Emily Cook: Vancouver Bound
| 13 November 2009
A champion in her own right, the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team's Emily Cook (Belmont, MA) is a leader amongst her aerials peers. While she waits for her 2010 season to begin in December, Cook's focus is strong and set on being Vancouver Bound.
"Vancouver Bound means to me the culmination of years and years or training and preparation. I'm so excited to go up there and finally show what I have," Cook said.
Cook, as much as anyone, knows the true meaning of perseverance. She worked a lifetime for that moment when she made the 2002 Olympic Team to compete in Salt Lake City on her home hill. Just days later, in a horrific training crash in Lake Placid, those dreams were dashed in tears of pain and anguish with both feet shattered. But she never gave up.
Over two years later, in front of small group of close friends and teammates, she made her first jump again into water at the Utah Olympic Park. And in a golden moment at Steamboat Springs, CO, she clinched a spot on the 2006 Olympic Team. Since that time, she has solidified her place as one of the best in the world in her sport – winning her first World Cup in Moscow in 2008, in front of over 25,000 screaming fans.
Last year, at the close of her 11th season on the Team, Cook was on top of her game with two podium finishes, a fourth at World Championships as well as a new maneuver with a higher degree of difficulty added to her repertoire. Since the season wrapped, Cook zeroed in on the gym and water ramp training as she embarks on what she hopes will be her strongest season yet.
One World Cup win, four additional podiums and a total of 30 finishes within the top 10, Olympian Emily Cook is ready to reach the next level - a place she knows she belongs and strives for every day in her Vancouver Bound journey.
