Meet Olympic Hopeful and MTV Star Kimiko Zakreski

With the 2010 games just around the corner, many Olympic hopefuls are getting closer and closer to finding out if their dream will come true – to compete in their home country at the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

One of these talented young hopefuls is snowboarder Kimiko Zakreski. Kimi, as she is more commonly referred to, is a member of the Canadian National Team and a star on the hit MTV reality show, Over the Bolts, which documents the Canadian Olympic Snowboard team and the athletes’ push for a coveted spot on the Canadian Olympic squad. The Calgary native took time out of her busy schedule while training and competing in Colorado to share her journey as a snowboarder and her thoughts on the possibility of becoming a 2010 Olympian.

YT: When Vancouver was awarded the Olympic Games, what were your first thoughts?
KZ: When I found out Vancouver got it, I was like, “Holy s***! It’s going to be in our country!” You know, when you get out of high school, there’s always that question as to what you want to do with your life and everyone’s going to university and getting degrees. It’s hard as an amateur athlete because you don’t have a lot of support in Canada and when you’re paying out of your own pocket to do something, it’s kind of like, “Why in the hell would I keep doing this when I could go to school and start making money?” So I was kind of at that point of deciding whether or not to keep going with it. When they did say Vancouver, I was like, “Wow! This is an amazing opportunity for any athlete in Canada and I would be an idiot to give up now and miss the chance of going to the Olympics in my own country.”

YT: What do you need to do between now and selection day to give yourself the best chance of making the team?
KZ: Snowboarding is so tricky with how they’re picking the team because we have three different disciplines. We have boardercross, half-pipe and alpine all competing for the same spots, so basically I have to compete against people who aren’t even in my discipline. There’s not a lot of control that I have over how it’s going to pan out in the end. The only thing I have control over is me and riding as fast as I can and doing everything in my power to be the best snowboarder I can be. And if it works out for me and I make the team, then sweet, and if it doesn’t, I mean it’s going to be a hard blow and it would really suck to not make the team, but as long as I do everything in my power to get myself there, then I’ll have no regrets with whatever happens. It’s just all about working harder than anyone else on the team, which is pretty hard ’cause we’re all hard workers.

YT: What would it mean to you to represent your country at the Olympics?
KZ: It pretty much doesn’t get better than that in sports. The Olympics are like the biggest thing in sports professionally or amateur-wise. If you’re playing professional hockey, to make the Olympic team and represent Canada is pretty special, you know, and for it to be in Canada and to have my family and friends – anyone who’s supported me along the way over the last friggin’ 13 years that I’ve been doing this – be able to watch this on our home soil is amazing. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity ’cause the next time the Olympics come back to Canada is who-knows-when, so yeah it’s pretty cool!

YT: For any athlete, there are good days and bad days and this is evident on your show, Over the Bolts. How do you avoid getting too low when you’re not meeting your goals?
KZ: Well, that’s part of the deal. I think growing up competing you learn to deal with that and the kids who couldn’t deal with defeat didn’t make it this far. That’s the first thing you need to learn – how to lose. It’s tough especially as an athlete… you can get on that downward spiral. You just kind of remind yourself it’s not always bad and you remind yourself about the things you love about it. I think the important thing is if you keep trying new things, and keep trying to problem solve, not think that it’s just going to fix itself, and if you work hard, eventually you’ll figure it out. Going through bad races happens all the time. We have 12 World Cup events in a season and you know you’re bound to have a few bad ones, especially in snowboarding. Falling is very common. It’s not like skiing where you have two skis to save yourself. If something goes wrong, if you hit a bump and your edge goes out, game over. I think as you grow as a snowboarder, you get more confident and experienced in dealing with it. I mean, bad things happen in life, not just in athletics, so you just got to stay positive as much as you can and surround yourself with people who motivate you to be better and work harder.