Namita Nayyar:
“Since an early age, my number one goal was to compete at the Olympic Winter Games. For an athlete the Olympics is the absolute pinnacle, it’s the ultimate and highest level you can reach.” You made your Olympic debut at the Pyeongchang 2018 Games in the women’s individual event at just 19 years-old. From the experiences you’ve collected from there, how is your preparation for the next Olympics going?
Kailani Craine:
Competing at the 2018 Olympics was literally a dream come true, whenever I think about it I honestly start to cry! It really was the only thing that I wanted in life and it was the only thing I ever thought of. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve drawn the Olympic Rings, for at least 2 years leading up to the Games I drew them every day! It’s crazy to think that the option of not qualifying ever crossed my mind for years.
I 110% believed that I would be going it was like it was a matter of life and death for me, I think I even said in an interview at the Qualifying competition in Germany that someone would have to kill me for me to not go!
The amount of lessons I have learnt from that year is insane, I definitely believe experience in this sport counts for everything, knowing how to adjust for certain situations- basically being comfortable with being uncomfortable. Even though the pandemic has affected everyone’s training and competition schedule, I believe in myself that I can get through anything which will be key leading into Beijing.
Namita Nayyar:
Introduce us to a day in your life.
Kailani Craine:
A typical day in my life differs with where I’m training! When I am in Australia I feel very busy which I like, I usually coach in the mornings and then get all of my errands done, and then I train in the afternoons and then follow up with more coaching at night! When I go home I get my workout and stretching in, and then it’s my relax time.
When I train in Los Angeles however, I start training on the ice at 11am and finish later in the afternoon, which leaves me plenty of time to fit my workout in. Even though the training is harder in LA, I feel like my life there feels more relaxed because I only have myself to worry about.
Namita Nayyar:
Five exercises that comprise your workout routine that you may like to share? The therapy you undertake to prevent injury or overcome it?
Kailani Craine:
Thankfully (knock on wood) I have never had an injury, but of course to prevent I will always listen to my body. I feel like I am smarter in that way as I’ve gotten older, when I was younger I would kind of ignore the warning signs my body would give me when I was in pain which of course made the situation worse!
As for exercises I love going on walks, especially at the beach, I love skipping, anything core related, resistance bands are another great way to make bodyweight exercises a lot harder, and my new favourite thing to do is HIIT!
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