One might chalk up Emeline Bennett's early success in her ski-cross career to beginner's luck, but the 16-year-old Whistler Mountain Ski Club member is proving it's much more than that.
In her first year of competitive ski-cross, Bennett won the U19 women's division at the Canadian National Championships in Red Deer, Alta. in January and secured a spot on Canada's 2020 FIS Junior Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships team, set to compete in Saint-Lary, France later this month. (FIS announced on March 6 that the event had been cancelled because of restrictions enacted by the French government in response to concerns around coronavirus, however. At the same time, FIS announced that the Alpine Ski World Cup Finals at Cortina, Italy were also cancelled.)
Still, Bennett acknowledged the boost of being thought of so highly by Alpine Canada brass, and was shocked when the announcement came out on Feb. 26.
"It was a really big surprise, especially because I wasn't told directly," she said. "One of my friends actually sent me a text saying 'Hey, congratulations,' and I [responded] 'Oh, on what?'
"She sent me a screenshot of the Alpine Canada website and said 'You made it.'"
Being among the youngest on the team made Bennett extra surprised to be named.
"I wasn't really expecting it because I'm the youngest age group that could qualify and it's my first season doing ski-cross. I didn't really have any expectations and I knew I wouldn't be disappointed if it didn't come through, but I was very excited to be named," she said.
However, even before the cancellation, Bennett had decided with her family and coaches not to attend, as the quick turnaround made it difficult. And besides, she can still qualify for four more years.
"I don't think it's my year this year just because I have four more years to qualify, so my goal is to work really hard and go next year," she said. "It didn't really feel like enough time for me to wrap my head around something that big, and then there was the factor of it being quite expensive."
Should she crack the squad again in the future, Bennett will have international experience under her belt, having competed overseas as an alpine racer in Japan at the Japan Cup last season.
"The change of scenery is not the hard part. It's just that you're faced with all this international competition," she said. "You're there to represent your country and you want to do the best that you can, so it's a mental game that way. I try to treat it just like any other race because I can wrap my head around that a lot easier."
Bennet had some prior ski-cross experience, as she had done some local junior races until the age of 13, but didn't think of it after aging out. However, she was invited to a Youth Olympic Games qualifier by a former alpine coach and though she didn't qualify, she decided to pursue the sport at other events.
"Because it's such a small field, going into it this late isn't as big of a deal," she said. "I went for fun and then started taking it a little more seriously and started getting some good results."
While technically a freestyle event, Bennett said several of her alpine skills transfer into ski-cross, and provide her a different approach than competitors who grew up focused on ski-cross.
"The biggest thing is the confidence you have on your skis. Even though ski-cross has all those jumps, you really have to be able to go over on to your skis and carve through those turns," she said. "It's about being strong when you have all these other girls around you that are fighting to get into the front.
"I see a big difference when some ski-cross racers that have come from alpine roll into a big corner and you can see their confidence on their edges and their body position."
Still, the transition hasn't been entirely seamless, she acknowledged, and even with the early success, Bennett knows she has plenty of room to grow.
"On all those features, sometimes I'd get overwhelmed. I can go off jumps, but I've never had to do it where I try to keep myself on the ground for the longest amount of time, and I've never had to do it with three other girls chasing me down," she said. "It's something that I think will come with a lot more experience.
"It's just getting used to having all these people around you, being aware of what they're doing, and how you need to react to that."
Even so, Bennett went into U19 nationals with no expectations, anticipating a three-race-in-three-day grind. When she came away with the crown, Bennett discovered the true depths of her abilities.
"It was really cool because [afterward] a bunch of my coaches said, 'I know that you deserve that,' but they didn't want to put the pressure on me, being 'I think this is something that you can do,'" she recalled. "They wanted to let me figure it out for myself."
