Brita Sigourney.Photo: Tom Pennington/Getty Images for Team USA
Brita Sigourney has been to the Olympics twice before heading to Beijing, and even won a bronze medal in 2018 in PyeongChang. On her skis she’s confident, unstoppable. But behind the scenes, the athlete has grappled with chronic pain that has at times sidelined her from the sport she loves.
“The mental aspect of it is the hardest, because I know that I am going to be okay,” says Sigourney, 32. “Just because I feel the pain, doesn’t mean that I’m going to hurt myself more. I’ve just kind of had to accept that the pain is there and to still acknowledge it and move past it.”
The freeskier — who is currently competing in the women’s halfpipe qualifiers — has grappled with “so many injuries” like bone fractures throughout her career, resulting in nine surgeries related to just ski-related accidents.
Sigourney, says “the comebacks from each of those injuries was several months long minimum.” It’s taken dedication and hours spent in the gym to return as strong as before, “if not stronger” — relearning how to use her muscles, getting back into the routine.
Her most recent injury, to her knee, was different though. She’s developed chronic pain, which leaves her relient on over-the-counter pain medications for relief. “That’s been really hard mentally just because it’s hard to have fun skiing while you are in pain,” she admits.
The athlete — who grew up always in sports, and first strapped on a pair of skis at age 2 — says the ibuprofen doesn’t always work to ease the pain though, and sometimes leaves her questioning if she can handle more: “I think every surgery, especially recently, has been, ‘I can’t do this again. I can’t’ … I wouldn’t mentally be able to handle another one of these, but I think if it did come down to it, I would probably try to persevere and overcome it.”
Sigourney knows that her experience with chronic pain is probably shared — many who experience it likely force themselves to push through. “I wouldn’t be able to do this if I stop skiing every time I felt that pain,” she reflects. “I don’t know what my life would look like, but it wouldn’t be very fun.”
“Making that choice to understand that the pain is … It’s just going to be there and it’s not going to hurt me. It’s okay to feel the pain I think has really helped me continue to ski.”
It’s certainly not holding her back from going for gold in Beijing — Sigourney tells PEOPLE she’s “excited” to compete on the world stage once again.
To learn more about Team USA, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Winter Olympics, now, and the Paralympics, beginning March 4, on NBC.
source: people.com
