a really positive experience and it

01:09:41

was cool to like be with the rest of the

01:09:43

team because normally when I'm at events

01:09:44

like I'm the only one there so it was

01:09:46

cool to be a part of like cuz normally

01:09:48

I'm just racing for myself you know on

01:09:50

the World Cup circuit it was cool like

01:09:51

racing for something a bit bigger like

01:09:53

being on like the New Zealand team and

01:09:55

having other athletes was quite cool. So

01:09:57

that was generally like a really cool

01:09:58

experience.

01:09:59

>> Yeah. Who whose call is it to send you?

01:10:00

Is it the like the New Zealand Olympic

01:10:02

Committee or

01:10:03

>> Yeah. So I I don't even know how it

01:10:05

works. I think how it works is you get

01:10:07

nominated to the New Zealand Olympic

01:10:08

Committee by Snow Sports and then it's

01:10:11

kind of a collaborative thing and I

01:10:13

think Yeah. Yeah. I think that's how it

01:10:15

works. So you get nominated and then

01:10:16

NZOC makes the decision.

01:10:18

>> Yeah.

01:10:18

>> So that's um investing in future you

01:10:21

right. They're like this is going to be

01:10:22

around for another couple of Olympic

01:10:24

cycles. Um let's get her debut one out

01:10:26

of her system so she knows what it's all

01:10:28

about. That was really smart. Well, I

01:10:30

think there's a few like clauses in

01:10:31

Olympic because there's obviously

01:10:32

criteria that um they're quite aware of

01:10:36

wanting to give younger athletes who

01:10:38

have potential an opportunity as well.

01:10:39

So, I mean, it was pretty cool for me

01:10:41

>> getting to get the shot at the nod at 16

01:10:44

like, okay, like I went from racing like

01:10:46

kids

01:10:48

>> um events and then 6 months later I was

01:10:49

at the Olympics. I was like, "Oh, okay.

01:10:51

Here we go." Like, this is this is the

01:10:53

real deal now.

01:10:54

>> How how was it um going to the Olympics

01:10:56

so young? Who went who went with you as

01:10:58

your chaperon? Um,

01:10:59

>> mom and dad.

01:11:00

>> No, we didn't have I don't think we had

01:11:01

a shepherone. I think I was just I mean

01:11:03

me and Zoe, we were all like in a um

01:11:06

apartment and there were like older like

01:11:08

we had like a girls there was only like

01:11:09

four girls going so we had like a we had

01:11:11

like a girls apartment. It was like me,

01:11:13

Zoe, like Brit Halls and Janina and then

01:11:16

a couple of the physios. So we were all

01:11:17

there together and then my coach came as

01:11:19

well. Um and then my parents came bit

01:11:22

but a support crew. So um

01:11:24

>> yeah, it was really cool.

01:11:26

>> Yeah, it must be Yeah. Yeah, I don't

01:11:28

know if you've thought much about this,

01:11:29

but like from your parents' perspective,

01:11:30

you know, here they are just a couple of

01:11:32

Aussies moved to New Zealand at four,

01:11:34

they're 16, their their daughters at the

01:11:37

the Winter Olympics.

01:11:38

>> It's wild.

01:11:40

>> Yeah. I mean, it kind of is.

01:11:41

>> It is. It's crazy.

01:11:42

>> Yeah. I mean, for them, they're probably

01:11:43

like not expecting their life to go down

01:11:46

that path like after moving to New

01:11:48

Zealand. Like I know for them I Yeah.

01:11:50

Yeah, I mean

01:11:51

>> if if you stayed in Australia, like you

01:11:53

could have been at schoolies that

01:11:54

weekend.

01:11:55

>> Probably like that's if I was in a if I

01:11:56

was in Australia, I feel like I just

01:11:57

ended up would have ended up playing

01:11:59

like field hockey or something like my

01:12:00

mom. So, it's probably just like a

01:12:02

slightly more exotic um

01:12:06

>> sports that they were planning than than

01:12:08

they were planning. But, I mean, yeah,

01:12:10

they love it though. Like, they're such

01:12:11

big ski fans. It's pretty funny for like

01:12:14

not being big skiers. Like, they're so

01:12:16

like they just love it. They love like

01:12:17

coming to Europe and being part of it.

01:12:19

like they just yeah they think it's

01:12:20

great. So

01:12:21

>> they must have learned so much about the

01:12:22

sport. Like are they able to sort of

01:12:24

critique your races?

01:12:25

>> I mean I think to be honest they've

01:12:27

never really um they've kind of stayed

01:12:30

out of it.

01:12:31

>> I think my like dad was smart that he

01:12:35

kind of listened to the right people

01:12:38

about things and never like tried to

01:12:40

make any decisions himself cuz he knew

01:12:42

that he didn't know anything about it.

01:12:44

So like I think in that way they were

01:12:46

good at like not trying to like step in

01:12:49

places that they didn't understand

01:12:50

either and now they've just kind of

01:12:53

really I mean they've never like tried

01:12:54

to give me like adi or like you know

01:12:56

technical advice about skiing or like

01:12:58

>> it's always the only like I go to them

01:13:00

for like a lot but it's more like you

01:13:02

know emotional stuff nothing to do with

01:13:03

the sport itself because they both like

01:13:06

>> it's like and they don't try to like

01:13:08

understand it because they know that

01:13:10

>> I've got a lot more understanding than

01:13:11

they do so they just support and things

01:13:13

that they know about But they've never

01:13:14

tried to like overstep and

01:13:16

>> try to be ski experts cuz they're not.

01:13:20

>> So February 18, 2020, you become the

01:13:22

joint world number one ranked skier in

01:13:25

women's giant Salem.

01:13:26

>> Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. So that so that was on

01:13:30

like a fist rankings list. Um

01:13:33

>> I think that year I was actually like

01:13:34

fifth in the standings, but I'd had two

01:13:36

wins, so it made me like the joint um

01:13:39

number one on the fist list. But yes,

01:13:41

that was when I was 18.

