The new plan...

I had a crash in Watles, Italy last Wednesday prior to official training for the first World Cup of 2016. There was fresh snow on the piste and my ski tips dug into the snow- And I tomahawked (head over heels) 6 times. I relaxed as I was crashing, knowing that if I tried to fight my way out of the crash I could be seriously inured.

I have walked away with minimal injuries. I was taken down to hospital for x-rays to check my neck, shoulder, knee and lower leg and thankfully nothing was broken. I was given some crutches and walked away with a suspected achillies tear, calf tear and stretched ligaments in my ankle. My shoulder had some small bone bruising and a little whiplash in my neck. My Uvex helmet prevented a serious concussion!

Needless to say I am incredibly lucky to walk away with only minor injries. I have never been more thankful of the training I have done in the pre season in the gym! Every day my injuries are getting better and better.

So in the blink of an eye, I have missed out on the first 3 World Cups of the season. I can't describe the feeling of being an athlete and watching your peers compete from the sidelines. But I am happy to have come and tried to race. Best of luck to my team mate anton who is competiting in the World Cup today!

I came to Nakiska, Canada with the hope that I could be back on snow, back in the start gate for the World Cup and then on to my first X Games in Aspen next week. After 7 runs freeskiing on Thursday, there was no way I could compete at 100%: So No Nakiska World Cup and I also have withdrawn from X Games.

I was feeling sad about the way things have panned out- However I will now go back to Europe on Sunday. The plan is to get my leg back to 100%, spend some time on my Strength & Conditioning, then focus on my technical skiing before heading to the next World Cup in Idre (Sweden) on the 13th of February.

I wanted to say a big thank you to the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia Medical staff as well as the Austrian and German physiotherapists (Marlene and Martin!) for managing and assisting me in my return to snow. Also a big thank you to my awesome team (Shawn, Danny, Anton and Martin) and my family and friends for keeping my chin up though the past week.

I look forward to returning to competition in Sweden a better and faster Sami!

Check out the Team Sami website at www.teamsami.com.au