Sochi Olympian and former Doreen resident Emily Bamford had a top-40 finish in sight after her first of two women’s slalom runs at Rosa Khutor Alpine Centre. But a momentary loss of balance steered her over a flex pole on her second run, dropping her out of contention.
She was among 11 other competitors out of a field of 90 to receive a DNF (did not finish) next to her name.
And while she placed an honourable 50th in her other event, the women’s giant slalom, Bamford, 21, says she was disappointed with her performance at the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia.
“I can honestly say I wasn’t [happy]. I think I competed to the best of my ability, but those days weren’t my days,” she told the Weekly. “But it’s got me fighting for 2018 [the Winter Olympics in South Korea].
It’s this glaring determination that has steered her success.
Her mother Colleen Bamford testifies to a life of “sacrifice”. “She’s just 21, but she’s in bed most nights at 9pm and up again early training in the gym,” she said. “It’s a pretty lonely life for an Australian ski racer; she’s spent many years away from her family.”
Bamford grew up on a harness racing farm in Doreen and attended Ivanhoe Grammar in Mernda. “Horse-riding was something I grew up with. I took it for granted that instead of unpacking the dishwasher I’d have to feed 30 horses,” she said.
But she was no ordinary horse rider. She competed at the state level in dressage, all the while experiencing success on skis at state and national interschool snowsports championships.
She made the decision to focus on skiing before her 16th birthday and moved to Stratton Mountain School, a ski and snowboard academy in Vermont in the US, to complete years 11 and 12. There, she won the best female alpine athlete title.
Bamford is a three-time winner of the Australian New Zealand cup overall slalom title and has competed at three world junior championships. She’s been a member of the national alpine team since she was 16.
Bamford was still at school during the Vancouver 2000 Winter Olympics.
“I wasn’t ready at the time, but that’s when it became real for me, that if I put my head down I could compete in 2014,” she said.
And compete she did. She described walking around the Olympic Village as surreal.
While the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games are now in sight, she’s going to take a few months off. “I’m always chasing the snow,” she said, “but I just want a little break.”
And perhaps some sun rather than the Vitamin D tablets she takes in place of the real deal for 11 months of the year.