01:13:44

>> Yeah, I'd won two races. It was and I'd

01:13:46

won the last race before CO struck. So,

01:13:50

I'd won that race and then the last

01:13:51

three GS races got cancelled um due to

01:13:54

co and then yeah, it was like

01:13:57

>> what's what's that moment like? Is it

01:13:59

just like

01:13:59

>> I mean honestly I felt pretty

01:14:02

invincible. Um the last race that I won

01:14:05

before CO hit, I remember I just like

01:14:08

the amount of like what I remember

01:14:09

watching that run back and I just had

01:14:11

this like insane race. Like I just

01:14:13

looked like you know people were saying

01:14:14

to me like oh no one's like going to be

01:14:16

able to beat her in GS like ever. Like

01:14:18

it was pretty cool at the time. I mean I

01:14:22

was just like an 18year-old and um you

01:14:25

know the things just lined up so well

01:14:27

that I just yeah I was in a pretty great

01:14:29

place. Um, I mean, I'm not sure what

01:14:32

would have happened that season if like

01:14:34

hadn't everything been shut down due to

01:14:35

co like I could have won the last three

01:14:37

races and won the Globe for that year. I

01:14:39

don't know. Or I could have never have

01:14:41

won again that season. Um, but

01:14:44

definitely having like I mean this is a

01:14:47

pretty like obviously co threw like a

01:14:49

spanner in the works for me as it did

01:14:51

for like everyone in the world. So, um,

01:14:54

yeah, after that race, we all went into

01:14:56

co lockdown mode and then just went home

01:15:00

to New Zealand and kind of sat at home

01:15:02

for like seven month or 6 months and

01:15:03

didn't ski. Um, and then that next year

01:15:07

was Yeah. went back overseas

01:15:10

and was kind of trying to do it um in a

01:15:13

new world really and I found it quite

01:15:14

challenging the next the next year.

01:15:17

>> Yeah.

01:15:18

>> A new world. How do you mean just like

01:15:19

postco? po like during co so it was like

01:15:22

2020 um Europe we were in Italy we were

01:15:25

having to everything was closed so

01:15:28

>> we were like you know in New Zealand no

01:15:30

one could do anything and then in I had

01:15:32

to go over to Europe by myself while New

01:15:34

Zealand was shut as an 18-year-old and

01:15:36

like try try and live in this like Italy

01:15:39

stricken co getting tests every three

01:15:42

days like living in like complete

01:15:44

isolation like everyone just turned into

01:15:45

such recluses because no one could like

01:15:47

interact either because we were getting

01:15:48

tested every three days So, no one

01:15:50

wanted to get co and I was so young, no

01:15:52

family around. Like,

01:15:54

>> it was really, it was yeah, super tough.

01:15:57

Um, looking back on it now, I'm like,

01:15:58

"Oh my god, I don't know how I did

01:16:00

that."

01:16:00

>> Um, but I mean like first world

01:16:03

problems, I guess. Like, people are in

01:16:05

bigger bigger problems. But

01:16:07

>> I fully get that. There's there's I mean

01:16:10

there's there's homesickness and then

01:16:11

there's like co homesickness. Like

01:16:13

homesickness has and you can be in

01:16:14

Europe. Um, you can FaceTime your

01:16:16

family, but you could do that during co,

01:16:18

but you can also know that if things get

01:16:19

really bad, you can just jump on a plane

01:16:21

and be home in 24 hours. In co, you were

01:16:23

you're like stranded somewhere.

01:16:24

>> Yeah. It was like

01:16:25

>> there's no no sign on the horizon of how

01:16:28

how or when you'd get back home.

01:16:29

>> No, nothing. And I remember it was when

01:16:31

you couldn't get like a quarantine spot

01:16:33

either and I couldn't get a visa either.

01:16:35

So, I was like overstaying in Europe and

01:16:37

I was like, well, if I get pulled up at

01:16:38

the border, I'm just going to say like,

01:16:39

oh, look, like I couldn't go anywhere.

01:16:41

Like, I couldn't get that. Like, sorry.

01:16:44

ended up not having any problems, so it

01:16:45

was fine. But, um, I think as an

01:16:48

18-year-old, that was quite stressful

01:16:49

cuz at that point, I was still very

01:16:50

attached to home. I think obviously now

01:16:53

if that had happened, I would be

01:16:55

completely fine and have the tools and

01:16:57

like know the right people to deal with

01:16:58

it. But as an 18-year-old, like New

01:17:00

Zealand was still very much my whole

01:17:01

world, you know, like my, you know,

01:17:03

center of the world was New Zealand

01:17:05

still. So, being in Europe, I just felt

01:17:06

so isolated.

01:17:08

>> Um, and yeah, I found it really hard. I

01:17:12

think that year

01:17:14

was really challenging. Um, but I I like

01:17:17

at the end of that season I did like win

01:17:18

a race again. Um, so I didn't do well

01:17:22

that whole year pretty much. And then

01:17:23

the last two races I somehow managed to

01:17:25

get my groove back and I got a podium

01:17:27

and then I won the finals race of the

01:17:29

year and I was like, "Okay, yeah, that

01:17:31

was tough." But I'm out the other side

01:17:33

now. And then that next year it just got

01:17:36

harder again, I think. Um,

01:17:39

>> what year are we at now?

01:17:40

>> So, sorry. So this was 2020 2021.

01:17:42

>> I finished the year with like another

01:17:44

World Cup win. So I was 19 and then I

01:17:46

think I became like the first teenager

01:17:49

to win like more than one GS since like

01:17:52

um or to win over two GSs since like the

01:17:56

since like the 80s or something. So back

01:17:58

again like everything was on track and

01:18:00

then that next year it just got so much

01:18:03

harder again.

01:18:04

>> Yeah.

01:18:04

>> I think that was the Olympics year was

01:18:06

the next year like 2021 2022 Beijing.

01:18:09

>> Let's talk about that. the 2022. Um,

01:18:12

yeah, there there was a staff story

01:18:13

headline that I saw and it's calling you

01:18:15

a winter winter Olympic medal hopeful,

01:18:17

which sounds like a lot of pressure. And

01:18:19

then, um, at those Olympics, uh, you

01:18:21

finished in 22nd place.

01:18:23

>> He was at like rock bottom, would you

01:18:24

say?

01:18:25

>> Mhm. Yes. Um, I remember this year I

01:18:29

came into it feeling like so well

01:18:30

prepared. Things were going really well.

01:18:33

Um, I'd started racing more like Super G

01:18:36

and downhill. And in December, I think I

01:18:41

finished fourth in a super G, which was

01:18:42

like a massive breakthrough. Like, so

01:18:44

now I was like, "Oh my god, I could get

01:18:45

a medal in like two events."

