Team GB's Zoe Gillings insists next year will see her focus more on overhauling her snowboarding weaknesses as she seeks to compliment an exciting 2014 with an encouraging start to a fresh Winter Olympic cycle.
The 29-year-old narrowly missed out on a place in the final of the snowboard cross at the Sochi Winter Olympics earlier this year – losing a photo finish to Italy’s Michela Moioli in what was a thrilling race.
And having seen the sport change dramatically in recent years, Gillings has every intention of staying ahead of the game by leaving no stone unturned in training.
“This year I’ll be coming away from competitions, just doing a few through the season, and concentrating on training and working on the areas where I am weakest,” she said.
“Since I started the courses have got a lot more technical and the jumps have got bigger.
“You used to have about 30 percent of the field using giant slalom boards as you could get through the corners quicker, and if you were good enough you could do the jumps on them too.
“Now there is no one using giant slalom boards. It’s become more specialised, virtually everyone just competes in boardercross and not in any of the other events.”
© Sportsbeat 2014