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Hi I’m Sammy, I’m from Jindabyne and from Manly on Sydney’s
northern beaches and I compete in ski cross. Okay so ski cross
is a competition where 32 competitors go down a track that’s
seeded into heats of four and it’s a knockout round so the best
two from each heat proceed to the next round until there is
eight team members remaining. The highlights of my career so
far has been a fifth place at Blue Mountain World Cup in 2012
followed then by a fifth place in Branus World Cup the same year.
It was really a breakthrough year for me. I’d come off the
season before with just one top eight performance and you know
it was, it was the final jigsaw pieces were coming together.
Yes I visited Sochi in February this year for our trial World Cup
but it was quite intimidating for me been this you know pinnacle
event, and I think it’s going to be a great event in Sochi, the
tracks amazing, the course is massive, the jumps are so big and
it’s quite specular. The AIS has been pretty essential in my
development especially in the last four years of been a scholarship
holder. Having access to medical facilities has probably been the
biggest advantage for me, been able to keep my body in the best
shape and performance ready all the time. But mostly it’s been
involved in the community at the AIS. I lived and relocated to the
AIS for eighteen months on a permanent basis and the legacy
I’ve formed there with SARK and other athletes has been integral
to my development. In April this year I returned home from my
competitive season, had minor knee surgery and two days later
suffered from an infarct stroke which means that there was a
blood clot in my brain. I was paralysed on the left hand side,
I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t talk and ended up in Calvary
Hospital for a week and plus the AIS has been integral in my
development back to where I am today and hopefully to where I
get in February. I feel really lucky to be involved in the
winter sport community and as you know you’ll see at the induction
tonight for example it’s quite a close knit community and the
level of performance that we have within the community is outstanding.
We have several world champions who have had Olympic medals.
We’re there, people don’t know about us but they will.