Ten years ago, on February 17th, I was making my Olympic debut in Turin 2006.
I remember every detail of the track as if it were yesterday, like the turns, jumps, and the start section. I would have loved to ride that track again!
The sport grew significantly after that, with board brands seeking more boardercross-specific shapes. Alpine equipment (hard boots), which were still used in Turin by a few athletes, gradually fell out of use. Teams that didn’t yet have snowboardcross courses to train on gradually secured funding to build dedicated SBX courses.
My experience at these Olympic Games was unique, it was incredibly exciting to represent Brazil in such an important event, where few Brazilian athletes made it. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I was very nervous, like most of the athletes. Iván and Gastón gave me their full support on the track. My family attended one of my competitions for the first time, except for Paula, one of my sisters, who was pregnant. I found out the day before the competition that my niece, Fernanda, had been born three days earlier, on the 13th.
Well, I won’t recount the entire competition in detail, but the two moments that stood out most to me were the second qualifying run, because upon reaching the finish line, I had the 2nd fastest time and then finished in 6th place; and in the heat run to determine 9th to 12th place (which was the most popular run), when the athletes in front of me fell and I kept going, finishing in 1st place at the finish line.
In these 10 years, the sport has evolved a lot, and I have continued to follow this evolution. Training has become increasingly specific, physical preparation has become increasingly intense, customized top-of-the-line equipment, constant maintenance of the equipment, etc.
Of the athletes who competed in Turin, the only ones still active are Alexandra Jekova, Lindsey Jacobellis, Dominique Maltais, Zoe Gillings, and myself. Many new athletes appear every day, full of energy and training at full speed. It’s certainly a great challenge to keep up this pace; you need to fill your chest with courage and determination! And here I am, going to participate in the last four stages of the Snowboard World Cup this season:
February 20-21, 2016 Sunny Valley, Russia
February 25-27, 2016 PyeongChang, Korea
March 4-6, 2016 Veysonnaz, Switzerland
March 19-20, 2016 Baqueira Beret, Spain
Thank you so much for following me and cheering me on!
Hugs and see you next time!
