It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for India Sherret.
The Cranbrook born-and-raised, Kimberley-trained, ski cross athlete has been putting her goal achievement into hyperdrive and just a little over a week after her first podium finish at the FIS World Cup, she has been nominated to Canada’s Olympic team.
Announced by Olympic Canada on Monday, Sherret is one of eight ski cross athletes nominated to the team for the upcoming PyeongChang Olympic games to be held in South Korea in February.
“Competing in the Olympics is something I’ve dreamt about since I was a little girl, so the fact that it’s here and I’ve done it feels very surreal,” Sherret told the Townsman on Tuesday morning. “I’m very lucky to be going with such a veteran team to learn from.”
Joining the women’s side led by reigning Olympic champion Marielle Thompson, who won gold in 2014 but is yet to compete this season after rupturing her ACL and MCL during training in October 2017, as well as returning silver medalist Kelsey Serwa, and Brittany Phelan, it will be the 21-year-old Key City native’s first Olympics.
Speaking to the Townsman back in March of 2017, Sherret stated that her goal for 2018 was to be skiing at the World Cup full time and “looking toward performing well at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.”
With a spot on the team for PyeongChang, she is progressing ahead of schedule. On January 13, Sherret won Bronze at a World Cup competition in Idre Fjäll, Sweden. Her first medal at that level, she told the world on her official Facebook page that the feeling was indescribable.
Although she finished in 15th place at Alberta’s Nakiska World Cup competition over the weekend, being named an Olympian has sparked a return to those same emotions, which Sherret is trying to take in stride.
“I don’t believe that I have anything to prove at the games, because it’s really just another race and that’s how I’ll approach it,” she said. “I am very proud though to represent my community and country on the biggest stage in the world.”
Sherret, who lives in Cranbrook during the off-season and started skiing with the Kimberley Alpine Team, was the 2015 world junior champion but took the 2015-16 season to recover from bulimia nervosa, which she developed when she was 15.
She returned to the sport last season and won her first event back on the Nor-Am Cup circuit en route to her second ever overall title. She has also become a prominent mental health awareness champion, volunteering at local schools to discuss eating disorders and other mental illnesses.
The ski cross events at the PyeongChang Olympics will take place from February 21 to 23 at the Phoenix Snow Park.