This weekend is the first of two World Cup competitions for alpine ski racing. First in Copper Mountain and then Beaver Creek in Colorado.
Bay Area-native Erik Arvidsson is hoping to make his Olympic debut in Milan-Cortina. It’s been an uphill battle for him to get back on the mountain and competing after back-to-back injuries.
“I’ve only known being able to ski my entire life,” Arvidsson said.
Born and raised in Woodside, Arvidsson says his family would head up north to the mountains almost every weekend. At the age of 8, he competed in his first race at Bear Valley.
“My parents just opened every single door that I wanted to go through,” he said. “My dad would commute to the Bay Area Monday through Friday for work and my mom would stay with my little brother and I, my younger brother for basically January, February, and March, so we can train.”
He said he doesn’t know what its like to not having skis on his feet. But, for the past year, Arvidsson hasn’t been skiing. Instead, he’s been in the gym rehabbing after major knee injuries. Arvidsson tore his ACL and LCL in November 2023. A year later, he retore the ACL and had a second surgery in January, 13 months before the Winter Olympics.
Arvidsson says, “that was incredibly dark and honest honestly it was first time in my in my career that I thought is this worth it? Am I gonna make it through this? Like, is this the right thing on the wall? Should I just hang them up?”
He hasn’t hung up the skis. Instead the passion for the sport has him more determined both physically and mentally. Arvidsson wants no regrets.
“For this Olympics specifically, I want to look back on the last 12 months and just know in my deepest heart that I gave it I gave every ounce of effort and every I gave myself the best chance to be there … I’ll sleep well in February, no matter what, if I put in the work the next few months.”
Source: NBC Bay Area
Be First to Comment