“I remember how focused I was in the start gate and how overwhelmed I was when I crossed the finish. Just five weeks before I had no idea I would actually be competing.”

Nearly four years on that is how mogul skier Britteny Cox remembers her experience at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Cox was just 15 when she made her Olympic debut in Vancouver, the youngest athlete of any nation competing at the Games, qualifying only weeks before the competition started.

Now with the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia just over the horizon, Cox has come full circle and cemented herself as Australia’s foremost female mogul skier, taking what she learnt in Vancouver, her first major international competition, to propel her into the top echelon of the world’s snow sport athletes.

“After Vancouver I was really inspired and fuelled by the Olympic fever. I became hungrier to ski better and in order to do that it was important for me to become stronger,” Cox said.

“I saw how other athletes conducted themselves both in moguls and other sports and I think that really opened my eyes to elite sports at the highest level.”

Shortly after her Olympic debut Cox recorded a then-personal best finish of 14th on the world cup circuit in late 2011, before following this by creating history to become Australia’s first female moguls world cup medallist, winning a bronze medal in early 2012. The success on the snow came in the midst of a coaching change after Cox moved from NSWIS moguls head coach Peter Topalovic, to the national head coach Steve ‘Des’ Desovich and jumps coach Jerry Grossi, who comes from an aerial skiing background.

With direction from some of the best coaches and support staff the sport has to offer, Cox has upped her game and applied her expanding knowledge to improve her skills.

“There are some areas of coaching where the jumping and skiing overlap, and Des and Jerry work closely together on these aspects to achieve the best possible outcome. While we are training Jerry will usually be posted at the side of one of the jumps and Des at the bottom of the course,” Cox explained.

“It’s fantastic having two coaches who are both excellent in their areas of expertise.”

Like many sports, moguls benefits heavily from the use of sport science to gain a competitive edge. The increased use of biomechanics and video analysis has allowed Cox to iron out the creases in her technique to make the transition from one of Australia’s brightest prospects to Australia’s best. 

In a sport that requires precision turns and flawless timing at every moment, Cox takes an extremely proactive approach to rectifying problems as quickly as possible. In years gone by the video analysis process may have begun after a training session, but now Cox examines where she needs to improve almost instantaneously.

“Instant-review monitors and iPads are now being used by many teams, including ours, so we can review whilst on the chairlift back to the top in order to know what worked well on that run and what can be improved on the next one.

“Slow motion footage allows me to see minor details such as foot placement and ski-tip direction through the moguls that may be difficult to pick up in normal time. This allows me to see how I can do things to more efficiently to enhance my technique and speed down the course,” Cox revealed.

“If I have a good jump or run and I am able to see it externally, I can remember what it felt like and try to replicate it on the next one.”

It is Cox’s continued improvement that saw her enjoy another strong northern hemisphere season in 2012/13. Although she could have been forgiven for having one eye on Sochi, the Jindabyne resident made sure she was centred on capitalising on a good offseason in Australia by taking each race one turn at a time.

The season was highlighted by another medal winning performance, bronze in Lake Placid, as well as a fourth place finish in Austria and a top-10 placing at the world championships. On the whole Cox said she was pleased with what she achieved.

“In terms of my results I knew that I was capable of achieving a podium finish as I did that at the very end of the previous season. And, with my improvements over the year I wanted to show myself that it was not just a once-off, so I was very pleased when I achieved another podium result in Lake Placid, USA and fourth place in the duals (moguls) in Austria,” Cox reflected.

“By the time world championships came around at the end of the season I felt like the technique of my skiing was up to the capacities of my physical strength.”

Cox is determined to continue her impressive progression that started four years ago in Vancouver. The Australian offseason in 2013 is shaping up to be one of the most important in Cox’s career so far. Another opportunity at Games success looms and the rising star wants to make the preparation as unspoiled as possible.

“I am aiming to get as strong and fit as possible to be able to make some improvements to both my jumping and skiing on snow,” Cox said.

“I know I ski my best when I am focused on how I want my skiing to look and feel, so for these next few months I will be training hard to improve that.

“Although the main focus will be training, we will also be competing. Being one of the few places in the world with a world-class mogul course, many strong international teams come to Australia to train at this time, so these events traditionally provide some great competition and a good tracking point to see how we are going at the mid-year mark.

Cox will balance her training and competition in Australia with the Higher School Certificate. Following the domestic winter she will head back overseas before making the final tilt at qualifying for the Games with camps and competitions in the USA and Europe.

Competing at the highest level was just a pipedream scheduled to become reality in 2014, but now with one Olympiad already under her belt, she is determined not to be overawed by the Games once they roll around in Sochi. 

And given the setting of the Olympic stage, where it is not uncommon to see a dark horse rise to match it with the sport’s elite, Cox can afford to be quietly confident of a successful campaign in Russia. After four years of learning from the best coaches and athletes around the world, Cox said she has accepted that anything can happen at the Olympic Games.

So while there is no doubt that Cox will give her best to achieve yet another personal best, ultimately she will be doing herself and country proud by competing in Russia.

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