CINCINNATI, Ohio (WCMH) – Karenna Elliott loves pinball. This is why she took part in trampoline gymnastics competitions while growing up. But in 2014, everything changed during a competition.
“The guy who recruited me was working for the ski team and he just came to me after the competition and said, ‘Do you know how to ski? And I was kind of like skiing ?! I don’t know what it is, â€Karenna said.
And so, at the age of 14, Karenna changed course. She still does flips, but now she does it on skis.
“The turnaround is the easy part. It’s the landing for me that’s the hard part, â€said Karenna. “Because those big, long skis aren’t normal for me, so learning to land was definitely the hardest part of it. ”
Now 21, the Cincinnati native was recently named to the US National Aerial Team. She spent the summer training and splashing in Park City at the Olympic Park in Utah.
“The water ramps that we have, we have a big pool with about a million and a half gallons of water, that’s huge,†Karenna said. “And the water ramps are those steel ramps made of a plastic material, kind of like your toothbrush, kind of like bristles. And we wet the hairs and then we can ski like ordinary snow. ”
Soon she will have to land on the snow again, as the World Cup season kicks off. And for Karenna, that means she has the opportunity to secure a place in her first Olympic team.
