Ben Kilner interview
HUCK talks to the British snowboarder and 2010 Vancouver Olympics hopeful about sacrifice, the FIS and 'The Zone'.
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You are competing at the LG FIS World Cup Freeze as part of your qualifying for the Olympics. How do you deal with the stress of it all?
To be honest, I don’t get too stressed out with the prospect of big events. Everyone on the tour knows each other pretty well and that helps to keep a relaxed atmosphere. I’m not sure if that will be the same in Vancouver but I spend a lot of time with friends and family in between events and that really helps to take my mind off things. I also have a sports psychologist who helps me prepare for events. He helps me to focus and get myself in 'The Zone’!
What have you had to sacrifice in order to attempt to qualify?
I had to leave school earlier than I wanted but I felt the success would only come if I concentrated 100% on my chosen sport. I want to return to my education sometime in the future. Being away from family and friends is also something else that is hard to get used to. Personally, I enjoy the hard training, be it on snow or in the gym, as I love the feeling of being in good condition. It's also difficult relying on financial support from sponsorship, family and friends. I hope I can pay them back one day
Is too much emphasis placed on an athlete’s nationality at this event? Are you riding for you or Team GB?
Well, that’s the spirit of Olympic competition. I’ll take great pride in turning out for my country. It would be a great personal achievement to do well at the Winter Olympics too. At the end of the day though, all nationalities will be back on the mountain the day after riding as friends.
Do such heavily regulated competitions take the basic essence of freedom out of the sport?
Not at all. Everyone has earned their right to be there and no one is dictated to about when they compete. I’ve picked my routine for the event and I’ll have just as much freedom in competing as I would at any other event. Snowboarding has many facets and everyone is entitled to express themselves in whatever way they choose. I spend much of my time freeriding and respect the right for everyone to choose their own path.
There's some animosity between the FIS and the TTR series, are so many competitions good for the sport?
I think it just goes to show the popularity of the sport. At this stage I think it’s great to have a lot of competitions because it gives more opportunities for people to compete, and for fans to come and watch. They’re both great competitions, although at the moment my thoughts are focused on the LG FIS World Cup. Honestly, there is no animosity amongst the riders, many compete in both FIS & TTR events
Apart from the Olympics, what are your plans for the coming season?
Well in order to get to Vancouver, I've still got to qualify so right now the focus is to get good points in all FIS events. I’m taking one event at a time so the big one right now is the Freeze. It’s great preparation for the Olympics and the interest in the event has meant I’m getting to grips with the demands of being in the spotlight. One cool thing about the hype has been linking up with fans of the event on Facebook and talking to them about pretty much anything around snowboarding. Some kids want to know where to go and shred, other people just want to win my kit. I think it's pretty cool that LG have built a whole community around the event 'cos it gives ski and snowboard enthusiasts the chance to support each other.
FSO4 FREEZE Sponsored by LG takes place at Battersea Power Station from October 30 - November 1. Check out the FREEZE Connect page for your chance to put your own questions to Ben Kilner.
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Ben Kilner interview (text) by Ed Andrews is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
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