01:18:47

>> And then the next day I tested positive

01:18:49

for CO and I missed two weeks of racing

01:18:53

and it was like a really bad time to

01:18:55

miss races. It was like I missed like

01:18:58

five like it was bad timing that I

01:19:00

missed a huge like five races which in

01:19:02

ski racing is really stressful because

01:19:05

um I guess it would be the same like

01:19:06

missing a race in Formula 1. You just

01:19:08

lose out on the points and then you go

01:19:09

back like your ranking drops. So it was

01:19:11

really stressful cuz I was like okay

01:19:13

I've just missed three races. I've

01:19:15

really got to like make up for it now um

01:19:18

in the next ones. And I was skiing so

01:19:20

well, but I'd like just come off CO and

01:19:23

I had like zero energy and I like

01:19:25

crashed the next two races because I

01:19:27

just lost all my energy like 3/4 of the

01:19:29

way down. I think I had like a little

01:19:30

bit like lacking some energy probably

01:19:33

from having co and I was like okay. But

01:19:36

then my super G was going like pretty

01:19:38

well this year. Well, like tracking but

01:19:40

nothing like special. Um but the GS was

01:19:43

just a disaster. like I'd missed four

01:19:46

races cuz of co like missed three races

01:19:47

because of co I'd crashed in two. So, my

01:19:50

season GS was basically completely

01:19:51

finished cuz I was like, I've just,

01:19:53

yeah, I'm not going to have any of these

01:19:54

points. And that puts more pressure. So,

01:19:57

okay, now I really need to do well in

01:19:58

this race cuz I've missed that and I've

01:19:59

crashed there. And then going to

01:20:02

Beijing,

01:20:04

I remember I was like pretty exhausted

01:20:07

just from the whole like just the season

01:20:09

that had been like just the co and then

01:20:11

crashing and I was just feeling like oh

01:20:13

my god, I'm so like trying to play

01:20:15

catchup so badly. Um, anyway, get to

01:20:18

Beijing. um had like

01:20:21

I think yeah it was just so I remember

01:20:24

just being so wigged out flying into

01:20:26

Beijing airport which is supposed to be

01:20:28

like the busiest airport in the world

01:20:29

and there's no one there like we're the

01:20:31

only plane on the

01:20:33

>> in the um airport. I was like this just

01:20:36

feels so eerie

01:20:38

and we're all like lining up for our

01:20:40

COVID tests and I was just like oh like

01:20:42

this is weird but anyway bit of a

01:20:44

novelty so it's fine. Get to the Olympic

01:20:45

village. I'm the only Kiwi at our

01:20:48

village, so it's quite like isolating as

01:20:50

well. There's like nowhere to socialize.

01:20:52

You're like eating in these little like

01:20:54

cubes, getting tested every morning.

01:20:56

Like it's just Yeah, it's just bizarre,

01:20:58

but you know, it's what it is. Um

01:21:01

anyway, I go to like do the training.

01:21:03

Like I'm there. It's not like a normal

01:21:05

Olympic. Like it was completely

01:21:06

different vibe to Korea, but I mean it's

01:21:08

fine. And then training actually was

01:21:12

going so well. Um, you know, I'd had

01:21:14

like such a bad season obviously with

01:21:16

the crashes and the but I was like I

01:21:18

know still I know that I can still win

01:21:20

this even this season that I've had like

01:21:22

I've still got it in me to like do well

01:21:24

in this race and training was going

01:21:27

really well. I was like one of the

01:21:28

fastest in training. um felt so good and

01:21:33

then got to the race and they'd like

01:21:36

sprayed this the slope um with water and

01:21:40

the surface like came out like it was

01:21:41

barely bizarre cuz it's all mad snow in

01:21:43

China. There's no natural snow and they

01:21:45

sprayed it and I remember just going out

01:21:47

of the start and having like just

01:21:50

complete loss of like control over my

01:21:52

skis. Like the surface in my skis just

01:21:55

like like didn't work. Like nothing was

01:21:58

working. My skis were sliding all over

01:22:00

the place like fishing. It was just like

01:22:03

>> just had Yeah. zero. It felt like I

01:22:04

couldn't ski. I was like I don't know

01:22:06

what's going on. Like it was just I

01:22:08

don't know if it was like a mixture of

01:22:09

the conditions and or just me like being

01:22:13

I mean I you know was really nervous but

01:22:15

it just felt like I couldn't ski. And I

01:22:17

think it was a bit of a mixture of the

01:22:19

obviously being nervous and the

01:22:20

conditions being so different there to

01:22:22

anything else. And a lot of people kind

01:22:24

of struggled like like Michaela fell on

01:22:26

like the third gate. another top girl

01:22:28

fell in like the fifth gate. Like it was

01:22:30

just really odd conditions. And I

01:22:33

remember like if it had been any other

01:22:35

race, I probably I would have stopped. I

01:22:37

probably would have came out, but I just

01:22:38

tried. So I was like, "No, like I need

01:22:40

to finish this." And it was just brutal.

01:22:42

It was like complete battle. Like every

01:22:43

turn felt like

01:22:45

>> alien like just so weird. I'd like

01:22:48

remember I got to the finish and I was

01:22:50

just in like complete shock. And I

01:22:52

remember being in the tent after the

01:22:54

first run just like completely balling

01:22:57

my eyes out like I can't believe this

01:22:58

has happened. Like because it's over so

01:23:00

quickly. It's like 1 minute it's done.

01:23:03

And I actually remember Michaela cuz she

01:23:04

also crashed. Um Shiffron came up to me

01:23:07

and like sat me down and gave me like a

01:23:08

pep talk cuz she felt so sorry for me

01:23:11

cuz I was so upset. Um anyway, battled

01:23:14

and did the second run. was definitely

01:23:17

probably my worst GS result in like 5

01:23:19

years timewise like from the leader. Um

01:23:22

and it was just like oh my god like

01:23:25

that couldn't have got and I like got to

01:23:27

the end of the day and I was talking to

01:23:28

my physio I was like I don't think that

01:23:29

day could have been any worse like the

01:23:32

only thing worse would have been if id

01:23:33

crashed and hurt myself like that's the

01:23:36

only thing that would have been worse

01:23:36

than this like it probably anyway. So,

01:23:39

it was really tough. It was just like

01:23:42

>> um really upsetting and yeah, I remember

01:23:46

I but I remember I had also the Super G

01:23:48

event to do and I was okay, I'm going to

01:23:50

like really like regroup now, get myself

01:23:53

ready for Superg. I like took every bit

01:23:55

of energy and like motivation and like

01:23:57

fuel and passion that I had to get

01:23:59

remotivated for the Super G. And I

01:24:02

remember I was saying to the coaches, I

01:24:04

was like, I'm going to either I'm like

01:24:05

getting on the podium or I'm going to

01:24:06

the fence in this race. And I remember I

01:24:08

got so fired up. Um, and yeah, there was

01:24:12

this big bank turn and every girl was

01:24:15

like skidding it a little bit to speed

01:24:18

control. And I remember watching on TV

01:24:19

cuz I had like bib 16. I was like, "Oh

01:24:20

no, I'm not skidding that. Like I'm

01:24:22

going full um I'm going to like clean

01:24:25

arc that, which is like when you don't

01:24:27

scrub any speed." And I go down the

01:24:30

course. I'm actually doing really well.

