ZHANGJIAKOU – Jamie Anderson went back and forth on whether or not to come to these Winter Olympics in Beijing. The pandemic, the restrictions, the COVID testing – it just piled on the pressure of someone who already feels it as the USA’s two-time Olympic gold medalist in women's slopestyle.
But all it took was the very first day on the snow Wednesday for practice runs to reassure her that she made the right decision. As Anderson rode up the chairlift with her teammates and took a look at it all, she knew she was ready for the challenge.
And there will be challenges, the artificial snow in such great amount being one of them.
“It’s been very firm,” Anderson said. “I think the majority of it is artificial snow so it’s not quite ideal, but I would say we are all making the most of it.
“You definitely don’t want to fall – it feels like bullet proof ice. But I would say, for what I expected, it’s better than I thought.”
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Anderson is sharing an apartment with her three U.S. teammates competing in slopestyle – Hailey Langland, who took sixth in slopestyle and 14th in big air at Pyeongchang; Julia Marino, who is appearing in her second Games; and newcomer Courtney Rummel – as they prepare for women’s qualifying on Saturday. It seems like it’s almost a relief to the veteran to just be on the hill and forget all the rest.
“It’s definitely a more complicated Olympics. Going to the Olympics is very stressful and you have so much on your plate,” Anderson said at a news conference in the Olympic Village. “And this year it has been an absolute nightmare. Just everything from getting here, I think all of us in the last few months – I was really struggling with everything it took to get here.
“Now that we’re here and settled in to our apartment and figuring out our food, and our schedule, we’re all pretty stoked.”
The other obvious topic upon getting a look at this course is how massive it all is. Anderson said it reminds her of her first Olympics in Sochi where everything was gigantic and intimidating.
“Same with Pyeongchang. It looks like a video game. And here? The same deal,” said Anderson. “It’s pretty gnarly. Today was pretty challenging to figure out my run, there were a lot of options and with the snow conditions it made me feel a bit more scared.
“I think it’s going to get rode in and start to get better and better. But what’s cool about the Olympics compared to any other event is it’s always on a completely new mountain and completely new setup.”
To deal with all the “Bring Home the Gold” requests she faces, Anderson, 31, walks and journals to keep her mental focus sharp, but she also has something now that she didn’t necessarily when she was 10 years younger: lots of competition.
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott took the gold medal at the X Games two weeks ago and the 21-year-old New Zealander has earned the admiration of Anderson. Also, Anderson has different standards now; she said her final run at the X Games was the best of her life and that made it satisfying to take silver.
But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t like the push of the competition.
“Zoi is an amazing strong snowboarder all over,” said Anderson. “It’s been super fun to watch her grow up; and it’s been a little back and forth between us. I love it and I need that little fire under my ass to keep me working hard and keep me on my toes.
“For a long time in my career it was pretty easy to win; I didn’t have to do too much. I didn’t really have anyone pushing me. And now I am very much pushed by everyone - even the girls on this team.”
With that, Anderson heard a question about how the safety protocols were going in the Games. And she realized she had gone all day and forgotten to get her COVID test.
Who can blame her? First day on the snow, the Olympics, and surviving the ordeal to just get here. Her priorities are on what's to come, and she knows what that is, better than anyone else.
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