Voisin given warm welcome home
Whitefish native and Olympic slopestyle skier Maggie Voisin was welcomed home Tuesday evening with a parade honoring the athlete as locals gathered along Central Avenue in downtown Whitefish to watch her ride by on top a fire truck, shouting their congratulations.
Voisin, 15, was set to be the youngest competitor in this year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi, but a fall during a practice run left her with a fractured leg and she was forced to sit out of the slopestyle event, the newest of the winter games.
To some, her trip to Russia may have been all for naught, but the young athlete made the most during the first of what she hopes to be many trips to the Winter Olympic Games.
“I have such an amazing season to look back on,” Voisin said. “I was still super glad that I could still be there, and it’s incredible that I made it that far. Just to think about how far I’ve come is exciting.”
The sting of coming so close to competing in the Olympics can leave many athletes in a spell of agony, wondering what could have been. But rather than dwelling on her injury, Voisin is using her experience as motivation for the future.
“I was skiing very well at the time, and I definitely had a run that could have been on the podium, but things change and you never know,” Voisin said. “It was disappointing not to be able to compete, but I’ll be back. I’m not going anywhere.”
With three months of rehab ahead of her Voisin is happy to be home, her first time back in Whitefish since Christmas. Many of her fans are wishing her the best for another Olympic run in four years, but the youngster isn’t looking so far ahead.
“For us, with our sport, it doesn’t really go by every four years. Every year we have Dew Tour; we have the X-Games, so right now I’m not worried about the next Olympics,” Voisin said.
“I’m going to take it day by day, year by year and just have fun and see where it takes me.”
Voisin will have plenty of time to try to improve upon the silver medal she won at the Winter X-Games just before she was selected to represent Team USA in the Sochi Games, and she’ll be 19 when the 2018 Winter Olympics are hosted in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Still, she remains humble and is reflecting on an experience many can only dream about.
“Obviously I went down there in hopes of competing, but outside of that I really enjoyed everything,” Voisin said. “My favorite moment was the opening ceremonies. That feeling of walking out onto the stage with your whole country, it’s and incredible feeling and nothing like I’ve ever felt before.”
The future is bright for the local skiing star, and if she can remain healthy, the name Maggie Voisin will be surrounding the national and international skiing community for years to come.