01:24:31

At the second intermediate, I was like

01:24:33

third on the splits. And I was like,

01:24:35

"Oh, I'm arcing this. Like I'm not

01:24:36

sliding." and I just it's a bank just

01:24:39

slightly mistimed it and just crashed so

01:24:41

hard into the nets um lost my ski like

01:24:45

tumbled got up ski to the finish and I

01:24:48

was actually completely fine but I was

01:24:50

like okay I think I'm actually broken

01:24:53

>> after this I was like this is brutal and

01:24:55

I'm luckily I can laugh about it now but

01:24:58

at the time it was pretty pretty tough I

01:25:00

was like

01:25:00

>> how long was it before you could laugh

01:25:01

about it

01:25:02

>> oh

01:25:05

>> probably

01:25:06

the next season,

01:25:08

>> right?

01:25:08

>> Yeah. Like it took me like because after

01:25:10

that I was like so checked out for the

01:25:11

rest of the season as well. I'd like

01:25:13

>> was so um exhausted like mentally,

01:25:17

physically. Um I like had to go back to

01:25:20

Europe and finish the season cuz we

01:25:22

still had like five weeks, six weeks

01:25:24

left of the tour cuz obviously it's like

01:25:25

every weekend to keep my ranking.

01:25:28

Couldn't finish another GS for the

01:25:29

season. So last three GS's I crashed. I

01:25:31

just like the thought of getting to I

01:25:33

just was completely like

01:25:35

mentally broken like finished the season

01:25:38

and then that's when I was like oh my

01:25:40

god and I was just so checked out and

01:25:42

that was definitely the hardest season

01:25:44

I've done on tour. It was yeah that was

01:25:46

like a shock like okay this is not fun

01:25:48

like I'm not enjoying this at all.

01:25:50

>> And those those those Beijing um

01:25:52

Olympics obviously your parents can't be

01:25:53

there because of strict um travel

01:25:55

restrictions. Um yeah how's that initial

01:25:58

phone call? Yeah, I think I just rang my

01:26:01

mom and I was just in tears and she was

01:26:03

just like, "Oh, I can't I can't remember

01:26:05

what she said, but I think they were

01:26:06

just trying to like console me really."

01:26:07

And just

01:26:08

>> suddenly you're like a child.

01:26:09

>> Yeah. Well, that's what I'm like like

01:26:10

I'm ringing my mom as like a 20-year-old

01:26:13

who's just like inconsolable like a baby

01:26:15

having like a tantrum, you know, like

01:26:17

and it seems so silly at the time cuz at

01:26:19

the end of the day, you know, this is a

01:26:21

sport, you know, it's not life and

01:26:23

death. But I guess when your whole world

01:26:25

revolves around something and it's

01:26:27

something that I've tried to kind of put

01:26:28

perspective in is like, you know, this

01:26:30

is sport and it's what I do. But

01:26:34

>> I mean, trying not to let something

01:26:36

>> affect you so deeply cuz it really like

01:26:38

affected me so deeply. Like nothing's

01:26:40

affected me that much. I've never let um

01:26:43

a result get me get to me that much

01:26:45

again since then. Um which is something

01:26:47

I think I learned from that. Well,

01:26:49

there's it's it's not nice, but there is

01:26:51

that saying that um your failure is a

01:26:52

stepping stone to success and you learn

01:26:54

more from your fails than your wins. And

01:26:56

it's all true, but it still sucks at the

01:26:58

time, right?

01:26:59

>> It does. Yeah.

01:26:59

>> Why Why didn't you give up then?

01:27:02

>> I mean, I never thought like, oh, I'm

01:27:04

going to like giving up sounds cheesy.

01:27:06

Giving up was never an option.

01:27:09

>> No, but it never crossed my mind to like

01:27:11

that I was going to give up. Um

01:27:13

>> not even not even for a slither of a

01:27:15

second.

01:27:15

>> No, no, no. Like it didn't. I think I

01:27:17

just knew that I needed

01:27:18

>> a break or like a change.

01:27:21

>> Yeah.

01:27:22

>> What did that um that period or that

01:27:24

Olympic cycle teach you about who you

01:27:26

are beyond skiing?

01:27:28

>> Um it was Yeah. Thinking I mean I

01:27:30

haven't thought about it for a while

01:27:31

now, but thinking back to Sorry about

01:27:35

the darkest season of your life.

01:27:36

>> Yeah. Reliving trauma though. Um, I

01:27:39

think that season, like I think after

01:27:42

that season, I was like, "Wow, okay,

01:27:45

maybe this isn't like my everything."

01:27:48

Like maybe I'm not cut out for this,

01:27:50

like the way I thought.

01:27:51

>> And I was like, "Okay, maybe I need like

01:27:53

something else outside of my life than

01:27:55

just skiing." Um, I was like, "Maybe I'm

01:27:58

not." Like, and like for someone who had

01:28:01

success so early, it came so naturally.

01:28:02

I was like, "God, the thought of like

01:28:04

ever being on a podium like just seems

01:28:07

like impossible right now. Like I can't

01:28:09

even imagine how I'm ever going to be

01:28:11

like winning a World Cup race again." I

01:28:13

was like, "That just seems like so far

01:28:16

from where I am right now." And I

01:28:18

remember watching like um a race that I

01:28:21

came that I dnfed in and seeing the the

01:28:25

last three girls come down like in the

01:28:27

second run and just being like well I

01:28:29

just can't believe like I was ever that

01:28:31

in that position like watching that. I'm

01:28:33

like I just can't imagine ever being in

01:28:34

that position again. Like I just feel

01:28:36

like I'm not even a part of the sport

01:28:37

right now. Um, so it kind of taught me

01:28:40

like okay

01:28:43

um I think maybe like I mean it kind of

01:28:45

shook me a bit that um this it was the

01:28:49

first time I think I ever thought like

01:28:50

oh maybe I'm not cut out for this the

01:28:53

way that I thought I was. So maybe I did

01:28:54

think about like not giving up but I was

01:28:55

like questioning my ability and like how

01:28:58

good I was for probably the first time.

01:29:00

>> Yeah.

01:29:01

>> Yeah. And when when results um don't

01:29:03

come, how do you protect your self-worth

01:29:05

from being tied to just the performance?

