ERIN – A local Olympian is back in Canada and happy to be bringing back a little something extra from her efforts.
Rachael Karker, a 24-year-old skier from Erin, won the bronze medal at the women’s freeski halfpipe at the Beijing Winter Olympics earlier this month.
In a phone interview after she returned to Canada, Karker said winning her first Olympic medal felt amazing as it was what she set out to do.
There was also a sense of relief for Karker, as she said a lot of people were expecting her to medal.
“I just tried my best not to think of it as too different from any other competition,” Karker said. “I go out and I do my run, and I ski. I know that if I do that it’ll be good enough.”
Karker's best run scored an 87.75, which put her just behind fellow Canadian Cassie Sharpe who had a 90 and China’s Eileen Gu who scored a 95.25.
She said she was happy to share the podium with Sharpe, as they have done in competitions in the past, and to see two Canadian flags flying.
However, she said it wasn’t her best skiing performance in the finals with windy weather having a big impact on the skiers that day.
“The hardest part was just trying to time it between gusts because if you got hit by wind gusts, it would pretty much kill your speed through the rest of your pipe run,” Karker said. “So I wasn’t able to do some of the bigger tricks that I wanted to do in finals but, I mean, that’s just how it happens sometimes.”
That aside, she said she was, “proud of what I was able to put down on the day and be able to walk away with a medal.”
As far as spending time in China, Karker said she felt the looming stress of COVID leading up to going lessened because she knew everyone around her was getting tested on a daily basis.
The team still wore masks everywhere and she said she enjoyed her time getting to watch other events like aerials, ski jumping and a bit of snowboarding.
Karker’s bronze was ultimately one of 26 medals Canada won at the Beijing games.
“The team always has been and I think we showed that we are still an incredibly strong team in winter sports,” Karker said.
Karker had just arrived back in Canada a few days prior and next is looking forward to taking a few weeks off and visiting home in Erin but won’t be keeping still for too long.
“I’m coming home next week, we’re going to see everyone who I haven’t been able to see yet,” Karker said. “I’ll take a few weeks off and then I’ll get back to training."
