Will she or won’t she? That’s the question that has been hanging off the lips of Australian officials pondering Torah Bright’s position in the Australian Olympic team for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. The answer, it would finally appear, is yes she will.
Bright has long moved to the beat of her own successful snowboarding drum. The Olympic gold (Vancouver 2010) and silver (Sochi 2014) champion. Typically she doesn’t always compete regularly on a FIS World Cup circuit and has in recent years preferred backcountry powder to hard packed half pipes.
It is very Bright to fly under the radar and surprise her fans with a competition appearance with no pre promotion or build up. Which is how she announced her plans to compete in PyeongChang this week. A simple first place podium at the Copper Mountain Nor-Am cup (Wednesday USA time) with a score of 93.50 followed by a silver at the second event of the day.
Boom! Bright is back and according to the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia made her ‘intentions clear with Ski and Snowboard Australia that she is aiming to qualify for a fourth Winter Olympics.’
The Cooma born snowboarder has not competed on the international circuit in two years despite a swag of career medals including gold at the World Superpipe Championships, two golds, two silvers and a bronze in the Superpipe at the X Games.
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She battled concussion before Vancouver, and still feels some of the minor effects today. Before Sochi she battled intense grief from the loss of her dear friend pro skier Sarah Burke who died in a training accident in the halfpipe.
“I’m not positive all the time, there are definitely shitty things that happen, but you have the choice, the way you look at it” said Bright in a piece I penned for The Robb Report.
“I think it’s not healthy to think that there are no bad things, because that’s not validating the things that you do feel. I feel things to their depth, and let them go, and then they’re not there anymore.” Torah bright, the robb report
Things have certainly looked up for Bright in recent years having met and married the love of her life, Angus Thomson (brand director for Thredbo). The lead up to PyeongChang will surely be a happier time than Sochi. Though expect more surprises from Bright who announced prior to Sochi that she would compete in slopestyle, boarder X AND halfpipe. Why? Because she could.