01:29:08

>> Um I think it's a lot about the people

01:29:11

you surround yourself with. Um

01:29:14

>> I think sometimes if you around the

01:29:16

wrong people, you feel pressure and like

01:29:18

your sense of worth is strictly comes

01:29:19

from results. And that's why I

01:29:21

>> especially with who I have around me

01:29:23

now, I know like they know me so well

01:29:25

and they know me more as like a person

01:29:27

than an athlete. and I know that they're

01:29:29

going to treat me the same whether I've

01:29:30

won a race or whether I've come eighth

01:29:31

or whether I've crashed. So, I think

01:29:33

it's really important that you keep your

01:29:35

people close like your family, your

01:29:38

trusted friends. I think, you know,

01:29:39

there's a lot of like transactional

01:29:41

relationships in sports. Um, and I think

01:29:43

it's really important to hold on to

01:29:44

those relationships that are

01:29:45

non-transactional and have yeah, good

01:29:48

people around you. Um,

01:29:50

>> and friends that you know you've known

01:29:51

before you were an athlete or before you

01:29:53

were like a world-class athlete that you

01:29:54

can go and have fun with and you're not

01:29:56

to them. You're not like some athlete.

01:29:57

you're just you, you know. So,

01:30:00

>> I think it's really important to have

01:30:01

the right people around you.

01:30:03

>> Yeah.

01:30:04

>> Yeah. Yeah. People that can remind you

01:30:06

even without words that skiing is what

01:30:08

you do, but it's not who you are.

01:30:09

>> Yeah. Exactly. Yeah.

01:30:10

>> Um and have I got this right? Um this

01:30:12

year 2025, you had your first win in

01:30:13

almost four years.

01:30:14

>> Yes.

01:30:15

>> Oh my god. Yeah.

01:30:17

>> I know.

01:30:18

>> Oh, what was that like? Oh, that must

01:30:20

have Was it a joyous or relief? It was

01:30:24

like if I could think of like a picture

01:30:26

perfect day like that was probably it. I

01:30:29

mean I'd like I mean to be to be fair

01:30:31

like um from the 2023 24 season till so

01:30:36

the last two seasons have been going

01:30:38

really well. I think every race that I

01:30:41

finished since the middle of 2024

01:30:44

seasons like January 204 I've been on

01:30:46

the podium in GS.

01:30:48

>> So in the year before I'd had like I'd

01:30:49

lost a race by 100th. I'd been second by

01:30:52

100th. So, I knew I like it was like I

01:30:54

was ready for it. It wasn't like a shock

01:30:55

or anything. I was like really ready for

01:30:56

that win, but to finally get it, it was

01:30:59

just yeah, it was yeah, like a big

01:31:01

weight lifted off my shoulders in a way.

01:31:04

Um,

01:31:04

>> and it was like a perfect day. I had my

01:31:07

family there. Um, my like all my team,

01:31:10

like heaps of friends. Um, it was in

01:31:13

like one of my favorite places on tour.

01:31:15

It was in Cromparts, which is close to

01:31:16

Cortina in the Doommites as well.

01:31:20

It was on a really difficult slope. Um,

01:31:23

and yeah, I think the second run because

01:31:25

I'd been I think second, third, third in

01:31:28

the last three races and I felt like,

01:31:31

like I said before, I I'm never upset if

01:31:33

I lose. It's just if I feel like I can

01:31:35

do more and I didn't do it that I get

01:31:37

upset now. And I wasn't upset, but I was

01:31:39

like, "Okay, I feel like in those races

01:31:40

I've left something out there, like I've

01:31:42

got another gear that I can go to." Um,

01:31:45

and the second run I was finally brave

01:31:47

enough like after kind of all this kind

01:31:48

of troubled troubling time I feel like

01:31:50

to really let go and like trust myself

01:31:53

again that I can go for this like 100%.

01:31:56

And that's what I did in the second run.

01:31:57

I came down and I was wanting cuz

01:31:59

basically in the second run you have

01:32:00

like an advantage that you watch on TV

01:32:02

and it goes like green or red on

01:32:04

different areas on the splits. Um, so I

01:32:07

came down and immediately when you cross

01:32:09

the finish, you can see like red light,

01:32:10

green light whether you're like still in

01:32:12

the lead or not. And I came down and I

01:32:15

saw like this big green light like N6 or

01:32:18

something which for us is quite a

01:32:19

significant advantage. And also said

01:32:21

okay on the second run I was the

01:32:22

fastest. So cuz I count back from if you

01:32:26

won the first run you go 30th in the

01:32:27

second run. It's like a kind of a show

01:32:29

like a showdown in the second run and I

01:32:31

was fifth after the first run. So, I

01:32:32

came down with this big advantage and

01:32:34

had to sit nervously in this like leader

01:32:37

chair for the last four to come down to

01:32:39

see if they'd beat me. And you're just

01:32:40

kind of watching each one come down like

01:32:43

like each split it's like, okay, red,

01:32:46

red, red. Okay, they're red behind me.

01:32:48

So, watching them come down and um

01:32:51

managing to hold on for like the last

01:32:52

four, no one could um everyone lost

01:32:55

their advantage. So, I won. I was like

01:32:57

and I was in complete shock cuz the last

01:32:59

girl to come down, she missed a gate.

01:33:01

She came out. I wasn't expecting it, so

01:33:03

I ended up winning. And there's like a

01:33:05

video of me on TV. I'm just like

01:33:08

>> I'm like in shock because I was like,

01:33:09

"Oh my god, finally." And then in my

01:33:10

like post race interview, um I just

01:33:13

start like balling my eyes out. I'm

01:33:15

like, "Well, I'm not bored, but I'm

01:33:17

crying. I'm like really emotional

01:33:19

because and I think I said it in the

01:33:21

interview that um you know, it's been so

01:33:23

long and like you know, all the stuff

01:33:24

that I've gone through like to finally

01:33:26

get here. It was just felt like this

01:33:27

weight's been lifted off my shoulders

01:33:29

and like having all the family there. It

01:33:31

was just Yeah, it was amazing.

01:33:34

>> Did you sleep well that night?

01:33:35

>> Yeah, I did. I was like, "What a day."

01:33:38

It was like

01:33:40

>> It was just Yeah, it was awesome. Yeah.

01:33:42

>> Wow. So, it puts you in a good position,

01:33:46

>> I suppose, mentally for the 2026

01:33:48

Olympics.

01:33:48

>> Mhm. Yeah.

01:33:49

>> Yeah.

