Olympic champion Serwa is racing off to a new life
Kelsey Serwa is ready for her life’s next chapter after a decorated career in ski cross racing.
The 29-year-old Olympic champion from Kelowna, B.C., announced her retirement Thursday when she finally had time to do so. Amid writing exams, planning a September wedding and preparing for a sixstage mountain bike race, Serwa took stock of a career that includes Olympic gold and silver medals, a world championship, and two X Games victories.
“I love racing. I love that feeling. But now for sure I’m like ‘OK, my time has come and I’m ready for the next stages of my life,’ ” Serwa told The Canadian Press.
Ski cross features skiers racing head-tohead down a course of jumps and turns.
Serwa’s gold medal at last year’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, was Canada’s third straight in women’s ski cross since the sport made its Winter Games debut in 2010.
Serwa finished second to teammate and champion Marielle Thompson at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
Canada went one-two again in Pyeongchang when Brit Phelan finished second behind Serwa.
Serwa was fifth in her Olympic debut in 2010 when Ashleigh McIvor won gold.
“Twenty-10 was a bit of a disappointment for me,” Serwa said. “I think that was a lot of my motivation and driving force to competing to Sochi.
“Finishing second in Sochi, that was kind of my decision-maker to go one more Olympics, one more quad (quadrennial).
“Looking back, it kind of perfectly jumped from one to the other. The Olympic gold medal is just the cherry on top of it all.”
Her success demanded her resilience, however. Multiple surgeries have contributed to an arthritic knee.
counts winning a world title in 2011 a week after wrecking at the X Games as a memorable feat.
“I won that race, but in the process of crashing through the finish line, I suffered two compression fractures in my spine and whiplashed my whole back, sprained my thumb, scraped up my face, twisted my tailbone,” she recalled. “Just a real mess.
“Then a week later competed in the world championships. I missed out on all the training leading up to the race day and ended up winning that race also. That is probably one of my most underrated, but proud moments ... Just to overcome that pain and be persistent.”
Serwa has started a scholarship fund that gave a total of $10,000 to three high school student-athletes this year.
She’ll marry professional skier Stan Rey in September and is working toward a degree in physiotherapy.