Ski and Snowboard Club Vail skier reflects on Youth Olympic Games experience

This winter, Rose Horning has been blessed with a few good problems to have.

The Ski and Snowboard Club Vail cross-country skier, who qualified for the FIS World Junior Championships as a 16-year-old last year, earned multiple international starting opportunities after a successful U.S. senior national championships Jan. 2-7 in Midway, Utah. Unfortunately, the global competitions’ scheduling conflicts forced Horning to choose one over the other.

She elected to turn down the 2024 World Junior slot in favor of traveling to PyeongChang for the quadrennial Youth Olympic Games.

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“Though I was sad to turn down my spots for other trips, I am really happy with my decision to race at the Youth Olympics,” she said. “We had an incredible group of athletes and coaches and I had so much fun.”

Horning placed 18th in the sprint final, 13th in the 7.5-kilometer classic individual start and was a part of Team USA’s fifth-place mixed relay squad.

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“I learned a lot about skiing in a pack and being mentally prepared and excited before races,” she said, adding that she also learned about the “importance of going into the race with confidence even if you are unsure where you stand.”

“Throughout this entire event I felt like the team had a great dynamic of focusing but also keeping it fun and getting excited for each race,” she said.

Horning said her biggest individual surprise came on day 1.

“Sprinting is usually not my strong suit,” she said. “It ended up being the result I was most excited about.”

After finishing 21st in the qualifier, Horning joined her two American teammates in the heats. In fact, all three American boys also made the top-30 to move onto the knock-out rounds.

“This was pretty historic and it was fun to celebrate together,” she said.

The Leadville-born Horning was able to stay with the leaders on the climbs, but across the flat section of the 1.5-kilometer course, the top-two athletes pulled away. Estonia’s Herta Rajas found Horning’s slipstream coming into the stadium and ultimately passed her to end the American’s day prematurely.

At the beginning of the distance event the next day, Horning said she wasn’t feeling great.

“When I started, I felt like I couldn’t move,” she said. When the athlete starting 30 seconds behind her came up on her skis a few minutes into the race, Horning regrouped and capitalized. By emulating her competitor’s technique, she was able to “ski smoother.”

“We both pushed each other and for the rest of the race I felt great,” she said.

After an off day, Horning found out she was named to the relay squad.

“When I got a spot I was determined to ski as hard as I could,” she said of the nomination, which came as a slight surprise. “That is exactly what I did.”

Horning went with the front pack for the first of two classic laps. With only two sets of tracks, Horning said it was “chaotic” as athletes jostled for position at the front. She tagged off in eighth after a 15 minute, 27.3 second 5-kilometer leg.

“I was happy with the way I raced,” Horning said in summarizing her experience. “I felt strong and am proud of my results.”

One of the highlights was staying in the 2018 Olympic village and racing on the same courses where Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggins won the first gold medal in U.S. cross-country history six years ago.

“These women are so inspiring and to be able to ski the courses where they made history was amazing,” Horning said, before adding that she also enjoyed taking in a figure skating final and cheering on the U.S. in the hockey semifinals and finals as well.

“My other big highlight of the trip was getting to see South Korea,” she added.

“It was a beautiful place. Between the ocean, food, and trails it was truly spectacular.”  

Horning will now turn her focus toward defending her Junior National title next month in Lake Placid, New York. As a 16-year-old, she raced ill and still managed a fifth and fourth in the sprint and individual classic before winning the 10-kilometer mass start freestyle title in Fairbanks last winter.

“I am excited to keep chasing bigger goals,” she said.

“And I hope to continue to improve at racing internationally in the next few years.”