Women of Winter | In Focus with Katerina Paul

Katerina Paul is an athlete like no other. She competes in cross country skiing where hours are spent pushing physical abilities to the limit in temperatures most people would relate frostbite and hypothermia to.

The 26-year-old from Taggerty, Victoria currently competes predominantly in ski marathons in Europe but is also handy in shorter events, particularly the classic sprint (which she recently won at the 2022 Australian Championship).

Katerina landed on the podium in the qualification event at the 2019 Seefeld FIS Nordic World Ski Championships and is looking forward to seeing what the next Olympic cycles bring.

The demanding endurance sport has taken her all around the world where she is passionate about empowering women in sport. We recently caught up with Katerina to chat about all things cross country skiing, women in winter sports and her proudest moments so far.

What is your background in the sport and what got you into Cross Country skiing? 

I got into XC skiing before I could walk, in the chariot towed around by either mum or dad every weekend during winter.  XC Skiing certainly runs through my veins, Mum (Sandra Paintin-Paul) and Dad (Andrew Paul) are dual Olympians in Biathlon. While I don’t do biathlon, I grew up XC skiing, for me it was normal for my weekend to be at the snow. I am thankful for the childhood my parents gave me and while they encouraged my skiing, they never pushed me into being competitive and didn’t let me start racing outside of interschools until I was around 15 years old. Now at 26, I am not slowing down anytime soon and I look forward to seeing what the next two Olympic cycles bring.

Aside from being on the National Cross Country Team, you are currently working with Snow Australia in another. Can you tell us a bit more about the role, what you have learnt and what you have enjoyed most so far?

I am currently interning with Snow Australia as my placement for the finish of my Bachelor of Business (Sport Management). I am really enjoying the role down in the Melbourne office at Snow Aus., the team are so welcoming and have shown me the ropes of what it takes to manage a SSO and NSO. My favourite part since being an intern has been the Women in Leadership workshop facilitated by Carol Fox, for the female staff at Snow Australia and the OWI. It was early on in my internship but the women I met those two days have really shown me how many like-minded women there are in the winter sporting sector.

Outside of Snow Australia I am an AIS Thrive with pride Ambassador. The program is about the promotion of inclusivity and awareness within SSO`s and NSO`s to support athletes of the LGBTQIA+ community so all can feel supported and NSO`s can become a safer environment for high-performance athletes, sporting organisation staff and coaches so they too can thrive to see the optimal performance for all. Furthermore, I wish to help educate the Australian sporting community and general population about the acceptance and respect of all LGBTQIA+ community members.

What would be some pieces of advice you wish you could tell your younger (Athlete) self?

Back yourself and bloody go for it! Do not doubt yourself and take every opportunity that comes your way. I have been quite lucky to be open to most opportunities that swing my way so I can’t say I would do anything different to what I have done. But to other young women in sport as an athlete or someone within the industry I would say, set yourself up and get your foot in every door, and while I am being metaphorical if you have run out of feet to put in doors, throw another shoe to the next door so it’s ready when you want to go through that door. As you never know when your time as an athlete/situation will end or change.

What is the XC scene like for women? Is there a strong interest in the younger generations and a pool of girls interested in progressing the sport for generations to come?

Women within XC skiing are a dominant force, we are lucky to be within a sport that some of the top earners are women, if not the top. The opportunities that exist for women within XC skiing are prominent with sponsors, and professional development. At a top professional level, the prize money is equal to our male counterparts, while this seems like a straightforward arrangement, many sports don’t have equal prize money. A further step towards equality for all, recently FIS XC Skiing has announced a big change within XC Skiing, making men and women do equal distances. 

Away from high-performance, I have been a part of many women in XC skiing events over the past decade. From Fast & Female to Ski De Femme, both events focus on inclusivity and encouragement for women to participate in sport from a high-performance down to a community-based level.

Interschools are important for keeping girls and women in sport, I would like to see more support and motivation for young girls in sport, to not only attain more involvement but to maintain participation within the sport during adolescent years.

What are your proudest achievements? 

It is hard for me to distinguish between 3 events for my proudest achievements. A big one for me was 32nd place at U23s World Championships in Lahti in the classic sprint, just 1 second out from the top 30. Another grand event for me was the 90km Vasaloppet in 2022 where I placed 42nd with a time of 4h:45m. Lastly a favourite of mine was the Winter Games ANZ Continental Cup in NZ where I placed 2nd in the classic sprint right behind Olympic Gold medallist Jessie Diggins.