Four years after a heartbreaking injury prematurely ended her Olympic debut in Sochi, Russia, Whitefish native Maggie Voisin is back on the U.S. freeskiing slopestyle team.
Voisin, 19, finished second at Saturday’s Toyota Grand Prix outside Aspen, Colorado and was the top American finisher, earning her spot on the Olympic squad by virtue of a second podium finish in the first three qualifying events. Voisin won the first freeskiing slopestyle Olympic qualifier of the season in Mammoth Lakes, California last February.
Shortly after completing her run Saturday morning, Voisin made an emotional phone call to her mother, Kristin.
“I’m not always an emotional person, but I definitely got on the phone with my mom and a couple tears came out,” Voisin said. “That day I hurt myself (in 2014), I told myself I’d do whatever it takes to come back.”
“It’s crazy it’s been four years,” she continued. “And to finally hear (I had qualified), I can’t put that into words.”
Voisin qualified for the 2014 Olympics as a 15-year-old but fractured her fibula in a training run and was unable to compete. She then tore her ACL in her return to competition and endured another lengthy rehab.
The 2018 Winter Olympics will be held in PyeongChang, South Korea, and the women’s slopestyle competition is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 16.