The XXII Olympic Winter Games will open in Sochi, Russia, on Feb. 7. With the Games less than two months away, athletes from around the country are competing for a spot on one of the Olympic teams ranging from alpine skiing to snowboard cross. Locally, nearly two dozen athletes are hoping to take one of the coveted spots, some competing for the United States and a few competing for our nations. To have a single athlete represent our region would be amazing, but with the possibility of a number of athletes set to represent the Tahoe-Truckee region, that phenomenal prospect is something to celebrate.
The Weekly will be celebrating those inspiring athletes in the coming months as they strive to earn a spot for the Winter Games in a series we’ve calling “Olympic Hopefuls.” Some of the athletes have already earned a spot, while others may or may not make one of the teams, but all of them deserve recognition for their athleticism and, most especially, for striving to reach their dreams (and inspiring others to do the same).
Olympic Sport: Snowboard Half Pipe
Hometown: South Lake Tahoe
Resort team: Northstar California
Elena Hight was just 6-years-old when her family moved from the beaches of Hawaii to South Lake Tahoe. Her father missed surfing the waves of the islands, but he found the next best thing: taking Elena snowboarding at Heavenly Mountain Resort. She was instantly smitten. By the age of 7, she was racing with the Heavenly Snowboard Foundation, and at just 16 was flying through the air for the United States in half pipe at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turino, Italy. She returned to compete again in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, and is doing her best to be a part of the 2014 Winter Olympics snowboarding team in Sochi.
Elena, now 24, says that she not only wants to compete in Sochi, but also “hopes to come home with a gold medal. That’s the plan. I spent a lot of time on snow this summer. I went to Mount Hood for a month. Then three weeks in New Zealand later in the season.” She’s also been doing a great deal of strength training with a personal trainer, as well as attending yoga classes to build flexibility.
Before she can have the chance to get that Gold Medal, Hight has another difficult challenge: She must first qualify as one of those who can compete in the half pipe in Sochi for the United States Olympic Team. Hight says she knows she has to give it her all since “eight out of the top 10 woman competitors in the world are from the United States.”
And, there are only spots for four women and four men in the competition. The decision regarding who will be competing comes down to the top two results for each athlete at five events between Dec. 15 and Jan. 19.
Hight is determined and optimistic.
“I’m coming off a good season last year. I’ve stepped up my riding quite a bit. I’ve done everything I can to prepare for this season. I feel good about my chances.”
In fact, 2012 was a huge success for Hight. She won Silver Medals at the X Games in Tignes, France, and Aspen, Colo. And, won Gold Medals at the Grand Prix in Mammoth and the U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships in Vermont.
While Hight’s family still lives in South Lake Tahoe. She recently moved to Incline Village to be closer to her home mountain at Northstar. She is happy to give credit to Tahoe for her success.
“I’ve been so lucky being able to travel the world doing snowboarding, but really there is no place in the world like Tahoe. I’m so blessed to come back home to Tahoe,” she says. “You don’t know what you have until you leave. The availability of the mountains, the talent that comes out of Tahoe. I don’t know if I would be on the path I am on unless I grew up here.”
While Hight prepares for her big event, Snowboarder Magazine is following her, and will soon be putting out monthly behind-the-scenes videos, called Hight Hopes, on her quest for Gold.
While snowboarding might be her primary passion, she also loves to surf and cook healthy food. She’s even included some of her favorite recipes on her blog at blog.elenahight.com. She also was involved with the design of several clothing pieces available through Volcom, although she is perhaps better appreciated by many of her fans for wearing no clothes, just her bright red hair and a big smile in the ESPN 2013 Body issue, which celebrated the power and beauty of the athletic body.
