The first words of her Twitter bio are: “2 Olympics | 2 Sports”.
It’s a cool and succinct introduction to 26-year-old Georgia Simmerling, who did the Super G at Vancouver 2010, and is now a five-time World Cup medallist in ski cross.
Simmerling is looking to add a third sport to that mix. In the 19 months since she first saw a velodrome, Simmerling has turned cycling as cross-training into a legitimate summer Olympic possibility.
In Hong Kong, she will compete at her first track cycling World Cup on Jan. 16-17, riding the team pursuit.
“I made a big decision to put ski racing and ski cross off for a season,” said Simmerling. “It’s going to be a super, super hard goal to accomplish and it’s a very tough challenge but I really believe that I can go to Rio.”
Yes, Rio 2016, which is just seven months away. With Canada’s World Cup leading team pursuit? Yes to that, too.
No fear
In June 2014, Simmerling rode at a Cycling Canada talent ID camp in Los Angeles. “I had never been on a velodrome before. I had never ridden a track bike, and I showed up to L.A. and was like, ‘Holy moly there’s not a chance I’m getting on that thing,'” she recalled. “I fell in love with the sport after a week.”
All of this in the ski cross off-season following two World Cup bronze medals and a 14th-place finish at the Sochi Olympics.
“She does not have a lot of fear,” said ski cross Athletic Director Willy Raine. During one crash, in early 2012, Simmerling broke three vertebrae in her neck and back. She was in a body brace for seven weeks.
In December of the same year she won her first World Cup medal.
Post via CBC