Jamie Prebble
Growing up Jamie Prebble’s second home was on Mt Hutt, only a short drive away from his hometown Christchurch. Skiing was a just a hobbie that Jamie and his family all did together during the winter months. As Prebble got bigger and stronger, a Professional Skiing career was on the cards and the dream of going to the Winter Olympics was the main focus after finishing high school. Jamie made the switch from Alpine skiing to Ski Cross, as he was attracted to the competitive close quarters racing and the combination of massive jumps and tactical elements involved in every race. He describes it as “Motocross but on snow”.
However, with Ski Cross very low on the list of recognised New Zealand sports and Jamie being the only Kiwi competing in the event, funding was hard to come by. This lead Prebble to build a personal brand in order to gain sponsorship and travel expenses to be able to compete in all the major events overseas. Jamie found ways to make the most of the lack of resources at his disposal. Working closely with the Australian national team and hiring his younger brother as his personal coach for Ski Cross, creating a super tight bond.
He burst onto the International Ski Cross scene in 2015, posting a career best result with a sixth place finish at the Audi ski cross World Cup races in Are, Sweden. That same year the Canterbury raised athlete won the Snow Sports NZ Breakthrough Season Award. But the year ended in disappointment with being disqualified during the World Championships for a minor equipment setup offence.
The 2017 World Championships were a different story, which saw Jamie achieve a silver medal, his greatest result on the world stage and qualified him for the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. This was even more impressive feat, as leading into the event he was bed ridden and vomiting during the qualifying races. Jamie attributes his mental skill training as the key to that result, as he was able to block out all the noise and just focus on the race.
The preparation leading into the Winter Olympics were hampered by a knee injury only six weeks out. Managing to get fit and realise his dream of going to the Olympics was a career high for Jamie. He faced a tough qualifying, with the eventual Gold and Silver medalist in the same race. Prebble felt a range of emotions after the Olympics and what he didn’t know then was it to be his last competitive race of his career.
Retiring during his prime at 28, Jamie’s priorities had changed and is now focused on starting a business with his partner, former Black-Sticks player Sophie Cocks. ‘Truly Yours’ is a premium Marquee hire business, with both Jamie and Sophie taking their experience from being a professional sport into their building their business. In this episode, Logan dives deep into Jamie’s journey. Some of the topics they cover throughout are: How Jamie created his personal brand in order to gain sponsorships to be able to fund his Ski Cross career; Having your younger brother as your coach; 2015 World Championships and being Disqualified; 2017 World Championships - Mental Skills put to the test to achieve best result of Jamie's Career; 2018 Pyeong-Chang Winter Olympics experience; Deciding to retire from Ski Cross - is there fire still there to compete?
Chapters
Childhood - early lessons/key learning’s (4:12)
Choosing the Skiing discipline you want to compete in (6:07)
What were the plans/goals after finishing High School? (7:23)
How Jamie created his personal brand in order to gain sponsorships to be able to fund his Ski Cross career (10:00)
Was your body designed for Ski Cross? What were your key attributes? (13:47)
What does training look like for Ski Cross athlete? (15:31)
Having your younger brother as your coach (19:14)
2015 World Championships - Being Disqualified... (21:14)
The keys to having fast skis - the intricacies of Ski Cross (23:04)
Jamie taking us through a Ski Cross race (Video on Instagram) (27:02)
Types of injuries in Ski Cross (31:02)
2017 World Championships - Mental Skills put to the test to achieve best result of Jamie's Career (32:26)
How did the Silver at World Champs and gaining the extra funding affect your mindset moving forward? (38:03)
What Skill or Attribute that Jamie would of loved to have during his Ski Cross career? (41:10)
2018 Pyeong-Chang Winter Olympics experience (42:46)
Deciding to retire from Ski Cross - is there fire still there to compete? (48:42)
How did your partner (former Black Stick Hockey player) Sophie Cocks help you with your sporting career? (50:22)
Transitioning out of Professional Sport (51:42)
Transferable Skills from professional sport to a corporate environment (55:13)
Starting a business - 'Truly Yours' (56:16)
Jamie's best advice/lessons learnt from his sporting career (1:00:41)
Where is Jamie Prebble in 10 years time? (1:03:08)