Sun Peaks ski racers on track for Olympics
JANUARY 2007 — VOLUME 5 ISSUE 1
With the 2010 Olympics only three years away Canada’s young athletes are striving for excellence in the years leading up to the Games—those who succeed over the next three years are likely to be representing Canada in Vancouver or Whistler.
If recent achievements are any indication, two young Sun Peaks athletes are on track to be there. Sun Peaks Alpine Club member Elli Terwiel is all about hard work and training in her quest to represent her country. After off-season training this summer, 17-year-old Terwiel is focused on the task at hand. Currently racing on the B.C. Ski Team, that task is trying to qualify for the World Junior Championships in Austria this February and making the Canadian National Ski Team.
“I had a great off–season, training in Saas Fee, Switzerland and then Portillio, Chile. It was amazing,” says Terwiel. “We trained right beside Bode Miller and the U.S. Men’s team. It was incredible to be in that kind of training environment.”
Now firmly back on home soil Terwiel’s results show she’s ready to race.
So far this season she’s won Mars Cup Giant Slalom and slalom races, both first wins for her in the technical disciplines, and finished an amazing 12th in a Nor-Am Super Combined event in Panorama after sitting in 24th place following the first run.
This racer knows what she wants and isn’t shy about sharing it.
“I want to make the National Team, race for Canada in 2010 and I want to win an overall World Cup title for a season,” Terwiel states.
Joining Terwiel in her quest for Olympic gold in Whistler is fellow Sun Peaks Alpine Club member Wiktoria Glowczynski. Back on skis after being injured in 2005, Glowczynski, now a member of the B.C. Team training group, has the focus to ski her way back to winning form.
“As time progresses you kind of get back into the swing of things—while training was hard at first, once you get the intensity up it’s fine,” says Glowczynski.
It’s tough for any athlete to jump back into the start gate after an injury, but this 17-year-old is ready to get back to the top of the sport she loves.
“The racing was a little hard at first, but after a few race series I should be back on things,” confides Glowczynski. “My goal is to get back on top again and rip it. I want to win at the Nor-Am finals this year and I want to compete in slalom in 2010 in Whistler.” Who says you can’t have real life goals at 17?
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