Madi Hoffman reflects on the World Junior Alpine Championships
Published Fri 19 Mar 2021
Madi Hoffman has completed her third World Junior Alpine Championships and while the atmosphere was a little bit different because of COVID that didn’t dampen the excitement of competing against the best juniors in the world.
Hoffman had a strong idea of what the competition was going to be like having competed in the last two world championships, but it was her first time competing in the Slalom race.
“Two years ago I ruptured my patellar tendon during the GS [Giant Slalom] before the SL [Slalom] and last year the series was canceled midway through due to the pandemic. So, I was excited to give the SL a shot,” she said.
Although the result has left her with mixed feelings she’s impressed with the improvements she’s made and is fired up for what is to come.
“I was pretty disappointed about my first run. I had a mistake and just never really got back into the groove of the course. My second run was better, and I skied a little more like myself,” she said.
One of Hoffman’s takeaways from the championships is that she can be competitive with the other girls.
“I know I left time on the hill which is not the greatest feeling but that does fire me up knowing I can be competitive with these girls,” she said.
“Yes, they are fast skiers, but the only thing stopping me from being there with them is they go into the race knowing they can win, and I need to work on having a little more confidence in my own abilities.”
Hoffman has her fingers crossed to return to Australia for the domestic season after missing the last two years due to injury.
“I am sure we will go skiing over here in the US sometime in May/June before hopefully heading home for the Southern Hemisphere winter.
“I would absolutely love to be able to go back to Australia this winter to train and compete. Between my injuries, I have missed out on the last two Aussie winters and have been wanting to go back for a while now.”
Henry Heaydon and Hugh McAdam also competed at the Championships, Heaydon finishing 36th and McAdam 38th in the Men’s Super G.