McKinnon’s Coach Sends Her Off to the Youth Olympics with Words of Encouragement
LAKE PLACID, NY (January 18, 2024) – NYSEF Winter Term Nordic Combined athlete Kai McKinnon is traveling to Gangwon, South Korea where she will be competing in the Youth Olympic Games on the women’s Nordic Combined team.
The Youth Olympics will take place from now through February 1, and represent the culmination of Kai’s young career to date. Colin Delaney, NYSEF’s Head Ski Jumping Coach has been Kai’s coach for three years and said she has worked tirelessly toward qualifying for the Youth Olympic Games and giving her the best shot at a good result.
“Kai is very self-motivated, disciplined to stay on task during training, and is always looking for ways to improve,” Delaney said. “She is talented but humble. She keeps her head down and focuses on the work.”
For a Nordic Combined athlete, these are important attributes.
“I hope that Kai continues to have ambitious goals and achieve them, and can help be a champion and advocate for the sport of Nordic Combined which needs more support than ever at the moment,” Delaney said.
To Kai, Delaney offered the following advice ahead of her events over the coming days:
“Picture your best jumps from training and try to extract the feelings that you liked from those jumps,” Delaney said. “Attack the race course, leave everything out there, and savor the moment.”