Ski Cross Canadian Emeline Bennett: End of Europe Block Check-in
Hey guys!
I’m just hanging out in the Toronto Airport after my third delay and thought I would fill you in on this last block of training and racing in Europe as it was an exciting one!
After the Reiteralm Junior races we headed over to San Pellegrino, Italy where we spent the last weeks of the trip. We had two Europa Cups and after a tough first race day with a 9th, I was super stoked to grab 3rd and my first EC podium of the season! We had a day off and a bit of GS training before we were back at it with the second Europa Cup race. It didn’t go exactly to plan but I was happy enough with a 5th and 6th. Then we had one day off to prepare for the Junior World Championships.
Last season at World Juniors, I didn’t come out with the results I wanted so this year I set no goals or expectations; I just wanted to ski smart and ski my own race regardless of who was around me. My qualifying time was ok – I was a little further off the leader than I had hoped but I was happy with third. Then we got into heats, I had a couple struggles in the start section but stuck to my plan and skied smart + calm, and that strategy kept me advancing through my rounds.
I found myself in the start gate of the big final and got myself into a headspace where I was convinced that there was more skiing to be done, this wasn’t my last round, and the pressure of the big final disappeared from my head. I had one of my best starts and came out in second, my brain reverted to all the video review we had done the day before and found myself narrating my decisions in my head. I pulled off a beautiful pass, just the way we had talked about it the day before and won!
The feeling still hasn’t fully set in, knowing I won World Juniors, but for now I am just so proud of my season.
The second event at the Junior Worlds is the Team event; this is essentially a mixed relay event. After a day off due to canceled training we headed up for the race. A fellow Whistler Mountain Ski Club athlete and I were on the Canadian team, and I was feeling the pressure. I was tired, my body wasn’t quite feeling how I would have liked, and with my result from the individual event I knew people were expecting another big day.
The rules for the team event are quite different from a regular race. It’s a two-person team and the male half of the team runs first, the time difference between when the racers cross the finish line is the interval at which the gates drop for the female half of the team. It’s a very hard way to start a race because visually you could already see where you stand in the race, and you also must fully undo the audible cues you use in the start section because you could hear someone else’s gate drop first and potentially psych yourself out.
Nick, my teammate, did well in his heats so, luckily, I was always the first or second gate to drop which made my job easier. We wound up in the big final again and he gave me a 0.1s lead to work with. Unfortunately, I got beat out of the start and tried to make a bit of a greedy pass and had to back off when I realized it wasn’t going to work, but we still pulled off a second place. Silver medal!
It’s hard to not feel like I could’ve had more when I know where I made the mistake, but at the same time I never expected to end up here and I am so so proud of our race.
Assuming we ever make it onto our flight home, we have NorAm finals in Nakiska, AB in just about a week. Currently, I’m sitting in 3rd behind first by 20 points so after a bit of rest I’m excited to see what I can get done in the last race of the season.
I want to thank you again for your support this season, I really am so fortunate to be pursuing what I love, and I am reminded of it daily. Talk more soon!
All the best,
Emeline