01:33:50

>> What are your expectations there? You

01:33:52

just going there to you going to relax,

01:33:54

have fun, and see what happens? Um I

01:33:57

mean for sure I think it's impossible

01:33:59

not to go with expectations and you know

01:34:02

wanting to do well. Um like of course

01:34:04

I've that's something now you know I've

01:34:05

won world cups I've have world

01:34:08

championship medals like my thing that

01:34:09

I'm missing now is like an Olympics um

01:34:11

medal or you know ideally a gold medal

01:34:14

but I mean

01:34:15

>> for me it's not you know there's so many

01:34:18

things that have to fall into place to

01:34:20

get those especially in our sport you

01:34:22

know like there's

01:34:23

>> it's not black and white it's not a

01:34:25

track it's um it's not like a sprinter's

01:34:28

track you know there's

01:34:29

>> so many yeah there's so many variables

01:34:31

like weather snow conditions. There's so

01:34:34

much all I really want need to do. I

01:34:35

just want to do everything I can to be

01:34:36

in the best position and then do what I

01:34:39

can on the day, but I'm not going to

01:34:40

like tie my self worth to whether I get

01:34:42

like an Olympic medal or not. So, I'm

01:34:45

trying not to put that kind of insane

01:34:47

amount of pressure about 2 minutes of my

01:34:49

life to define everything. So,

01:34:51

>> who needs that? Yeah. I mean, it doesn't

01:34:53

it'll be disappointing because I know

01:34:54

how much work you've put into it. Well,

01:34:56

of course. Yeah.

01:34:57

>> Yeah. Um, yeah. Through that those

01:34:59

slumpy years, how Yeah. How was your

01:35:01

mental health?

01:35:02

>> Um, not great post Olympics and the next

01:35:06

season. So, like that season and the

01:35:09

next season um wasn't great. Like I

01:35:12

that's when I really fell out of like

01:35:15

when I was saying before how I'm like

01:35:16

really happy what I'm doing now and I

01:35:17

don't feel like I'm sacrificing much cuz

01:35:19

I love it. Um that was when I felt like

01:35:22

like why am I doing this to myself? I

01:35:24

was just yeah so miserable.

01:35:26

Um,

01:35:28

I still loved skiing of course, but just

01:35:30

the lack of results and the um I guess I

01:35:35

don't think I also this after that next

01:35:38

season like the 22 23 season I changed

01:35:40

my whole team as well cuz it just

01:35:42

nothing felt like it was working for me.

01:35:44

Like I was so kind of just felt like in

01:35:46

a rut. Um was just I couldn't find the

01:35:49

joy in any of it anymore. Like the

01:35:51

racing or the traveling, everything just

01:35:53

felt like such a chore. not a chore but

01:35:56

you know like a a slog not enjoyable I

01:35:59

wasn't finding the fun things in

01:36:00

anything anymore. Um I think also you

01:36:04

know postco when everyone was so recluse

01:36:07

they kind of fell back into themselves a

01:36:09

bit. So I think coming out of that as

01:36:11

well um and then since and so I just was

01:36:14

yeah wasn't very happy just felt um

01:36:16

unmotivated. I know my like yeah spark

01:36:20

for the sport had fully gone. I didn't

01:36:21

feel the fire anymore that I did when I

01:36:23

was younger.

01:36:25

And that's when um yeah, that's when I

01:36:27

decided to change up my whole team. And

01:36:29

um honestly, since then, things have

01:36:31

just been going so much better. And um

01:36:33

now I like absolutely love what I'm

01:36:35

doing. I'm like so happy every day. I

01:36:37

feel the happiest when I'm up the

01:36:38

mountain training. It's where I get like

01:36:40

the most joy out of anything. Um, and so

01:36:43

yeah, I think probably,

01:36:45

yeah, it's just, yeah, it's been kind of

01:36:47

nuts to me to see the changes um, over

01:36:49

the years, like through everything and

01:36:52

figuring out what makes me happy and

01:36:53

what, yeah, what doesn't. So, yeah.

01:36:55

>> Are you proud of yourself?

01:36:57

>> Um, yeah. No, of course I'm proud. Um,

01:37:00

it's, yeah, it's been like such a

01:37:02

journey and such a cool

01:37:04

>> um, life that I've got to live, so I

01:37:06

feel really grateful for everything and

01:37:08

um, yeah, I'm proud. How how many more

01:37:11

years are you going to keep doing it? Do

01:37:13

you just take it season by season or

01:37:15

>> um

01:37:17

>> yeah, kind of season by season, but I

01:37:19

think at least um this Olympics and

01:37:23

maybe one more and then we'll see. But

01:37:24

as long as I've still got like the

01:37:25

motivation and the passion for it, then

01:37:27

I want to keep going for sure.

01:37:28

>> And as long as you love it.

01:37:30

>> Yeah.

01:37:30

>> Yeah.

01:37:31

>> Yeah.

01:37:31

>> If skiing was taken away from you

01:37:33

tomorrow, who would Ellis be?

01:37:36

>> Oh god, I know. I get asked this

01:37:38

question a lot like what are you going

01:37:39

to do post skiing and um everything and

01:37:43

god I'm actually not sure. I'm like yeah

01:37:47

I don't know it's kind of a hard one cuz

01:37:50

when you put so like your whole

01:37:52

existence revolves around something it's

01:37:53

hard to imagine what you're going to be

01:37:55

without it. But um

01:37:57

>> I think I'd always be kind of somewhere

01:37:59

involved with like the mountains and

01:38:00

skiing in some way shape or form.

01:38:02

>> Yeah. Like coaching potentially?

01:38:04

>> No, I don't think I don't think coach

01:38:07

I think like I don't want to be carrying

01:38:08

gates around and bean and things.

01:38:10

>> Yeah. Also, I I I wonder if coaching is

01:38:13

hard if you're really good as a

01:38:14

competitor yourself trying to explain to

01:38:16

someone.

01:38:16

>> Well, I think for me, what I've noticed

01:38:18

like the best coaches are people who

01:38:21

were good but not great. Um because they

01:38:25

want to see what they didn't do and

01:38:27

they've got more motivation to prove

01:38:29

>> what they couldn't do. M

01:38:31

>> and I think when you're so so successful

01:38:34

um you lack a bit of empathy in

01:38:37

understanding why people can't do what

01:38:39

you were able to do. So I think for me

01:38:41

what I've seen is the best coaches have

01:38:43

been not like top top level athletes

01:38:46

because they've kind of already been

01:38:47

there done that like they've the top

01:38:48

best coaches I think they've got the

01:38:50

motivation to still like prove something

01:38:52

and like

01:38:53

>> have an understanding of people um not

01:38:55

getting things as well. Yeah.

01:38:57

>> Yeah. I've had I had um Grant Fox on the

01:38:59

podcast recently. You probably don't

01:39:00

know him, but he Ryan Fox's dad.

01:39:02

>> Oh, yeah.

01:39:02

>> And he was a great all black like in the

01:39:04

1980s. And he dabbled in coaching, but

01:39:07

apparently he was terrible at it.

01:39:08

Terrible. Because I suppose it just came

01:39:10

it seemed obvious to him.

01:39:12

>> I think that's what like a part of it

01:39:13

for sure. I think when you've like got

01:39:15

something when you understand something

01:39:16

so clearly, it's hard to understand.

