Emily Cook is a freestyle skiing athlete competing at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Fully healthy after years plagued by injuries (see "Shattered feet," below), Emily Cook had arguably the best season of her career in 2008-09. In addition to placing eighth in the World Cup aerials standings, the 30 year old narrowly missed a medal at the 2009 World Championships in Inawashiro, Japan, where she placed fourth. Cook has steadily improved in each of her five world championship appearances, from 18th in 1999 to fourth in 2009. She has emerged as a legitimate medal threat entering her second Olympic appearance, in Vancouver.
On New Year's Eve 2002, Cook won the Gold Cup event in Deer Valley, Utah, to qualify for the Salt Lake Games, an Olympic debut she had dreamed of since age 13. But two weeks later, during a training jump in Lake Placid, NY, Cook suffered severe injuries to both of her feet. In her right foot, "the better one," Cook had small fractures and tore all the ligaments. Her left foot was considerably worse. In that foot, she had significant fractures, tore all the ligaments and had a dislocation of the midfoot. That foot required two major surgeries, and after each, she couldn't bear weight for three months. Cook missed two seasons of competition and essentially had to learn to walk again.
Through all her surgeries and rehab, Cook says that she thought about the 2006 Opening Ceremony, and the prospect of walking in with her U.S. teammates was too strong to give up. Cook made her long-awaited Olympic debut in Torino, finishing 19th, but it was the experience of the Opening Ceremony that resonated most clearly. "The Torino Opening Ceremony was completely overwhelming for me," Cook recalls. "I was crying. I was completely emotional and was just so happy to be there and happy to be there with my teammates. We had come a long way together. I started training with Ryan St. Onge and Jeret Peterson when I was 12 years old." Peterson, who took Cook's spot on the 2002 Olympic team, frequently visited his old friend during the Salt Lake Games and wrote "Hi Emily" on his hands, which he showed to the NBC cameras during the Olympic broadcast.
Cook's mother died when she was very young, and she and her father, Don, maintain a very close relationship. Don gave Emily a pair of skis for Christmas when she was four years old, and she learned to ski at Nashoba Valley, a small hill in suburban Boston. Cook and her father, an avid skier himself, began taking ski weekends in Sugarloaf, Maine, and they eventually built a second home there. Don rarely misses one of Emily's events and is an avid photographer who has built a large portfolio featuring freestyle skiing events.
Like many other aerialists, Cook has a background in gymnastics, and a significant amount of her Olympic inspiration came from that sport. "Growing up, I loved Mary Lou Retton and Nadia Comaneci, and you know, even later, watching Kerri Strug," Cook says. "And even [in 2008], watching Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin." But beyond gymnastics, Cook appreciates the importance of the Olympics on the whole. "It's really just, to me, watching every event at the Olympics," she says. "Whether summer of winter, it's totally inspiring to me."
Fully healthy after years plagued by injuries (see "Shattered feet," below), Emily Cook had arguably the best season of her career in 2008-09. In addition to placing eighth in the World Cup aerials standings, the 30 year old narrowly missed a medal at the 2009 World Championships in Inawashiro, Japan, where she placed fourth. Cook has steadily improved in each of her five world championship appearances, from 18th in 1999 to fourth in 2009. She has emerged as a legitimate medal threat entering her second Olympic appearance, in Vancouver.
On New Year's Eve 2002, Cook won the Gold Cup event in Deer Valley, Utah, to qualify for the Salt Lake Games, an Olympic debut she had dreamed of since age 13. But two weeks later, during a training jump in Lake Placid, NY, Cook suffered severe injuries to both of her feet. In her right foot, "the better one," Cook had small fractures and tore all the ligaments. Her left foot was considerably worse. In that foot, she had significant fractures, tore all the ligaments and had a dislocation of the midfoot. That foot required two major surgeries, and after each, she couldn't bear weight for three months. Cook missed two seasons of competition and essentially had to learn to walk again.
Through all her surgeries and rehab, Cook says that she thought about the 2006 Opening Ceremony, and the prospect of walking in with her U.S. teammates was too strong to give up. Cook made her long-awaited Olympic debut in Torino, finishing 19th, but it was the experience of the Opening Ceremony that resonated most clearly. "The Torino Opening Ceremony was completely overwhelming for me," Cook recalls. "I was crying. I was completely emotional and was just so happy to be there and happy to be there with my teammates. We had come a long way together. I started training with Ryan St. Onge and Jeret Peterson when I was 12 years old." Peterson, who took Cook's spot on the 2002 Olympic team, frequently visited his old friend during the Salt Lake Games and wrote "Hi Emily" on his hands, which he showed to the NBC cameras during the Olympic broadcast.
Cook's mother died when she was very young, and she and her father, Don, maintain a very close relationship. Don gave Emily a pair of skis for Christmas when she was four years old, and she learned to ski at Nashoba Valley, a small hill in suburban Boston. Cook and her father, an avid skier himself, began taking ski weekends in Sugarloaf, Maine, and they eventually built a second home there. Don rarely misses one of Emily's events and is an avid photographer who has built a large portfolio featuring freestyle skiing events.
Like many other aerialists, Cook has a background in gymnastics, and a significant amount of her Olympic inspiration came from that sport. "Growing up, I loved Mary Lou Retton and Nadia Comaneci, and you know, even later, watching Kerri Strug," Cook says. "And even [in 2008], watching Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin." But beyond gymnastics, Cook appreciates the importance of the Olympics on the whole. "It's really just, to me, watching every event at the Olympics," she says. "Whether summer of winter, it's totally inspiring to me."
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