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Sport on Saturdays: Our interview with Danielle Scott, Australian Winter Olympian Freestyle Skier

Danielle had never actually skied before being recruited to the team.

 

 

 

 

Get excited, everybody. The 2014 Winter Olympics have officially begun, and it’s time to keep a close eye on our Australian athletes as they take to the slopes and the ice.

Last week, we had a chat to mogul skier Taylah O’Neill. And this week, we’re interviewing another medal hopeful: Danielle Scott, a 23-year-old freestyle skier.

Danielle is a truly remarkable young athlete with a fascinating story. After starting gymnastics at the age of three, she was offered a scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport at age seven – making her the youngest athlete to receive a scholarship there.

While Danielle retired from gymnastics at 13, she continued to compete in diving, athletics, aerobics and soccer, as well as aerial skiing. And once she broke into the sport, she managed to make every final on the World Cup circuit – not bad for someone who had barely ever skied before.

Just as an FYI, you should know that this week’s Sport on Saturdays is sponsored by Female For Life. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100% authentic and written in their own words.

After winning a bronze medal at the 2013 World Championships in Norway, she finished first at the Europa Cup in Finland and second at the 2014 World Cup in Lake Placid in the USA.

And after all that? She’s now on our Olympic team, ready to do us proud. And she’s been training up in Finland, with only three hours of sunlight a day, skiing from sunrise to sunset.

Here’s the chat we had…

How did you get started in skiing?

I was recruited by five time Olympian Jacqui Cooper into the sport of Aerial Skiing, but had never actually skied before! Australia recruits ex-gymnasts and teaches them to ski in a fast track program, as we believe it is easier to teach a gymnast to ski, rather than a skier to flip. I began skiing at the age of 16 with some of the world’s best ski coaches and later performed my first back layouts on snow at the age of 19.

What was it like switching from gymnastics to skiing? 

Switching from gymnastics to skiing was quite exciting. I had trained 30 hours a week in a gymnasium for most of my childhood, so being given the opportunity to travel and train in the outdoors, was something I instantly enjoyed. I loved gymnastics but never reached my potential and was looking for a new challenge. Aerial skiing was perfect and I never looked back.

Aerial skiing is a pretty daredevil sport. We ski into the jumps at speeds you can’t even drive your car around the neighbourhoods in! We then launch about five meters into the air performing flips and twists, before gracefully landing back on a 37-degree slope.

The current competition format is based upon elimination. Basically, the field competes through rounds to decide the top twelve, down to the top eight, and finally down to the top four who then compete to decide the podium standings. It can be a really long day out there and involve a lot of tactics, as you cannot repeat jumps.

What does it take to be a really good aerial skier? 

To be a really good aerial skier, I believe you have to be physically strong, but most importantly, have a tough mental ability. This not only applies in pushing for perfect technique, jump after jump, after jump, but also to control that fear that sometimes passes over you before a new jump or in difficult snow conditions. Most people think my sport is crazy, but the feeling of landing a perfect jump from that high, is something incredible. To be a good aerial skier, means you make the jump look easy and effortless.

What does your training involve?

Our training consists of both summer and winter training. We spend half of the year jumping into a pool, learning and perfecting new jumps, whilst spending the other half of the year, performing these jumps on snow and competing.

Summer training has the longest of days. We usually have a trampoline session in the morning, two, two-hour jumping sessions into the pool (hiking back up the stairs after each jump), a weights session, video review, physio and a sports psych session. The winter days consist of less jump numbers because it can be more mentally draining dealing with factors that can affect you in the air and on landing, like wind. Being an elite athlete is not like a 9-5 job, there’s no clock out time and it takes a lot of sacrifices to become one of the world’s best!

My diet consists of a lot of complex carbs for steady energy release, and large amounts of protein with every meal to keep my muscles strong. With so many long sessions, it is important to keep a steady energy level so I am constantly snacking as well. Whether it is dried fruits and nuts on the hill, or veggie quinoa with fish for dinner, it’s all pretty healthy! You feel your best when you eat healthy so it is important to use the right fuels. It can be tricky on tour, as various countries don’t always offer what you normally digest! This is important to be prepared for as muscle loss from not eating enough can have a huge impact on performance.

Do you think Australians tend to really overlook the Winter Olympics?

