Athlete profile: Kristina Koznick

Posted: Tue February 3, 1998 at 5:00 PM ET

Athlete notes

On December 29, 1997 Koznick became the first American woman slalom skier to step on a World Cup podium in five long years...the Minnesota native was second only to Sweden's Ylva Nowen in the slalom at Lienz, Austria..."Koz" has been on a roll after opening the season at Park City, Utah, with results of fourth, sixth, fourth, second and then fourth on January 5 in Bormio, Italy (the last race before the manual went to press)...US coaches really never questioned Koznick, who is a three-time US slalom champion, and had top-15 results five times before this season..."We are surprised how quickly this [success] came," said US women's head coach Herwig Demschar. "But we were just waiting for her to have top-five results. We always knew that she was good enough to do that, but a series of injuries really slowed her down for a couple of years"...after missing Lillehammer with a knee injury, Koznick struggled to stay healthy..."I picture myself on the Olympic podium every night," says a confident Koznick now...Demschar adds, "Before, I thought her goal at the Olympics should be a top-five, but now, maybe she should go for something bigger - like a gold medal"...but with her rising status as a ski racer, Koznick's mental strength will be severely tested as the expectations around her sizzle...but Koznick is enjoying the newly achieved attention from the fans and the media..."I'm in a position where I was trying to get to for a long time," says Koznick. "The fans and the media are great, especially in Europe, because they look at Americans as underdogs and they want us to do well right after their own people"...even the Olympic pressure is not shaking Koznick in any way..."I was preparing for this for four years," says Koznick. "I can handle some pressure. It's great that I'm like the best hope for the US Ski Team"..."Her mentality cannot change," says Demschar. "She must keep her head clear, ski like a challenger that she is. That's what brought her this success. And I think she knows that"...Koznick attacks the gates with "good balance and sound technique"..."Of course she is strong and aggressive, but what make her special is that she has such little upper-body movement.," says Demschar. "She is so stable, and minimizes loss of time by minimizing unneeded upper-body movement"...with every competition, Koznick's confidence seems to rise..."In Park City, I had a home-ground advantage, so I still wasn't totally sure where I stood," says Koznick. "But when I was sixth at Val d'Isere, I knew I was there with the best girls. It's like, I always thought I was good enough to win, but now I know"...after her first podium in Leinz, Koznick was invited to an exhibition slalom race with likes of such alpine stars as Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni...European ski fans are starting to recognize Koznick's face..."At hotels, people would tell me that they saw me on TV and congratulate me," Koznick says. "It's really neat"...after the exhibition, Kristina enjoyed a short vacation in Milan, Italy with her father Jeffery, who had been a cheerleader at Lienz...the 300-ft tall Buck Hill in Minnesota is where Koznick learned to ski as a child...she laughs, "We don't have mountains in Minnesota, just hills"...an International Ski Federation standard downhill course requires a vertical drop of 800 meters (2,600 ft), way out of the range for the Minnesota hills...Buck Hill had a rope tow and three chairlifts and Koznick says she could get in "30 to 40 runs in a couple of hours" using the rope tow...Koznick started racing when Jeffrey saw her playing a video game while the family was at Buck Hill..."I hate video games," he says. "I never gave my kids a quarter. I told her, `If you have this much time, we'll put you in another program.'And so that's how she got into ski racing. It's all because I hate video games"...Koznick realizes those small hills are what made her the best slalom skier in the United States and a Olympic medal contender..."From the age of six to 12, 95 percent of the time I slalomed, almost exclusively," remembers Koznick. "Slaloming is like being home. It comes so naturally to me"...she did not ski on powder unitl she had been skiing for nearly a decade..."There I was in Colorado," she recalled. "I could beat all these kids racing but in powsder I didn't even know how to turn"...Koznick struggled mightily in the first half of last season...she could not even finish a race in the first seven World Cup competitions, stacking up four DNFs (did not finish) and three DNQs (did not qualify for the second run)...chronic back troubles and a pair of frostbit toes kept Koznick off balance..."The coaches wanted me to take a couple weeks off, and I probably should have," says Koznick, "but I don't know when or how to take a rest"...simple frostbites were sometimes worse than the damaged joints in her lower spinal..."You can't really comfort your toes," Koznick remembers, "and they hurt so bad I wanted to cut them off"...for her back problems, Koznick consulted with a therapist recommended by Picabo Street...as doctors worked on her back and her toes improved, Koznick ended the season on a better note, placing 11th in a World Cup race at Mammoth Mountain, California and winning the slalom in US Championships for the third time...a self-proclaimed "softball fanatic," Koznick plays on three teams every summer...adding to the busy schedule this year is golf...Koznick took a couple lessons in the summer and says, "It changes the pace, it's not power and aggression"...Kristina's mother, Mary-Jean, and father divorced when Koz was 15 years old..."I feared that I was losing my support system, but it really brought (younger brother) Charlie and I much closer," says Koznick, "and my parents stayed real supportive and accessible, because both stayed in Minnesota"...both Mary-Jean and Jeffery are remarried now...even with Jeffery's recent move to Ohio, Koznick is still glad she has a "great family"..."Really, it was easy as a divorce can be"...even during the busy schedule in the skiing season, Koznick tries to be home as much as possible..."Last season, there were times when I was losing confidence, but just talking to my family on the phone gave me the extra energy, and being home is even better"...