‘Podium plan’: Australian Olympian Sami Kennedy-Sim on track for Beijing Winter Olympics

Skier Sami Kennedy-Sim lost an entire season to rehab, but it was the perfect time to create her “podium plan” for her next Olympics.

Winter Olympian Sami Kingston-Smith. Picture: Darren Leigh Roberts

Two-time Olympian Sami Kennedy-Sim, her left arm in a brace and recently out of quarantine, is disappointed of course but this is a woman who was told she would never walk again following a stroke.

So a badly dislocated elbow courtesy of a training crash and a season lost to rehab was tough - and painful - but also the perfect opportunity for the 32-year-old to formulate her “podium plan” for the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Kennedy-Sim had enjoyed a great start to the 2020/21 World Cup tour when the ski cross athlete qualified with the fastest time for the first event of the year in Switzerland in December before finishing third in the final. It was Kennedy-Sim’s first visit to the podium since 2017.

A sixth placing the following day had her set for a breakout season before the unpredictability of ski cross - think of motocross on skies - enforced a reset complete with hotel quarantine in Sydney and her first Australian summer in more than a decade.

Two-time Olympian Sami Kennedy-Sim. Picture: Darren Leigh Roberts

“It’s so strange to be back in an Aussie summer, I don’t even have a summer wardrobe ... being at home with an injury is never easy but I am really struggling with the heat,” the Manly local said.

“While stuck in quarantine my rehab was pain management and just moving my fingers in my left hand. I’ve moved on from that and they’re saying that I should be back to normal by three months.

“I still feel like that’s kind of optimistic ... I’ve lost most of the muscle on my left hand, on my arm and on my forearm, my bicep, my tricep, my shoulder. I’m fortunate that my body makeup is that I don’t have trouble putting on muscle. I do that quite easily.

“The good thing is it happened in December, which means that three months would take me to March ... and I could maximise the Australian winter.

“I’m looking for that silver lining but I’m equal parts optimistic and nervous about the three months.”

Sami Kennedy-Sim at Phoenix Snow Park, during the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, in PyeongChang, South Korea. Picture: AAP

The one thing Kennedy-Sim is not nervous about is COVID.

“We assume so much risk in what we do already ... I’m travelling anywhere from 70 to 90 kilometres per hour with three other people next to me, the Alpine skiers are doing in excess of 120 km/hr and then the aerial guys are going upside down on purpose,” she said.

“There are so many risks associated with the sports we do. COVID has changed sport for all of us but for us, it’s just another consideration that we factor in.

“We’re a year out from Beijing but I think COVID has taught us that you can plan but that plan may need tweaking every week. You have to learn to adapt as you go and not get stressed if things have to change.”

Nine months before the Sochi Olympics, Kennedy-Sim survived a stroke caused by a blood clot that had travelled through her heart and into her brain following knee surgery.

The knee surgery itself was a minor operation but the clot travelled through a minor hole in her heart to her brain, causing the stroke.

Kennedy-Sim said the training crash and a season lost to rehab was tough but was also the perfect opportunity to formulate her “podium plan” for the Beijing Winter Olympics. Picture: Darren Leigh Roberts

The quick action of husband and now retired Olympic cross country skier Ben saw her arrive in hospital less than 10 minutes after the episode with the speed of the trip assisting in her recovery.

“It’s kind of unfortunate that I’ve injured my left side. I still have deficits from my stroke.

“I think I’m a bit nervous about my rehab because my left hand side, it’s just never quite been the same. My left side fatigues a lot quicker and if I use my leg, as my example, I have to really think about some exercises like stability or balance - or even a ski turn, I have to really think about it with my left hand side but it’s automatic on my right.”

The 2020/21 season is the beginning of Olympic qualifying in ski cross - only the top 32 qualify for the Games.

Kennedy-Sim, ranked third after the first event, needs to stay in the top 32 - she currently is 16th.

“There is nothing I can do about the rankings, I’m just sticking to my rehab and podium plan.”