Elizabeth Hosking will experience her second Olympic Games at just 20 years old when she jumps on the halfpipe at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, northwest of Beijing. But this time, she will feel in her place.
Pyeongchang, in 2018, Hosking was the youngest athlete in the Canadian delegation. She admits it candidly: she suffered a little from the syndrome of the impostor.
“Not that I had no business there, because I had met all of Canada’s criteria to represent the country in the halfpipe,” she explained to The Canadian Press a few days before leaving for Beijing. However, I think it was my fifth international competition!
“I was impressed in Pyeongchang: I had never been in a competition like this where in the Village all the athletes come together, where you can really rub shoulders with the best athletes from all the different sports. I saw everything with stars in my eyes. »
Despite everything, she believes she gave a good performance by taking 19th place in the competition. For four years, however, she has been working to change this state of mind. She feels that she is almost there.
“I think it’s the fact that I now meet these athletes more regularly and my results that made me feel part of the group. I now know where I stand. I know them; they know me. They know I’m a little neglected on the rise. I can prove to myself that I am among the best. But I know I still have a lot to learn. »
Especially mentally.
“My manager’s father was the coach of Olympic walker Marcel Jobin. After my last competition at XGames, Marcel told my coaches that as soon as I was going to see myself at the top of the podium and not just wishing it, that’s when it was going to change. It clicked in my head. He’s not wrong.
“I would like one day to be the best and it is clear that I want a medal in Beijing,” she continues. It’s a dream I’ve had since I was very young. But I have to see myself on that first step. What I see myself doing right now is making the final and being a threat for a podium. I have the maneuvers for that. Physically, you can quickly add new maneuvers. Mentally, the process is much longer. I have been working on it for several years with the help of my trainer, Heidi Malo. »
One more advantage
It is above all the addition of a 1080 – a triple twist – which allows her to believe that she now has all the assets to fight with the best in her profession.
“I learned this maneuver last October. A week later, I was already able to integrate it into a complete descent, underlines the Longueuilloise. It is a maneuver that is very competitive. Coupled with my amplitude, which sets me apart from other snowboarders, that’s what I needed to really be part of the elite.
“We saw it last March, during the last World Cup and the Worlds, my biggest rotation was a 720, because I had a lot of difficulty with the 900. Despite this, thanks to my amplitude and the way I was doing my maneuvers, I finished seventh at the Worlds.
“I think adding this bigger rotation is a game-changer. It put an exclamation point, proved that I could be a threat for podiums. The girls know that when I go down to my best, I’m going to be one to watch. »
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Hosking will find out if all this physical and mental work has paid off on February 10, when the snowboarders will set off on the halfpipe of Genting Park in the morning.
