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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
00:11:32
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,
00:11:39
this is like the event that everyone
00:11:40
pays attention to. So it's definitely
00:11:43
more a little bit more angsty than you
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know compared to the regular World Cup
00:11:48
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
00:12:03
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
00:12:11
you got a sports psych?
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>> Yes. Yeah. I started working with a
00:12:14
sports psych about two years ago and I
00:12:17
think that's helped me a lot. I mean, I
00:12:18
don't I'm not like the athlete that
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needs to talk to a sports psych every
00:12:22
week or every day. I kind of just have
00:12:23
like, you know, monthly check-ins or
00:12:25
something like that just to go over a
00:12:26
few things and as long as everything's
00:12:27
going smoothly, then um then I don't
00:12:30
feel the need to do it too much. But I
00:12:32
think more so my sports site
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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
00:12:39
work that maybe I'm not as aware that
00:12:41
I'm using a psychologist as maybe I am.
00:12:43
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
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really cool cuz even though Yeah, you
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mentioned before you're 23. Um, you
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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.
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>> 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
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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.