Anne Gini Elite Skier Fund

Born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, I have always had a deep love of the outdoors and the activities that let me spend time outside in every season. While attending Boulder High School, I competed in cross country running and mountain biking, but my main focus was always nordic skiing. I feel lucky to have found a wonderful group of friends and teammates on the Boulder Nordic Junior Racing Team and community in general through nordic skiing in Boulder and subsequently around the world. I graduated from Middlebury College in 2016 with a degree in Neuroscience and I do some content work remotely with my dad’s foundation for Parkinson’s disease, The Davis Phinney Foundation, while I train and compete full time. I plan to use my degree to help others following my ski career, but in the meantime I have my sights set on skiing through the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Coming from a family of Olympic cyclists, I have had the good fortune of seeing firsthand that athletic dreams can be accomplished with a combination of hard work, love of the sport, time and timing, and ample help from others. I have competed at almost every level of nordic skiing – from local races, to National ones; from NCAA races, to U23 World Championships; and from Scandinavian and European Cup races, to her first World Cup race last March in Lahti, Finland. I now split my time between Stratton, Vermont and Boulder and living out of my suitcase during the race season. I have found a home with the SMST2 team which is full of incredible skiers like Jessie Diggins who was on the Olympic Gold medal winning sprint relay team in Pyeongchang! Being a part of this team has inspired me to train harder than ever and has made it apparent that I can not only qualify, but truly compete at the highest level of the sport.

This year, I was selected by a discretionary committee comprised of coaches and representatives around the country to compete for the U.S. Ski Team in Period 1 World Cup races. I will race in the classic sprint in Ruka, Finland, the three day mini tour in Lillehammer, Norway, and the skate sprint in Davos, Switzerland. Depending on my results at these races, I will either stay on the World Cup circuit or return to Vermont to race in U.S. Nationals. My primary goals this season are to gain International experience, race in as many sprint World Cup heats as I can, and to qualify to represent Team USA as one of the four skate sprint starters at World Championships in Seefeld, Austria!

Even with the success of U.S. nordic athletes in recent years, funding is still incredibly limited in the world of nordic skiing. I am responsible for fundraising the money required to pay for my flights, room and board while at World Cups, and for wax tech service. Any contribution will go directly towards covering these World Cup expenses. When I make more of a name for myself in skiing with top results, sponsorship deals can cover much of these expenses; however, in order to get that kind of exposure, I need to be able to afford to ski in these races. Please join my team to help me achieve this dream.

Thanks for your support!

Kelsey