University of New Hampshire Athletics
Olympics: Annika Taylor
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1. What is your daily schedule like nowadays leading up to the Olympics?
My daily schedule consists of two workouts a day, and for most weeks, 7 days of training in a week. During the summer months, training consists of a combination of running, classic roller skiing, skate roller skiing, strength, interval training and testing.
2. Where are you currently training?
After my senior year at UNH in 2015, I felt that I had made the necessary jumps in my skiing ability to make it worth the effort and financial strain to pursue a professional career in cross country skiing. I race my first World Cup race the winter after I graduated UNH, and then moved to Lillehammer, Norway for the best possible training opportunity a year later! So I am currently living in Norway, but traveling a lot for training camps- the British Nordic Team just arrived back from 3 weeks in Italy, and we have camps in Mallorca and France coming up in the next few months.
3. What event will you be competing in if you make it to the Olympics?
If officially selected, I will have the opportunity to race in all of the individual races at the Olympics- the schedule is as follows:
February 10th: Ladies Skiathalon (classic plus skate)
Feb. 13th: Classic sprint
Feb. 15th: Ladies 10km skate
Feb. 25th: Ladies 30km classic
I will be targeting February 15th, the 10km skate race, hoping for a top-30 spot! Results can be followed HERE.
4. How has UNH prepared you for this high-level competition?
Attending UNH challenged me to balance the strains of academics, racing, training and traveling all at the same time! I needed to have discipline and dedication to training and my teammates, to my studies, and I needed to have a clear, open and honest line of communication between my professors and my coaches to be able to perform well in both areas. My time at UNH, my ski teammates, coaches, and professors challenged me and grew me as a human being first and foremost, providing a platform for my ski career to take off from.
5. When is the final selections for your national team being made?
The 2018 GB Olympic Team will be officially announced on the 25th of January, 2018.
6. What does it mean to represent your country and the University of New Hampshire at the Olympics?
If I am officially selected to the 2018 Winter Olympics, I see it as a dream in the process of being fulfilled and as the intermediate product of dedication, focus, growth, defeat, and my ongoing life’s journey. I see it as a beautiful culmination of years of support, motivation and pushing from my parents, brother, sister-in-law, friends, teammates, coaches, and professors. Cross country is generally slapped with the label of “individual sport,” but I would argue that it is impossible to make big growth without a community alongside me!
7. Why did you choose UNH as the college to continue your studies and compete?
Coming from the Lake Tahoe region of California, I grew up skiing, and knew that my competitive spirit, and love of racing, coupled with my academic drive, needed to take me to a new place. As a young ski racer in the West coast, I had always heard rumors of the “East Coast,” being a little bit shrouded in mystery and intrigue. So naturally, I decided to move East, and the moment I walked on the green, expansive UNH campus (despite it being a particularly melting summer day), and heard more from Cory and Steve about the ski program, the more my mind was made up. I wanted to be part of the UNH ski family, I desired to move and instantly have this strong community around me.
8. What do you miss most about UNH?
It is a difficult task to select just one aspect of UNH that I miss! A short list will have to suffice..1. The people- my professors, the ski team, meeting new students and athletes almost every day, and forming relationships! 2. The camaraderie and passion in the UNH ski team, in UNH Wildcat Athletics, and in the classroom 3. Philbrook lunch (I’m looking at you roasted sweet potatoes and salad bar) 4. The constant challenge to grow and learn as a person, as an scholar, and as an athlete.
9. What are your goals at the Olympics?
With 2018 hopefully being my first ever Olympics, I do need to be realistic about my goals place-wise, but a lofty goal is to reach the top-30 in the 10km freestyle race! I really want to be able to experience each day fully as it comes, and just be a sponge, always learning from the top-racers around me both in how they race, and in how they conduct themselves when under pressure and international spotlight pressures.