Naude edges closer to her dream
Penticton moguls skier provisionally named to Canada’s team for 2018 Games
Aheartbroken Andi Naude cuddled with her cats on the couch while watching the 2014 Olympic moguls competition on TV.
Ranked ninth in the world at the time, Naude narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Sochi Games, where Justine and Chloe DufourLapointe won gold and silver respectively for Canada. Instead of indulging in a pity party, Naude pledged to channel her disappointment into qualifying for the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Mission accomplished. On Tuesday, Freestyle Canada provisionally nominated Naude, Justine DufourLapointe and Mikael Kingsbury to the 2018 Olympic moguls team. The trio only needs to finish in the top12 — and in the top two-thirds of the field — at an eligible World Cup to officially book passage to PyeongChang.
“This means the world to me, this early nomination,” Naude, of Penticton, said Tuesday in a conference call with reporters. “The stress of qualification has been fully relieved.”
Due to the depth of the Canadian freestyle team, legitimate medal contenders are routinely left at home due to the limited number of Olympic spots granted to each country (Canada can send a maximum of four male and four female athletes in each discipline to PyeongChang).
Thanks to her two World Cup podium finishes in 2016-17, Naude can relax, knowing she’s already cleared the first major hurdle on the road to the Olympics.
“To have that stress relieved and to be able to focus more on skiing and not so much on the results — that’s just a dream come true,” she said.
By watching the Sochi Games from her living room, the 21-yearold Naude realized the Olympics, at the core, are much like a World Cup. The names of the competitors are the same. The course is the same. The judging is the same.
“I’m just going to go in and ski my run — nothing different and nothing more,” she said. “Because if you start pushing too hard ... maybe something could go wrong.”
Kingsbury is the most decorated mogul skier in history and he figures he simply pushed too hard in Sochi. The pride of Deux-Montagnes, Que., settled for silver behind fellow Canadian Alex Bilodeau.
“I just need to keep it simple,” said Kingsbury, 24. “I think, at the Olympics, I was a bit nervous and everything. The skills to win the Olympics, I know I have them. I’ve won many times and many events. When I’m going to be in the start gate, if I can just keep it simple and ski my run, I think I can put myself in a good position to win.”