01:39:18

Yeah.

01:39:19

>> What kind of legacy do you hope to leave

01:39:20

for New Zealand sport and for yourself?

01:39:23

H I mean I guess New Zealand sport is so

01:39:28

um amazing already in like what people

01:39:30

have done like it's like such a country.

01:39:32

I mean being overseas and looking at

01:39:34

like now it's amazing how much people

01:39:36

like bat above their weight being from

01:39:37

here like this little island country on

01:39:39

the other side of the world. But I think

01:39:41

for me um I hope I just leave a legacy

01:39:44

of um I don't know someone who

01:39:48

didn't see you know being from New

01:39:49

Zealand as like a disadvantage but kind

01:39:52

of found a like motivation and push

01:39:54

through the kind of being the underdog I

01:39:57

suppose in this world um like other

01:40:00

people are doing in other sports and

01:40:03

um found some you know strength in being

01:40:05

from New Zealand and being really proud

01:40:07

of there was and hopefully I've got some

01:40:09

good results behind me that can

01:40:11

encourage people not in just in sports

01:40:12

but in you know not in like just snow

01:40:14

sports but in sports in general to I

01:40:16

think especially for girls I think

01:40:17

sports is such an amazing

01:40:20

>> um pathway and amazing thing to be

01:40:22

involved in so I just yeah hopefully

01:40:24

continue with that.

01:40:26

>> Are you are you tougher and more

01:40:27

resilient than what you thought you were

01:40:29

like reflecting on the last few years in

01:40:30

particular? Um

01:40:33

yeah, I think I feel like I've always

01:40:36

felt like I've been like I'm tough and

01:40:38

resilient. Um

01:40:41

but I think yeah, probably looking back

01:40:42

over the last few years and thinking

01:40:44

about everything that's happened and all

01:40:45

the things um all the stages and all the

01:40:48

ups and downs. I think I've probably

01:40:50

surprised myself a bit with how I've

01:40:52

been able to manage it. Um cuz at the

01:40:55

time it just feels like you have to and

01:40:57

you just keep working through it. But

01:40:58

looking back now, I'm like, "Yeah, okay.

01:41:00

That was quite a lot to deal with."

01:41:01

>> It's true that a you look in the rear

01:41:03

view with everything that's gone on and

01:41:04

you're like, "How did how the [ __ ] did I

01:41:06

survive that?" And you just do.

01:41:08

>> Yeah.

01:41:08

>> Yeah. It's cool. And I think it makes

01:41:09

you stronger on the other end.

01:41:11

>> Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

01:41:12

>> Um,

01:41:14

yes. Is there a question you've never

01:41:15

been asked that you wish someone would?

01:41:18

>> You do a lot of media, a lot of

01:41:20

interviews. Well, I was saying this is

01:41:21

weird because normally I I always

01:41:23

complain about this because I always say

01:41:24

like the media they all ask like exactly

01:41:27

the same qu like the most boring

01:41:29

questions.

01:41:30

>> What is it? What do you know?

01:41:32

>> If there's a bingo card, what do you

01:41:33

know they're going to ask? Well, like me

01:41:34

and my friend like we always joke this

01:41:35

is my other friend who's like very um

01:41:37

another ski racer who's like very

01:41:39

particular in the image that he want or

01:41:41

like what he wants to say in the media

01:41:43

and he just says that he just thinks all

01:41:45

the ski racing media is like very like

01:41:48

unimaginative and it's true in a way but

01:41:50

I think it also might be a bit of a

01:41:51

language barrier but it's always the

01:41:52

same questions you know like how do you

01:41:54

feel

01:41:56

>> how are the conditions today

01:41:59

um did you push you know what equip

01:42:03

how's equipment feeling, you know, it's

01:42:04

all very boring and I kind of wish

01:42:06

people would probe a bit,

01:42:08

I don't know, into different kind of

01:42:09

questions. I don't know, especially in

01:42:11

well, for me being from New Zealand,

01:42:12

it's all like this. I get asked this

01:42:14

question every interview I do like a

01:42:16

standard 10-minute interview. You're

01:42:18

always in winter. Like, you're from the

01:42:21

Southern Hemisphere. Like, how do you do

01:42:23

winter to winter? I'm like, I just do

01:42:26

like I don't know. Like, it's the like,

01:42:28

you know, it's like Alice in Winterland

01:42:31

gets like a really good That's a good

01:42:34

one.

01:42:34

>> Has that been a headline?

01:42:35

>> Yes,

01:42:36

>> I haven't seen that one.

01:42:37

>> Ski land or I don't know or ski is quite

01:42:39

a good one. Um,

01:42:40

>> but I just Yeah, I find sometimes

01:42:43

>> like how did you get into skiing? How

01:42:46

did you like I find that questions can

01:42:48

get very repetitive. So, I'm trying to

01:42:50

think like if there's anything I wish

01:42:51

people would ask. But

01:42:54

um I don't know if I can pick something

01:42:56

like off my head, but I just think I

01:42:58

wish sometimes people get a bit more

01:43:00

creative with the questions that they

01:43:02

ask.

01:43:02

>> Yeah.

01:43:03

>> Then how do you do winter to winter like

01:43:05

every every media interview?

01:43:06

>> Well, it's not really winter to winter.

01:43:07

E I know you're on snow every day, but

01:43:09

if you get a blue sky day on the

01:43:10

mountain, it's bloody beautiful up

01:43:12

there.

01:43:12

>> Yeah. I mean that's what people always

01:43:14

ask me like how do you do

01:43:16

>> the um double winters? But I'm like,

01:43:19

"Okay, well, I think and these people

01:43:20

who don't like ski every day." I'm like,

01:43:22

"Well, I think your guy your version of

01:43:23

winter is very different to my version

01:43:26

of winter." Like, if you're doing winter

01:43:28

in a city, it's quite different to being

01:43:29

in in the Alps and like being on top of

01:43:32

the mountains every morning. It's not

01:43:33

like I'm sitting in my office and it's

01:43:35

dark when I come in and dark when I

01:43:37

leave, you know? It's like

01:43:38

>> quite an amazing

01:43:40

>> amazing thing. And I now I actually like

01:43:42

a bit of like I when I go on summer

01:43:44

holidays, I struggle a bit. I'm like I'm

01:43:47

like I don't like being in the sun. I

01:43:49

don't like getting bitten by mosquitoes.

01:43:51

I was like I don't like sweating. I was

01:43:52

like I'm not built for this. I'm like

01:43:54

way more built for the

01:43:55

>> When was the last time you swam or had

01:43:57

dogs on?

