The 2006 Winter Olympic women's parallel giant slalom snowboard race is eight months away.
Already, Wood River High School graduate Aprilia Hagglof knows she has qualified to compete in the big event Feb. 23 at Bardonnechia, Italy.
In late June, the Swedish Olympic Committee appointed the 22-year-old Hagglof for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games headquartered at Torino, Italy.
Her goal is to medal at the Olympics and Aprilia has considerable momentum in that direction, having won her first World Cup event with a first place in parallel slalom March 12 at Sierra Nevada, Spain.
A native of Sweden, Hagglof learned to snowboard on Sun Valley's Bald Mountain and was a member of the Sun Valley Snowboard Team. She speaks Swedish and English fluently and does pretty well with her Spanish.
Aprilia attended her first years of elementary school at Mougins, France, but spent a couple of years at Hemingway Elementary School in Ketchum after moving to the Wood River Valley in 1993.
She attended Wood River Middle School in Hailey from 1995-97 and earned a Citizenship Award honor. Aprilia was a National Honor Society member at Wood River High School and graduated in 2001 with a 3.79 GPA, in the top 10% of her graduating class.
In 2001, she and partner Ned Flanagan won a state tennis championship in mixed doubles for Wood River. Aprilia taught tennis for three years in the Atkinson Park summer recreation program. She worked as a waitress at Big Wood Bread and as a receptionist at Zenergy Sports Club.
After high school, she returned to Sweden and joined the Swedish National snowboard team. She was a national runner-up in 2002 and 2003.
This past season, Aprilia placed 10th in the world championship parallel giant slalom Jan. 18 at Whistler, B.C., Canada. Prior to her breakthrough victory at Sierra Nevada, she placed 27th, 29th, 8th and 11th in the World Cup's other PSL events for the 2004-05 winter.
Hagglof will attend training camps in Holland, Norway and Austria through September, and then compete in the first World Cup of the 2005-06 season Oct. 7, a PSL at Landgraaf, Holland. The first PGS is Oct. 16 at Solden, Austria.
She'll return to the states for a training camp at Copper Mountain, Colo. Nov. 12-25. Her World Cup stops this winter include Holland, Austria, Canada, Italy, Russia, Japan and, on March 10, Lake Placid, N.Y.
After the Olympic opening ceremonies next Feb. 10, she and the rest of the Swedish team will train for eight days at Alpe d'Huez, France—getting ready for the Olympic women's PGS next Feb. 23.
The Idaho Mountain Express contacted Hagglof for her comments in the wake of her Olympic honor.
Aprilia wrote: "The Swedish Olympic Committee released its first list of athletes who have made the cut for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy in February.
"There were 22 athletes who made the first list, and nine of them will be participating in the Olympics for their first time, including me. There will be three more lists coming out, the next in September, then in December, the last in January.
"After my first World Cup victory at Sierra Nevada, Spain on March 12, 2005, I knew that it would increase my chances of being selected early, but having it on paper is such a relief, as well as an amazing feeling.
"Knowing I'll be standing in the start gate at the Olympics never really seems to escape my thoughts. Everything I do in the next eight months, I will do to make me the most prepared for the Olympics.
"However, contrary as this may sound, the World Cup races this season will be just as important to me.
"Anything can happen in alpine snowboarding. The parallel aspect of it has made it so anyone qualified for the finals (top 16) can win. In every heat, you're fighting over hundredths, and with one mistake, you're out. It's up to you to make sure those hundredths are to your advantage.
"So, as for me, mentally, I don't think it's good to go eight months just focusing on one race. The Olympics will always be in the back of my head, but my goal is to be standing in the starting gate feeling so excited, happy and proud to be there, without feeling pressure from the media, family, friends, but most of all, myself.
"I hope to have the mindset that the Olympics is technically just the same as any other race. I'm racing against the same people with the same format as any other World Cup. With that state of mind, I have no doubt that I can podium.
"For me, the biggest difference will be having the support of my best friends from Sun Valley. I am pretty sure that a few are coming over, and that means a lot to me.
"Since graduating from Wood River High School in 2001, the hardest part about snowboarding has been being away from Sun Valley and all my closest friends. To me, there are few things more important than my closest friendships.
"I've traveled all over the world the past four years, averaging 220 travel days a year, and I haven't yet found a place that even compares to Sun Valley nor the friendships I've made there. It's not only a comfort zone, but it has everything I want in a hometown, and I have no doubt that I will find my way back one day. I also know that growing up in Sun Valley has everything to do with where I am today.
"From the day I started snowboarding when I was 13, I had an amazing mountain to train on, which kept me on the hill every second I wasn't in school. I had four exceptional coaches who I will never forget, and teammates who helped me tremendously.
"I've even come back the past few summers to dry land train because there is no place like Sun Valley that can offer so many different aspects of training. Training with Kevin Mora at High Altitude Fitness in the summer did so much for my snowboarding. I combined Kevin's training with Bikram Yoga, mountain biking, and trail running, and I've never been in better shape.
"Sun Valley has given me the opportunities to be the best athlete I can be, in addition to an ideal place to return to...after I've conquered the world....."
For the latest information on Aprilia's travels, check her
Web site at apriliahagglof.com
Aprilia Hagglof
