| Sarah Sauvey profile |
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I began training at the age of 12, which was considered quite late, but my passion for the sport was immense. By the age of 17, I was State and National junior champion in both Slalom and Giant Slalom and in 2003 I was National Open Slalom Champion as well as Junior champion in both Slalom and Giant Slalom. The dedication to my sport has been enormous and as you would be aware you make a number of sacrifices to train and compete at the top level. I have always been aware that skiing would not be a financial career for me, and as such I have always valued and continued my education to the best of my ability and had some very pleasing results through school and university including excellence awards at University. I decided to make the switch to the freestyle sport ski cross in 2005 after competing at the World University Games in Innsbruck 2005 in the event and absolutely loving it. I knew that I was finished with alpine and thought that the World Uni Games would be my last skiing competition. In December 2005 I was diagnosed with Coeliac Artery compression syndrome. The arcuate ligament of my diaphragm had tightened across the coeliac artery crushing it shut against my spine. The same ligament was also crushing the nerves around my aorta giving me a great deal of pain for many years. I had been collapsing in training and generally feeling stomach pain since 2003. In May 2006, I underwent open vascular surgery to incise the arcuate ligament and remove the nerve ganglion from my aorta. This surgery had a large mid line incision from my sternum past my belly button. Returning from this surgery was the most difficult time of my life. The full recovery period was 12 months before the stomach discomfort was eliminated. In this time I was able to realign my body, and committed myself to a yoga and pilates program. After regaining some basic strength I started training again on snow in December. Just 3 months later I had qualified for the 2007 World Freestyle Skiing Championships in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy. I represented Australia at the World Championships on my own, with my rental vehicle, no coach and no support. I managed to ski fast and qualified 12th. I ended up in a heat with the World Champion and a previous World Cup winner, I placed 3rd in my heat but placed 12th overall in the World Ski Cross Championships, a great result.
Both of my parents are English and I hold a British passport as well as an Australian passport. SInce November 2007, I have been a member of the British national ski cross team and reside for 6 months of the year in Melbourne, Australia working on my University degree. I am based in Europe for the other 6 months of the year whilst training and competing. Full Name: Sarah Ann Sauvey CURRENT PERSONAL STATUS In addition to being a full-time athlete and committing as much time as is possible to my sport and training, I also work part-time at a local hospital in the Orthopaedic loans and prosthesis department. I also have a second job working as a personal assistant for a small business part time. In addition to this, I have been studying part-time at Swinburne University and I have taken leave of absence in the lead up to the 2010 Olympics. I will complete my last year (only 3 more subjects to go!) in a bachelor of Multimedia (Business Marketing). SKI CROSS RESULTS 2010 |
