QA with Hannah Kearney following Tignes moguls World Cup win
Q&A with Hannah Kearney following Tignes moguls World Cup winHannah Kearney won the first moguls World Cup event of the season Dec. 14 at Tignes, France. Kearney won with a score of 25.75, better than the 25.37 earned by Jennifer Heil of Canada. On Thursday, Dec. 15, Kearney and her teammates travel to Oberstdorf, Germany, for a freestyle World Cup there. Then it’s back to the United States and ultimately to Steamboat for the Gold Cup an Olympic qualifier, Dec. 30-31. Ski Racing magazine interviewed Kearney just after the awards ceremony.
Ski Racing: So how was your skiing today?
Hannah Kearney: Good! Better than everyone else’s, I guess [laughs]. It felt pretty good. My airs were pretty solid. I skied as fast as I could. And I think what won it for me was my turns. I had really good turns.
SR: You haven’t been in Europe long.
HK: We just got here four or five days ago. First competition of the year. I did all right with the sleeping and all that, and we were already at altitude in Colorado, so I adjusted just fine. It feels good to be back competing again. It’s always nice to be back in Europe. I love France, the food’s always really good. I like the course too.
SR: What’s next for you and your teammates?
HK:Tomorrow we’re leaving at 5:30 am, driving 10 hours to a competition in Germany, and then we’ll go home for Christmas. We’re only home for six days and then we’ll go to Colorado for our Gold Cup.
SR: What will that be like?
HK: I’ve never been to a Gold Cup, or really any event that’s just the U.S. Ski Team. So it’ll be unique. I’m sure it’ll be exciting too, because an Olympic spot’s on the line.
SR: Do you remember what you were doing Dec. 14, 2001?
HK: I wanted to make the U.S. Ski Team, I was a sophomore in high school and I got to forerun the Olympics, which was a dream come true. I knew I’d be here someday.
SR: Is the competition for the Olympic spots as intense on the women’s moguls team as it is on the men’s?
HK: I don’t know if it’s as intense, but it’s tough. The Americans stepped up today. The competition’s really intense, and there are only four spots. I didn’t see any of my teammates ski, actually. All of us have an equal shot at making the Olympics, so you just have to stay tuned.