I'm in Park City Utah!!
So the TV interview worked... I sold my car! But I did not have enough money to make it to my first IC race in Europe so the tickets got cancelled (was very very bummed out). But there was one option left that was much cheaper and still left me with a pathway (a very challenging one) to qualify and compete at the Olympics, that was to go to the Park City AC race that started a week later, do all the AC's in North America and stay on in Lake Placid after Christmas and rejoin the IC series once it arrives in Lake Placid, the challenging part is that half of my qualification races will be Americas Cup races which have very little points allocated (and qualification is all about your world ranking based on points gained).
Really I need to podium at 4 Americas Cup races and get very very good results at higher points IC races. It's doable, its gonna be hard as the first race is tomorrow and I have only had 4 runs in total on my sled on ice this season so far, it couldn't be in any more of an underdog situation, but I've spent nearly 4 years dreaming of the Olympic race in February, and the last 10 living and breathing skeleton, there was no choice but to come and race and hope like hell I find a way to stay on tour...
So that was the last option left for me, but I didnt actually have the funding to do it, but not going was not an option so I am here, and I have money from sponsorship (thank you Black Cat Consulting and Nick) and selling my car and a bunch of other stuff to get my tickets and get through the first 3 and a half weeks. I need to find another sponsor or have my house sell, or have my house fill up with lots families wanting a holiday in Mackenzie district (my house is set up as a holiday rental), or sell all my runners (blades) and other sliding equipment that I don't use - I've got a for sale sign up in the start house, or someone buy my brothers car (on trademe)...
It's a bit of a gamble, heading away with out enough money but I'd rather come away and try and run out of money and have to head home knowing I did all I could, the other option was to sit at home in NZ and wonder what if....
I'll update you all on how the sliding is going tonight after I've come back from my final training session.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Friday, November 06, 2009
Interview
Thanks to Burmuda slider Patrick Singleton, my CGW interview is now on Youtube, check it out, forward it on and help me find another sponsor please! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg5hNYoCBJY
mini sold
ok, so I've sold my mini, never expected it but my Mum and Bron (step dad) want it!! So theres $6000 towards the season and overnight I got a quote in for all my flights... $6100 which is very expensive, need to pay for them by wednesday, money for the car doesnt come in till Saturday and I still need to find a way to pay for car rental, accomadation, food and training runs.... any good ideas or keen sponsors out there?
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Road trip complete and The Crowd Goes Wild.
Well this week has been busy, 7 days ago I arrived in Christchurch and did a loop around the south island collecting my mini from storage and headed back up to Auckland in my 1980 1275gt Mini with my brother Matt as co driver. We did Burkes Pass to Auckland in 33 hours, and we caught up with all 4 parents, 6 siblings and 2 nieces along the way. I was wrecked by the time we rolled in to Auckland. But the house is now listed for sale with 3 companies and both the Mini and Matt's car are listed on Trademe in a bid to get me some money to get to my first race.
Today I trained at the Paradise Ice rink in Avondale and Hayley Holt came along to try pushing a sled (I'm sure we could turn her into a skeleton racer, Hayley there is a school at the end of the month, I can lend you a sled!) and to find out why I'm not overseas yet, the interview should to air tonight on The Crowd Goes Wild, Prime TV at 7pm.
For any one wondering why I'm not overseas yet it's because I have not managed to secure the $$ to go. What a waste of 4 years hard work to get to this point and not have the money to make it to my Olympic qualification races, it is so frustrating. But with any luck someone will be watching tonight and think my little house near Lake Tekapo looks like the perfect holiday house, and some super keen Mini enthusiast sees my wicked little car and decides a classic mini that handles the road like a go kart and can buzz up the country with no worries would be a great summer toy! AND AND someone else watching decides that sponsoring me to have a crack at New Zealands first ever Winter Olympic Gold medal sounds like an adventure they would like to be part of. I can provide GST receipts for companies wanting to advertise on my sled/car/helmet/website or I can process credit card donations through Pay Pal , what else... Public speaking, let me come and inspire your class/staff/clients with the tale of how a West Auckland girl became an Olympian in wild wild winter sport.
I realise that the kind of program that included coaching, physio, camera analysis, a manager, like the one I was very privileged to experience for a few years (thanks to a generous sponsor who unfortunately was unable to continue the financial commitment) is out of the question for this Olympic season. So I'm going back to the cool runnings/ kiwi style of participation, rejoining my fellow 'banana nation athletes' who participate on the smell of an oily rag, the lucky thing is that even if I'm staying at the cheapest little pension, or back packers, or even better - score a free couch to sleep on, even if I'm back to living on two minute noodles, cuppa soups and subway, I've still got 9 years sliding experience, I've still got one Olympic games under my belt and I'm a great driver and this off season I've put in more time in the gym and pushing on ice than ever before. So it doesn't matter if I've got no support crew, I think I have a shot at achieving the so called impossible even on the tiniest budget.