Yes unfortunately. For how successful we have been in Aerial Skiing and other winter sports, we just don’t get the recognition that we deserve. It is understandable that we are a summer-orientated country, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make the headlines and increase peoples’ interest. Some people don’t even know what Aerial Skiing is! Hopefully this will continue to improve after these coming Winter Olympics.

Winning the bronze medal at the World Freestyle Ski Championships in Voss, Norway,

What do you think about the treatment of women who compete in winter sports?

The treatment of women competing in winter sport is slowing improving, yet unfortunately, not receiving as much attention or sponsorship as other male athletes. In today’s day and age, you would think that there would be equal rights in competition, yet, these Olympics will be the first ever Olympics to hold the event of women’s ski jumping.  In regards to women’s aerial skiing, we are always the first event of the day which sometimes means 4am starts. As for the men, they casually get to start no earlier than 10am, which is quite unfair, as the schedules never swap. Men do perform some harder jumps than the women, but this shouldn’t mean that women are the only ones constantly dealing with tough conditions alongside travel and jet lag.

Sponsorship is something that is on the rise for women and I hope it continues to become more and more successful. Unfortunately, women can be mainly recognised for their looks rather than there talent, so hopefully this is something that will catch up to the representation of male athletes.

The world cup in the Beijing Bird’s Nest this year was something incredible and believe it or not, the women’s event was the biggest night out of the two. Chinese celebrities were part of the entertainment, as well as, the launch of the new Audio vehicle so this does go to show that women are beginning to gain more coverage.

What do you think winter sports need to do to get more women to compete?

To get more women to compete in winter sports, it again comes down to the publicity and representation of our current successful athletes in order to inspire and create interest. Alisa Camplin winning gold at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games is what inspired me and got me researching the sport, however, I possibly would not have noticed this if my parents were not interested in skiing. Young girls take to their idols and can become inspired to follow their success so it is important that our winter athletes are just as well known as our summer athletes.

We have also been trying to build a water ramp facility in Brisbane, but now at a new location in Tweed Heads because the first plans fell through. This would open so many more opportunities for kids to try freestyle winter sports and also provide the ability to train on home soil which appeals to younger athletes.

What advice do you have for girls hoping to get into professional skiing?

My advice would be to do some research and make sure you are maximising all your opportunities, as it is important in some sports to start young. It is such a shame when you come across athletes who are so interested but did not maximise their time when they were younger so unfortunately, find it is too late. The main thing is to enjoy it and see where it can take you. Work hard and you will be happy with yourself no matter where you end up.

Any hot tips for Aussies watching the Winter Olympics in 2014?

Keep your eyes peeled, as this will be the biggest Australian winter team sent to the Olympics! Also, watch out for Lydia Lassila our reigning Olympic Champion defending her title and the rest of the women’s team as we are the upcoming future of our sport.

Want to watch the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games?

The Games will be screening exclusively on Channel Ten, starting from the 8th February. Every night at 6pm you can watch Sochi Tonight; Sochi Live will also screen from 7:30pm onwards. There will also be 24-hour coverage of the games on ONE.

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If you’d like to find out more about the Australian Winter Olympic team, go here for full profiles on all the athletes.

If you’re watching the games and would like to chat about them on social media – go here for the fanzone social hub.

Will you be watching the Winter Olympics?

And in other sports news from the week…

– The Hurley Australian Open of Surfing is kicking off this weekend – it starts today and runs through until Saturday February 16 at Manly Beach in Sydney.  There is some seriously incredible talent at the event, including reigning two-time ASP Women’s World Champion, Carissa Moore. The Hawaiian surfer is heading to Manly from her home in Honolulu to compete for the first time at the Hurley event.

– The NRL’s Festival of Indigenous League is also on this weekend, and the New South Wales and Queensland Women’s teams will both be taking part. Best of luck to both of them.

– Big news out of France this week, with the announcement that there will be a new women’s cycling race held on the final day of the 2014 Tour de France. The first “La Course by le Tour de France” will happen on the 27th of July, and will finish at the Champs Elysees. There’s been plenty of pressure on the Tour organiser to introduce a women’s Tour, and this is a seriously good opportunity for some of our best female cyclists to show off what they’ve got.

Have you seen anything in women’s spot that you want to talk about?

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