My name is Madi and I am a 15 year old ski racer from Sydney, Australia.

I started skiing when I joined my mum on a work ski trip when I was 4 years old and sat on the side of the Interschools races with her watching on in awe.

It looked so much fun and despite loving all sports and spending many years concentrating on gymnastics and dance... I always knew my passion would end up going as fast as possible on snow like those racers I watched when I was young!

After joining my school team in Kindergarten and racing at a few Interschools, I was 8 when I asked/begged my mum to join a race club like my older sister and now I train full time in Thredbo with the Thredbo Ski Race Club and with Apex 2100 in Tignes, France.

2022 was a great year for me, it was my first full time season on snow and what really cemented my goals and want for a real future in this sport. Having not started off in mini mites or with loads of private lessons and ski holidays, I worked super hard over the years to improve and finished my first full season as the National Interschools Alpine and Ski X champion and the U16 overall Alpine Champion at the Snow Australia National Children's Carnival. I was also blown away to be invited to participate in the Snow Australia Emerging Talent Program at the end of my best season ever, an opportunity I thought I was still to young for.

2023 for me was a little more challenging after I had a really bad crash racing in Croatia and was discharged from hospital with a suspected lower back fracture. Lots of rehab and not as much training or racing followed, but I still worked super hard to get back to full strength and managed some awesome results again.

Now in 2024, I am excited to begin racing my first FIS races and start my journey as an open aged athlete. My goals are still as strong as ever, to be selected on the National Dev Team and work towards Europa Cup, World Cup and dreams of the Olympics representing Australia.

Whilst it is super amazing to celebrate success, chase my dreams and reach my goals, its important to share that lots also goes on behind the scenes to make it all happen.

My winters in Australia and France see me on the mountain training at least 5 days a week. In the Australian season, I also have to catch the bus up to Thredbo leaving home at 6.30am. Most afternoons I get back and head to the gym or the oval to work on my strength and conditioning program and then I come home to start my school work. I also work at least one full day in a local cafe, to help pay for skis and contribute to some of the huge costs in my sport. These are all aspects of my journey I can control and I take pride in fulfilling to the best of my ability every day.

In 2022, I was also able to go away to France for my first International season. I had hoped to be there full time, but that race injury sadly cut my time short. Living away from home comes at a huge cost. Travelling to and from races both domestically and internationally is super expensive but necessary to keep me competitive within this sport and chasing my dreams. I also have costs involved with race equipment, skis, race suits, protective equipment, race entries and coaching to name a few.

This is the biggest part of my journey that I sadly have no control of. I know my family all sacrifice a lot for me and I have been grateful to also receive some scholarships and funding so far, but I am also hoping to help with some fund raising of my own to help.

Any donation no matter the amount would be extremely helpful and greatly appreciated and will help me so much on this journey.