Maisie Potter: Snowboarder aiming to gain after injury pain

[Earthwire]

 

It was an anniversary Maisie Potter certainly didn't celebrate.

The day in December 2018 that marked exactly one year since the broken ankle that ended her Olympic dream.

A training accident in December 2017 left the Welsh snowboarder on crutches for three months - and recovering for many more.

While her Great Britain teammates were winning Olympic medals in February, Potter was left with some unwanted silverware of her own.

"I've got two metal plates and five screws in there right now," the 21-year-old explains.

"A lot of people have injuries but missing a whole season from beginning to end was just another level.

"It was a big season ahead, a breakthrough season, then it just got cut short. It was hard to deal with."

'Mentally I've got to keep confident'
The pain from the injury itself was one thing.

Then there was having to watch the Olympics as a BBC Sport pundit in Salford rather than a Team GB athlete in Pyeongchang.

But it was the rehab that proved the biggest test. Five months of strengthening exercises followed by a slow build-up back on snow in September.

Speaking to BBC Sport Wales from Cervinia in northern Italy - host of the season's first round of the Snowboard Cross World Cup - Potter is finally ready to compete at the top of her sport again.

"I'm definitely feeling a bit emotional coming up to this season now," she admits. "A slightly different person but keen for a fresh start.

"Snowboarding was my life. To have that stop... you start having some doubts and a lack of confidence.

"Physically I feel pretty good [now]. Pretty pain-free. Mentally I've just got to keep calm and confident I can do this."

GB Snowsport rebrand
There have been some changes in her sport since the Snowdonia snowboarder last competed at a World Cup.

British Ski and Snowboard rebranded to GB Snowsport - with the 'one goal' of making Great Britain a top five snow sport nation by 2030.

That aim has been helped significantly by the decision of two-time snowboard cross Olympian Charlotte Bankes to switch allegiance from France to Britain - the country of her birth.

Potter says she's already noticing the difference in the British programme.

"We're definitely in the best position we've ever been in," she says.

"I've got a new coach. We have a wax technician - he helps us with our board preparation. I obviously have a new teammate in Charlotte, who's one of the top girls.

"There's still a little way to go but even some of the other nations are seeing us as being a developing boarding nation now."

For Potter just competing at a World Cup again will be something to celebrate.

And with just over three years to go to Beijing 2022, there's still time to fulfil her Olympic dream.