Sister Sami ready to shine in Beijing
BY ALEX TIGANI
For the third time in eight years, Sami Kennedy-Sim will be representing Australia at the Winter Olympics.
The 33-year-old will be competing in the Ski Cross event this Thursday, February 17 and hopes to return from Beijing with her first Olympic medal after placing 28th and 8th in recent campaigns.
Sami’s sister and Singleton Track and Field Club coach Hilary Kennedy has kept a watchful eye over her Olympic star throughout the years.
“We haven’t been fortunate enough to watch her over there at the Olympics but we will drop whatever we are doing to watch all of her events from Australia,” Hilary explained.
“Sam’s husband Ben is an ex-Olympic cross-country skier and if there’s a way to watch a live stream, even if it’s in a country that isn’t streaming, he’ll find a way.
“You just have to be up at the right time, sometimes it is easier than others.”
Hilary and her middle sister Navena were over the moon when welcoming their baby sister Sami to the fold on May 26, 1988.
By the early 1990s the family moved from Sydney’s Northern Beaches to Canberra and spent many weekends travelling to their grandfather’s lodge at East Jindabyne.
“Sami would have been two or three the first time on skis, we were all there and I remember I was holding the video camera,” Hilary reflected.
“I was filming Sami have her first little run on the flats out near Perisher.”
Fast forward 20 years later and Sami had the honour of representing Australia at the 2014 Sochi Olympics after making the jump from Alpine Skiing to Ski Cross.
However she had a pre-Olympic obstacle to conquer prior to Sochi when she suffered an infarct stroke (cerebral infarction) in April 2013. Luckily the stroke was relatively minor and, after five days in hospital and subsequent private treatment, she was able to return to light training.
“Everyone was freaking out because she was so young and a really healthy person who didn’t tick any of the general criteria to have something like this happen,” Hilary recalled.
“But then she managed to represent Australia at Sochi and as her big sister, to watch the influence she has on the other women who are interested in sport was a proud moment.”
Sami often describes her sport as the perfect 90-minute TV show. Sometimes she will even call her discipline ‘BMX on skis’ and what sets it apart from other alpine skiing disciplines is that there is more than one skier racing down the course.
Any intentional contact with other competitors like grabbing or any other forms of contact leads to disqualification.
And she improved on her first Olympic time of 1:38.51 with an impressive 1:14.97 in 2018 (this time was only +1.86 behind Canada’s gold medal winner Marielle Thompson).
The lead up to her third Olympic campaign has been challenging due to recent covid restrictions which have burdened athletes preparing for Beijing.
Yet she has recently spent time isolating in Germany with her teammates, focusing on gym training and has now arrived in China prepared for next week’s event.
“To me being an Olympian means I am so proud to represent my country at the highest level,” Sami told The Hunter River Times.
“I aim to inspire our community along my journey regardless of the result.”
As for her final words to her adoring supporters across Australia?
“To my loving family, especially the Kennedy clan in Singleton and all the Singleton Striders, I miss you all so much and I hope that I will do you all proud,” she concluded.
“I will feel all your love and support in China.”
| SAM KENNEDY-SIM (AUSTRALIA) OLYMPIC SKI CROSS RESULTS | |||
| Time | Final Placing | Australian Placing | |
| 2014 SOCHI | 1:38.51 | 28th | 2nd |
| 2018 PYEONGCHANG | 1:14.97 | 8th | 1st |
| 2022 BEIJING | (Tune in this Thursday, February 17) |