Here we are….The Last World Cup of the 2010 season and the
last world cup of my long and rewarding career.
On the eve before my last World Cup downhill race, nothing
but excitement runs through my veins.
After a challenging, stressful and exhausting Olympic experience I was
quite happy to get back on the World Cup tour and finish off the season with a
smile on my face. It is all about
soaking up the atmosphere and moment. It
is about the pure passion of ski racing and sport. It’s about living my dreams
and acknowledging the journey.
Since the Olympic Games it has been a balance between sleep
and coffee. After a big event there is
always a huge “low” I not sure if it is just all the anticipation or a
combination of that and effort. I
thought that I enjoyed coffee before but know I truly live for it. It is funny but when you are so tired you
prioritize your day much differently. You don’t have time for stress which
makes racing quite fun and you quickly adopt relaxation on all levels.
Crans Montana was officially our “lottery race” of the year
and unfortunately I didn’t draw winning numbers on either of the days. The course was in great condition but the
wind and Mother Nature were just too much.
The track there is fairly easy but it has some good terrain and nice
jumps but with the serious head wind on race day, those jumps became hops. I
was happy with how I raced though and that is all that I can control.
So here I am in Garmisch, Germany which will be home to the
World Championships next year. After
racing the Super-G last year here I was a little apprehensive about having such
a difficult track to race at the end of the season but due to favourable
conditions it is actually quite a fun and chill course. Tomorrow is going to be a great race and a
great way to end.
It is not yet time to sit back and reflect, that will come
in April, but a time to live in the moment and appreciate all the opportunities
that have been given to me over the years.