Despite the painful experience that was Sochi 2014 for Rowan Cheshire, the British skier insists she can still take plenty out of the experience as she targets a back-to-basics approach this season.
Cheshire became the first British female skier to win a halfpipe competition in a Freestyle World Cup in January and was selected for Team GB’s squad for Sochi.
However the 19-year-old’s Winter Olympics debut did not go according to plan as she was knocked unconscious after falling on her face while training.
The injury would force her to withdraw from the Games, with teammate Emma Lonsdale flying the flag for Great Britain by herself with an 18th-place finish in the competition.
Cheshire, who will compete on the Dew Tour this season and hopes to make the X Games, however prefers to look past the pain at the positives she gained from the added attention on herself.
And with the new four-year Olympic cycle about to start, the British skier is looking only forwards as she aims to work on raising her performances levels for PyeongChang 2018.
“I’ve taken the positives from what happened in Sochi and the focus is now on the future,” she said.
“I’m still young so have another Olympics in me, I can take a lot from being at Sochi, the whole media side and focus that was on us was like nothing I’ve experienced before.
“I’ve now got that experience and I’m a lot more comfortable with the pressure and expectation upon us as athletes.
“This year I want to focus more on training. Of course the competition element is important but I want to keep improving and the key is doing well in training.
“I want to use the year to get back to the standard that I was before and trying to rediscover my best form.”
© Sportsbeat 2014