ERIN – Heading into the 2022 Winter Olympics, Rachael Karker is feeling confident on what will be the biggest stage of her career.
On Monday, Team Canada announced the Erin native will be among the 24 freestyle skiers on the roster for Beijing.
Speaking over the phone from her training camp in Calgary, Karker said she is thrilled at the opportunity after not quite making the cut in 2018.
“It feels incredible, I was first alternate for the last games so I just didn’t make it and I feel super proud and honoured to have made it this time,” Karker said.
The now-24-year-old said she’s been skiing since she was one and has essentially always known how to ski since as far back as she can remember.
As a child she did ski racing but took a break around 10 years old to compete in gymnastics and trampoline. She eventually found her way back and started skiing again around 15.
Karker will be competing in women’s freeski halfpipe, which she said is an event that just clicked with her after starting with slopestyle when she first began competing in her teens.
“One of my biggest issues when I was a slopestyle skier is I would go way too big on jumps and subsequently get hurt doing that … if you go too big you’re going to have no landing left,” Karker said.
“What I liked so much about halfpipe when I started is you can go as fast as you can, or you want, and go as big as you want and you can still land back in the halfpipe as long as you take off properly.”
She explained halfpipe is judged based on how high you go, the degree of difficulty the tricks you do are, execution of your run and overall impression such as how smooth the run is.
She’s had a lot of success so far in her career as a three-time X-Games medalist, seven world cup podium finishes and as the 2021 Vice World Champion.
Now she faces the best competition she might ever face.
“It really is the pinnacle of our sport and to go is just so exciting. It’s like the biggest show and we only get the chance every four years,” Karker said. “It sort of feels similar to my first X-Games but on a much broader scale.”
However, she’s trying not to put any extra emphasis on this. She said she finds she works best when she sticks to her regular training routine and treats it like any other competition.
The only thing different are the very strict COVID policies.
“I pretty much go to training on the ski hill and I go to the gym and I go home,” Karker said, adding she, her teammates and all staff are always masked.
With the Feb. 10 flight date to Beijing approaching, Karker said she is confident she can reach her goal of getting an Olympic medal.
“I’ve been extremely consistent, I haven’t missed a podium since 2019,” Karker said. “I feel like I got a really good chance to medal.”
The Beijing Olympics run from Feb. 4 to Feb. 20 with Karker’s event taking place on Feb. 18.
