Halfpipe rookie Brown surges into Olympic medal mix
Melissa Woods |
Four years ago Indra Brown had never even skied in a halfpipe and now the Australian teenager will be among the favourites to win an Olympic medal.
Recently turned 16 and the youngest member of the Australian team for the Games which get underway in Italy next week, Brown has had a meteoric rise through the freeski halfpipe ranks.
Since competing in her first World Cup event last month, she’s won three medals including gold and also won silver at the prestigious X-Games in Aspen.
Leading the overall World Cup rankings, the young gun is now in the medal mix for the Milan-Cortina competition, but Brown says she isn’t feeling the pressure.
“I definitely think people are thinking that but I don’t want to go in there with a position I want, or a medal I want,” Brown said from her training base in Austria.
“I just want to go in there and do my best and be really proud of what I’ve done because this is my first Olympics and I’m only 16 so I think if I can just go and be stoked with what I’ve done, that’s a medal in itself.
“I came into this season just wanting to land some of my runs and just be proud of how I was skiing and I’ve definitely been doing that.”
One of four children, Brown started skiing with her parents Anne and Grant as a three-year-old with the family then relocating to Canada.
But her halfpipe career only got started when she was 12 and attended a spring ski camp in Calgary and was coached by the Canadian national team who had just competed at the Beijing Olympics.
That included silver medallist Cassie Sharpe, who Brown relegated to bronze at the X-Games earlier this month.
“I didn’t hop into the half pipe for quite some time because there aren’t actually many half pipes that get built around the world,” said Brown, who now lives in Melbourne when back in Australia.
“I was lucky enough to be skiing in Calgary when we were living there and they actually have one just at the local ski hill so I was fortunate enough just to go in there for a fun spring camp with some of my friends.”
The rest is history with Brown’s mother Anne saying Sharpe had a laugh about helping her now Olympic rival.
“We had a bit of a chat about it at the X-Games and she had a laugh,” Anne said.
“She’s kind of said ‘I just pretty much encouraged my competition to come out’.”
Brown said her Olympic journey was inspired by Australian star Jakara Anthony, who will defend her moguls title in Milan-Cortina.
She’s also a big fan of Beijing Olympics snowboard halfpipe silver medallist Scotty James, who will attempt to complete his Games medal collection with gold in Italy.
Brown said she couldn’t wait to meet her Olympic heroes when the team assembles ahead of the opening ceremony next Friday night (local time).
“Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to really meet Jakara, so I’m really looking forward to doing that when I get to the village,” Brown said.
“She seems like such a wonderful person, so, yeah, I’m really excited.
“And Scotty is another one of those athletes that I would love to meet when I’m at the Games as I just haven’t gotten the opportunity yet.”
AAP
