SNOWBOARD: Despite having only made two appearances on the World Cup circuit, Jess Rich is ready to prove why she’s Australia’s best slopestyle snowboarder in Kreischberg this weekend.
Having just finished a training camp in Colorado, the Sydney-sider is confident heading into her first major competition of 2017.
“I am feeling really strong and relaxed coming into this World Cup in Austria,” Rich said.
“It is a busy season for us this year so my main focus for this first event is to ease into it, not put too much pressure on myself and try to have fun riding a creative new course.
“I am fairly happy with how I have prepared for this season.
“I bunched in as much strength training and gym work as I could in November, and had a really good on-snow start to the winter in Colorado.”
It was around this time last year that the Manly local’s career started to soar as she won gold at the Spring Park Battle in Austria, a competition that is part of the World Snowboard Tour.
Then in February 2016 she qualified for the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA) program after she placed eighth at the PyeongChang 2018 Slopestyle Test Event.
A strong performance at the Bokwang Snow Park secured Rich her first professional contract and the prospect of making her Olympic debut at the 2018 PyeongChang Games became very realistic.
“Last year was my most successful competition year to date and joining the OWIA was a huge step in terms of helping me to qualify for PyeongChang,” the 26-year-old said.
“Due to this I have been able to travel to various places for more training opportunities and have been able to surround myself with many successful Australian winter athletes and coaches that have really helped me focus on what I want and how to get there.
“I started working with a new coach and that is going really well, so right now I am excited to see if I can make it to the Winter Olympics.”
The 2015 Perisher Mile High gold medallist will need to draw on the invaluable experiences from the past 12 months to get her through the current Northern Hemisphere winter season, which is “by far the most intense competition schedule [she has] ever had.”
Rich is down to compete in six World Cup events between now and the end of March, but is “looking forward to the challenge.”
Despite the hectic training and competition schedule, endless hours spent traveling and the time away from her family in Australia, there is nothing else in the world Rich would rather do.
“I just know that there is nothing that makes me this happy.
“I get to travel the world, meet amazing people, be outside in the fresh air and test the limits of what I am physically and mentally capable of, or maybe I am just hooked on the adrenaline.”
The Kreischberg World Cup qualification round kicks off on Friday evening (AEDT) with the finals held Saturday. Following this event, it’s on to Seiser Aim in Italy for the next World Cup on January 25.
Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au