01:43:57

>> Oh um Oh, I did go to Morocco and Mayora

01:44:01

in the spring. So

01:44:03

>> So yeah. Then

01:44:05

>> and looking back and say how old are you

01:44:07

now? 23 say 23 years from now. Um

01:44:12

what do you want to say uh this journey

01:44:14

was all about?

01:44:16

Um, honestly, I want to look back and

01:44:18

just think, okay, like

01:44:21

I got to live like a extra ordinary

01:44:24

life, I suppose, with the people I got

01:44:27

to meet, um, the experiences I got to

01:44:30

have, the different sort of worlds that

01:44:32

I've been exposed to. Um, I think that's

01:44:35

something that I've started to

01:44:36

appreciate a lot more the last couple

01:44:37

years. You know, also kind of being in

01:44:40

this little bubble growing up in New

01:44:41

Zealand. Um, I think being exposed to

01:44:46

the rest of the world and like to like,

01:44:47

you know, people from all different

01:44:49

walks of life has been really

01:44:51

interesting. That's something I think

01:44:52

I've started to appreciate a lot more

01:44:54

um, with the amount of travel that I get

01:44:56

to do and um, getting to see so many

01:44:59

different cultures and so many different

01:45:00

kinds of people. I think I've found that

01:45:02

so fulfilling and I think that's

01:45:05

something that this sport um

01:45:08

has given me is like looks in other

01:45:10

worlds and um also getting able to live

01:45:14

my dream of like always wanting to be a

01:45:15

top athlete. And so if I look back on it

01:45:18

and I feel like okay I achieved some

01:45:19

amazing things, I got to meet some

01:45:20

amazing people. I got to experience some

01:45:22

crazy some crazy things. um I'll be

01:45:24

really happy

01:45:26

>> just as long as I like um I mean it's

01:45:29

not even about like looking back and

01:45:31

being like oh I achieved this I achieved

01:45:32

that I wanted to look back and be like

01:45:33

god that was like a time and like I met

01:45:35

so many people I worked so hard I had a

01:45:39

great time you know and I mean things

01:45:40

are always more fun when you're

01:45:41

achieving so obviously like having good

01:45:43

time is like then plays into getting

01:45:45

some really great results but

01:45:47

>> um I've been trying to focus a lot more

01:45:49

on like the journey which sounds like so

01:45:51

cheesy but um it's true like not just

01:45:53

you know being like it's bad if I'm

01:45:55

winning, it's bad if I'm losing, but

01:45:56

just being like, "Okay, like I'm in this

01:45:58

new place this week. This is so cool."

01:46:00

I'm like, "Yeah, really nice."

01:46:03

>> It is That's a great place to end it, by

01:46:05

the way. It It's um It is true. It is

01:46:07

cheesy, but it's very true. Happiness

01:46:09

Happiness has to be here and now. If

01:46:10

it's something you're chasing, you're

01:46:11

never going to you're never going to

01:46:13

find it.

01:46:13

>> Yeah, exactly. No.

01:46:14

>> Hey, this has been great.

01:46:16

>> Thanks for having me.

01:46:16

>> This has been really cool. Alice in

01:46:19

Winterland.

01:46:20

Sorry, you're going to say it with a

01:46:22

European accent. Yeah. And then it's

01:46:24

like, yeah.

01:46:26

>> Um Alice Robinson, hey, um best of luck

01:46:28

for the future. Um the the Winter

01:46:31

Olympics in Quina, Italy, whatever

01:46:34

happens, I just hope you have the best

01:46:35

time.

01:46:35

>> Yeah. Thank you.

01:46:36

>> I hope out of your three Olympics, this

01:46:37

is this one is the most fun.

01:46:39

>> Third time.

01:46:40

>> Third time's charm.

01:46:41

>> Yeah. No. Well, I hope it's fun. However

01:46:43

that looks, hopefully hopefully with a

01:46:45

medal, but maybe it's not even to do

01:46:46

with the medal.

01:46:47

>> Yeah. No, I hope so, too. I think it's

01:46:48

just going to be it's a new it's a place

01:46:50

I know really well. I spent a lot of

01:46:51

time there and somewhere I'm really

01:46:52

familiar with. So, just got to try and

01:46:54

enjoy

01:46:55

>> and yeah, it'll be cool. Thanks so much

01:46:57

for having me.

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Episode Highlights

Finding Balance in Pressure
Alice reflects on her journey of managing external pressures and focusing on her performance.
“The pressure is not that big, but...”
@ 05m 57s
February 08, 2026
The Journey of Acceptance
Accepting that every athlete's journey is unique has been crucial for my growth.
“My story is going to be different to their story.”
@ 15m 48s
February 08, 2026
Balancing Fear and Risk
Finding the right balance between fear and risk is essential in skiing.
“I think it’s about balancing the fear, but also the risk taking to the reward.”
@ 22m 00s
February 08, 2026
Best Friends on Tour
Having my childhood best friend as my physio is a dream come true.
“I get to have my best friend as my physio on tour.”
@ 31m 28s
February 08, 2026
Shifting Perspectives
Experiencing podium finishes changes how I view success and disappointment.
“It’s crazy how your perspective can shift from what feels good and not.”
@ 39m 09s
February 08, 2026
The Competitive Spirit
Reflecting on a childhood filled with sports and a drive to win.
“I always loved sports; it was just my thing.”
@ 48m 08s
February 08, 2026
Social Media Surge
Winning a major race led to a massive increase in social media followers.
“I think I got like 30,000 followers on Instagram in a few hours.”
@ 57m 57s
February 08, 2026
Youngest New Zealand Olympian
At just 16, she made her Olympic debut in PyeongChang, gaining invaluable experience.
“I got to experience like a bit more of the Olympics without the pressure.”
@ 01h 09m 30s
February 08, 2026
Overcoming Pandemic Challenges
Navigating the challenges of being an athlete during the pandemic was tough but transformative.
“I was so young, no family around. It was really tough.”
@ 01h 15m 57s
February 08, 2026
The Shock of Failure
After a tough season, the athlete experiences shock and disappointment at the Olympics.
“I can't believe this has happened.”
@ 01h 22m 50s
February 08, 2026
Rediscovering Joy in Skiing
After a challenging period, I found joy in skiing again and love what I do.
“I feel the happiest when I’m up the mountain training.”
@ 01h 36m 37s
February 08, 2026
Legacy of an Underdog
I hope to leave a legacy that inspires others, especially girls in sports.
“I found strength in being from New Zealand and being really proud.”
@ 01h 40m 07s
February 08, 2026

Episode Quotes

Key Moments

Quickfire Questions02:30
Passion for Sport29:03
Team Mission30:01
Ski Land46:29
Pressure of Expectations1:01:52
Olympic Pressure1:18:13
Support System1:30:08
Pressure to Perform1:34:47

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