A Calgary teen is making her mark on the ski jumping scene and has high hopes for her Olympic future.
At Calgary's landmark ski jumps, 16-year-old Taylor Henrich is among a dedicated group of jumpers.
Taylor started jumping when she was just 8 and is already a veteran of the sport.
Her mom saw an advertisement on television about the summer camp at Canada Olympic Park.
"She's like, hey Taylor you should come and try this and I was like, actually it looks really fun. So I got into it through a COP summer camp called Camp Torch," said Taylor.
Now that women's ski jumping has been granted Olympic status, Taylor is working hard to qualify for the Sochi 2014 Winter Games.
"I was just so excited. I always wanted to go to the Olympics so just having that goal and being able to go now is just phenomenal," said Taylor.
"They need experience, they need training. They need to grow into their bodies and learn how to do this very, very technical sport of ski jumping. And it takes years to perfect so they just need a lot of jumps, they need good coaches, they need good training. They need what any athlete needs. Unfortunately for them they need to accelerate the curve and get to where they need to be for Sochi," said Jeff Pain, High-Performance Director for Ski Jumping Canada.
Taylor is coached by Ted Bafia and together they are always fine tuning Taylor's technique and making sure she has the right push off the takeoff.
At the recent Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria, Taylor finished 5th in the individual event and won a bronze medal in the team event.
Taylor knows she has a long way to go in order to realize her Olympic dream. "A lot of determination, being really focused and a lot of hard work."
For her desire to reach her goals and go for the gold, Taylor Heinrich is the CTV Calgary Athlete of the Week for Friday, February 17, 2012.
