Photo: Tom Pennington/Getty
After growing up in a small town in Wyoming, skier Jaelin Kauf made it to the Olympics four years ago. Now, she is looking to push her legacy even further at the2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Kauf, 25, has a lengthy list ofaccomplishmentsto her name, from winning seven World Cups, and becoming a three-time U.S. national champion, to being named the World Cup Rookie of the Year in 2016.
Looking back at her Olympics debut, where she finished in seventh place in women’s moguls, Kauf says the reception she received from her hometown of Alta, Wyoming, made the moment even more memorable.
“It was really cool coming home from the Olympics, getting to see all of those communities and my hometown; all the banners and everything that they put up was so cool,” she recalled to PEOPLE in an interview last year.
“Getting to talk at some schools in my hometown and realize the impact that I kind of had was really a special thing,” she added.
Kauf said she is the first Olympian to come from her region of Wyoming, and residents made sure she knew how much they supported her.
Tom Pennington/Getty
“I’m the first Olympian from the Valley, from the area,” she said. “I really didn’t realize how much of an impact that could have and how many people really cared, all the kids at the school were so excited and the whole town, it was just a really amazing experience.”
While she didn’t return home with a medal, she said making it to the Olympics was a lifelong ambition in itself.
“It’s that childhood dream, something that I finally did,” Kauf, who also briefly lived in Colorado as a teenager, said.
“It definitely changed, our teams travel, we obviously weren’t allowed to go internationally, especially the whole summer and we’re usually chasing snow all year round,” she said. “So that was a weird thing, but it also had its benefits. Where usually the summers are so consumed for us with training, with traveling, chasing snow; the last couple of summers have been a lot more mellow, which has been kind of a refresh or reset for me.”
“When I came back to compete at the beginning of last year,” she added, “I was so excited to get back to snow because we had such a big break, which was such a rare thing.”
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Despite the adjustments that came with the start of the pandemic, Kauf said she is more prepared now than she was four years ago to put on a medal-winning performance.
“At the last Olympics, I was just stepping into the scene and decided to win events and do well and was still very new to competing at that level and was just very unprepared for it all, just trying to take it in as much as I could, but I think I’ve definitely learned a lot, mentally, in the sport. I’ve probably become more of a veteran at it,” Kauf explained.
“I definitely want to walk away with that gold medal, I want to go to the Olympics and put down my very best runs and I know that that can leave me on top. So, that’s a big goal,” she continued. “I know I can do it. I know I can be on that podium and at the top of it, it’s just a matter of getting there mentally.”
To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Winter Olympics, beginning Feb 3, and the Paralympics, beginning March 4, on NBC.
Karen Mizoguchi
source: people.com
