Kikkan Randall is an American, Olympic champion cross-country skier. She has won 17 U.S. National titles, taken home 17 U.S. Championships, made 16 podiums in the Stage World Cup, made five trips to the Winter Olympic Games and had the highest finish by an individual U.S. woman at the World Championships (2nd in the Sprint FS at Liberec, CZE in 2009).
She was the first American female cross-country skier to take a top ten finish in World Cup competition, to win a World Cup race and to win a World Cup discipline title.
She won the silver medal in the individual sprint at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec, becoming the first American woman to win a medal in cross country skiing at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, and in 2013 teamed up with Jessica Diggins to win the first ever American FIS Nordic World Ski Championships gold medal in the team sprint.
She and Diggins won the United States' first ever cross-country skiing gold medal at the Winter Olympics in women's team sprint at Pyeongchang in 2018.
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Show notes
Retiring from cross country skiing and being diagnosed with breast cancer
Seeing herself in a number of different ways
Being focused, energetic and determined
Where her name comes from
What life was like for her growing up
Being on skies since she was 1 years old
Growing up in an active family
Starting cross country skiing at age 6 - but not loving it at first
Setting goals at a young age
Having benchmarks to reach which help to keep her motivated
Creating her roadmap to the Olympics
The female role models she had growing up
The motivation to keep going for 10 years to get her Olympic gold medal
Patience
Working to fund her training
Getting out of the dark places in her mind and how she changed it around
The 2008 season - the high points and low points
What a week looks like for an athlete at this level
Spending a lot of time being her own best cheerleader
The 2018 Winter Olympics (her 5th and final)
The race and winning gold!
What happened next, after 20 years of chasing a goal!!
Finding out she had breast cancer
Being diagnosed and what it was like
Staying practical and focusing on what she can control
Get Activist - what it means and where it comes from
“Little goals, small success. build your confidence and become the person you want to be”
Having her son, 2 years before the Olympics and the impact on her life
Having an amazing support system in place
Social Media
Website - www.kikkan.com
Instagram - @kikkanimal
Facebook - @kikkanrandall
Twitter - @kikkanimal
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