Interview
my spot on the team. From there the team started funding me to do World Cups, and I started traveling and having success in the World Cup. My first World Cup debut I took fifth. The coaches were pretty excited about that because they didn’t have to put too much effort into coaching me. And I was already at a competitive level so we just really worked on finetuning stuff. By the next year I hit the podium, and from there it was pretty much snowball effect. This winter was your second Olympics. How would you compare your experience of 2006 in Torino to the 2010 Winter Olympics? I think mentally I was more prepared for my second winter games. I knew what to expect with the media. You’re on an international stage representing your country, and there’s a lot of added flair that goes to the
With an unprecedented five gold medals in a row, Nate Holland takes the X Games Podium in 2010
Olympics. I knew that I was going to have to do press conferences, photo shoots, and I also just knew what the pressure was going to feel like. Not saying that I wasn’t prepared in 2006, but I definitely knew what to expect in 2010. So I think that’s probably the biggest difference. Other than that, having it in Vancouver was definitely a treat. It was a Northwest race, so it felt a bit like a homecoming. I grew up in that sort of Northwest weather and knew what to expect and had a lot of family and friends show up. That was all pretty cool. My racing has matured over the years. I used to be considered a pretty “hot under the collar” racer and would take some pretty big chances to make some moves. Sometimes they would work
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