This is what I need to be able to do it with a rented car, a paid room and affordable meal options that don't include two minute noodles: $5000 airfares, $5000 car rental, $1000 training fees, $800 insurance, $5000 Accommodation/Food. Any extra will be spent on petrol, extra food, extra training runs and Coaching. (A top coach for the season with all travel and related expenses will set you back between $70k and $100k ... it's the biggest cost in this sport, and while I have a coach lined up keen to go, it would take a miracle to find the support to have him this season). And if your wondering how I can include petrol as an extra, there is always a small nation ('banana nation' as we are called) athlete with no car who will chip in petrol to get a lift to the track - thats how I started out.
If you think you might like to sponsor any part of that, purchase advertising space on my sled, contract me for a speaking engagement, buy my house, buy my car or buy Matts car, then email me lou@nzskeletonracer.com, phone me 0211580728 or donate directly at paypal.
A huge thank you goes out to Black Cat Consulting, who have come on board with support, if you need a great recruitment firm to find you your next key member of staff then contact Black Cat. And another huge thank you to Paradice ice rink for all the ice time they have sponsored me with and Adbloc for sponsoring the upgrade of my website.
And one last note for anyone reading this who is wondering how good I am at this sport and how much longer I can keep racing... I got the highest result out of all the women on the Kiwi Olympic team in Torino with a 12th place finish, I am the 2008 Americas Cup Champion (first southern hemisphere athlete to take out a championship title), my best World Cup result is 11th, my best IC result is 8th and I've won 3 Americas Cup gold medals. And in this Olympic season I will compete in my 100th international event representing NZ, but I'm still 7 years younger than the reigning Olympic Gold medalist.
Today I trained at the Paradise Ice rink in Avondale and Hayley Holt came along to try pushing a sled (I'm sure we could turn her into a skeleton racer, Hayley there is a school at the end of the month, I can lend you a sled!) and to find out why I'm not overseas yet, the interview should to air tonight on The Crowd Goes Wild, Prime TV at 7pm.
For any one wondering why I'm not overseas yet it's because I have not managed to secure the $$ to go. What a waste of 4 years hard work to get to this point and not have the money to make it to my Olympic qualification races, it is so frustrating. But with any luck someone will be watching tonight and think my little house near Lake Tekapo looks like the perfect holiday house, and some super keen Mini enthusiast sees my wicked little car and decides a classic mini that handles the road like a go kart and can buzz up the country with no worries would be a great summer toy! AND AND someone else watching decides that sponsoring me to have a crack at New Zealands first ever Winter Olympic Gold medal sounds like an adventure they would like to be part of. I can provide GST receipts for companies wanting to advertise on my sled/car/helmet/website or I can process credit card donations through Pay Pal , what else... Public speaking, let me come and inspire your class/staff/clients with the tale of how a West Auckland girl became an Olympian in wild wild winter sport.
I realise that the kind of program that included coaching, physio, camera analysis, a manager, like the one I was very privileged to experience for a few years (thanks to a generous sponsor who unfortunately was unable to continue the financial commitment) is out of the question for this Olympic season. So I'm going back to the cool runnings/ kiwi style of participation, rejoining my fellow 'banana nation athletes' who participate on the smell of an oily rag, the lucky thing is that even if I'm staying at the cheapest little pension, or back packers, or even better - score a free couch to sleep on, even if I'm back to living on two minute noodles, cuppa soups and subway, I've still got 9 years sliding experience, I've still got one Olympic games under my belt and I'm a great driver and this off season I've put in more time in the gym and pushing on ice than ever before. So it doesn't matter if I've got no support crew, I think I have a shot at achieving the so called impossible even on the tiniest budget.
This is what I need to be able to do it with a rented car, a paid room and affordable meal options that don't include two minute noodles: $5000 airfares, $5000 car rental, $1000 training fees, $800 insurance, $5000 Accommodation/Food. Any extra will be spent on petrol, extra food, extra training runs and Coaching. (A top coach for the season with all travel and related expenses will set you back between $70k and $100k ... it's the biggest cost in this sport, and while I have a coach lined up keen to go, it would take a miracle to find the support to have him this season). And if your wondering how I can include petrol as an extra, there is always a small nation ('banana nation' as we are called) athlete with no car who will chip in petrol to get a lift to the track - thats how I started out.
If you think you might like to sponsor any part of that, purchase advertising space on my sled, contract me for a speaking engagement, buy my house, buy my car or buy Matts car, then email me lou@nzskeletonracer.com, phone me 0211580728 or donate directly at paypal.
A huge thank you goes out to Black Cat Consulting, who have come on board with support, if you need a great recruitment firm to find you your next key member of staff then contact Black Cat. And another huge thank you to Paradice ice rink for all the ice time they have sponsored me with and Adbloc for sponsoring the upgrade of my website.
And one last note for anyone reading this who is wondering how good I am at this sport and how much longer I can keep racing... I got the highest result out of all the women on the Kiwi Olympic team in Torino with a 12th place finish, I am the 2008 Americas Cup Champion (first southern hemisphere athlete to take out a championship title), my best World Cup result is 11th, my best IC result is 8th and I've won 3 Americas Cup gold medals. And in this Olympic season I will compete in my 100th international event representing NZ, but I'm still 7 years younger than the reigning Olympic Gold medalist.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
