Sami Kennedy-Sim of Australia reacts during the Freestyle Skiing Ladies' Ski Cross 1/8 Finals on day fourteen of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Phoenix Snow Park on February 23, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea. © 2018 Getty Images Dual Olympian Sami Kennedy-Sim has recorded her best result of the season after finishing eighth in the women's Ski Cross finals at Phoenix Park on Friday.
While the 29-year-old said that it was "hard not to be disappointed" with her placing, the skier heads into her last remaining World Cups after PyeongChang confident and ready to fight.
"That was a solid battle and it's a step up for me and the best result that I've had all season," she said.
"I'm going to continue building on this, I've got three more World Cups after this straight away so it's time for me to get my act together and keep producing these performances."
Canada dominated the podium, with compatriots Kelsey Serwa and Brittany Phelan winning gold and silver while Switzerland's Fanny Smith secured bronze.
Prior to the finals, Kennedy-Sim spent time reviewing old footage from the PyeongChang test event.
"I was looking for race footage from when we were here ... and all I could find was our qualifying footage so we decided to have a watch," she said.
"Two years ago I was still making small finals and getting similar results but I am so much better now than I was two years ago.
"Then talk about four years ago, six years ago, everyone is just stepping up in this sport and it is a pleasure to be part of it.
"To be one of the top girls in the world, that's sick and I hope that I can get other kids to come and have a crack, it's super fun!"
After the Sochi Olympian was guaranteed a spot in the quarterfinals due to Italy's Lucrezia Fantelli not starting, the Sydney native said that she was afforded an "extra training run" in her first heat of the day.
"I just managed to knuckle everything down when it counted and get into the semi," she said.
"I skied the run that I've had on my mind the whole time I've been here and it finally came out on snow."
Misfortune struck the skier when her pole broke at the beginning of the semi-final.
"Unfortunately I had a bit of bad luck in the semi-final to go through to the final breaking my pole at the start and getting stuck.
"Exercising my fitness and my strength by having got myself up the Wu-Tang which didn't feel very good."
While Kennedy-Sim was disappointed to have missed out on walking with her teammates in the Opening Ceremony, there was a sea of green and gold at Phoenix Park to cheer the Olympian on.
"I've looked out in the crowd today and there's a big sea of yellow Aussie jackets here. That to me has summed up my Olympic experience, coming down in my first heat and just seeing so many Aussies, everyone cheering my name, that's amazing to have that support," she said.
"I'm really lucky to have my family here, some friends, some teammates but also my Ski Cross family.
"Our small team, we are a big family and we travel and spend way more time together than we do with our own families.
"I'm really looking forward to sharing today with them and being able to spend time with people and really relax a bit.
"In two days we pack up and it's business again."
David Barden
olympics.com.au
While the 29-year-old said that it was "hard not to be disappointed" with her placing, the skier heads into her last remaining World Cups after PyeongChang confident and ready to fight.
"That was a solid battle and it's a step up for me and the best result that I've had all season," she said.
"I'm going to continue building on this, I've got three more World Cups after this straight away so it's time for me to get my act together and keep producing these performances."
Canada dominated the podium, with compatriots Kelsey Serwa and Brittany Phelan winning gold and silver while Switzerland's Fanny Smith secured bronze.
Prior to the finals, Kennedy-Sim spent time reviewing old footage from the PyeongChang test event.
"I was looking for race footage from when we were here ... and all I could find was our qualifying footage so we decided to have a watch," she said.
"Two years ago I was still making small finals and getting similar results but I am so much better now than I was two years ago.
"Then talk about four years ago, six years ago, everyone is just stepping up in this sport and it is a pleasure to be part of it.
"To be one of the top girls in the world, that's sick and I hope that I can get other kids to come and have a crack, it's super fun!"
After the Sochi Olympian was guaranteed a spot in the quarterfinals due to Italy's Lucrezia Fantelli not starting, the Sydney native said that she was afforded an "extra training run" in her first heat of the day.
"I just managed to knuckle everything down when it counted and get into the semi," she said.
"I skied the run that I've had on my mind the whole time I've been here and it finally came out on snow."
Misfortune struck the skier when her pole broke at the beginning of the semi-final.
"Unfortunately I had a bit of bad luck in the semi-final to go through to the final breaking my pole at the start and getting stuck.
"Exercising my fitness and my strength by having got myself up the Wu-Tang which didn't feel very good."
While Kennedy-Sim was disappointed to have missed out on walking with her teammates in the Opening Ceremony, there was a sea of green and gold at Phoenix Park to cheer the Olympian on.
"I've looked out in the crowd today and there's a big sea of yellow Aussie jackets here. That to me has summed up my Olympic experience, coming down in my first heat and just seeing so many Aussies, everyone cheering my name, that's amazing to have that support," she said.
"I'm really lucky to have my family here, some friends, some teammates but also my Ski Cross family.
"Our small team, we are a big family and we travel and spend way more time together than we do with our own families.
"I'm really looking forward to sharing today with them and being able to spend time with people and really relax a bit.
"In two days we pack up and it's business again."
David Barden
olympics.com.au
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