Alpine skier VanderBeek: 'Let 'er rip'

Canadian had Olympic dream shattered on Dec. 17th in a season-ending crash

Last Updated: Monday, January 4, 2010 | 12:09 PM ET

By Lindsey Craig, CBC Sports

Coming in fourth place at the 2006 Torino Games, Kelly VanderBeek has been hungry for the Olympic podium ever since. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

Alpine skier Kelly VanderBeek was considered a medal contender for the 2010 Games. Tragically, a crash on Dec. 17th in a World Cup training run ended her Olympic dream. Here is VanderBeek's story prior to the crash.

Enough with the talk.

For the past few years, talk is all it's been. And now that the 2010 Olympics are right around the corner, downhill skier Kelly VanderBeek, a blogger for CBCSports.ca, is itching to get to the starting line.

"A big part of me is like, 'Finally!'" she said. "I'm ready to start racing … let's just put it all out on the line."

There might be one reason in particular why she's so eager.

At the 2006 Games in Turin, VanderBeek, 26, of Kitchener, Ont., came so close to the podium she could taste it.

"I came fourth in Torino by three one-hundredths of a second," she said.

So, with a chance to try for an Olympic medal again - in one of the tightest fields in sport - she's giving it everything she's got.

"I need to have only one gear when it comes to race day, and that's from top to bo

ttom, just relentless," she said. "I know I have the skills to do it."

Feeling confident isn't something VanderBeek takes for granted. The 2008-2009 season was one of her toughest.

'I know I have the skills to do it.'—Kelly Vanderbeek

A violent crash last January left her with two separated shoulders. A chest infection held her back for three weeks. Then there was a gastrointestinal flu that had her vomiting on the ski hill.

But today, VanderBeek, who married Canadian Olympic kayaker David Ford in April of this year, says she's never felt better.

"I'm feeling really healthy right now, and that helps a lot with your confidence when you're not dealing with pain every day," she said.

"It's a mind game, this sport … crazy accidents happen," she continued. "But you just can't think about it. You just have to try to go faster."

Recent changes to her equipment might help her to do that. Having felt uneasy with her gear last season, she has gone down an entire size in her ski boots.

"I always felt like I was swimming in my boots. I was catching edges like crazy," she said.

Now, feeling more comfy in her gear and strong in every sense of the word, VanderBeek will hit the slopes late November as the World Cup circuit begins.

"Let 'er rip!" she says.