Australian snowboarding sensation Torah Bright has arrived in Vancouver ready to win the only title that has eluded her – the Olympic crown.

The 23-year-old who suffered a scare with a mild concussion following a ‘pretty minor’ fall at the X Games in late January is fully recovered, fit and rested.

She hasn’t been in the halfpipe since the fall but isn’t concerned about the disrupted preparation.

“This time that I’ve taken off snow is fine. I’m not trying to learn anything. I know what the tricks are, I know how to do them, I’ve done them all before,” Bright said.

“It’s just a matter of getting used to the pipe and doing what you know how to do best on the day.

“The fall was just one of those things. Mentally I’m feeling great, physically I’m feeling great - my body is rested…I’m excited to be here.”

In an ominous sign for her competition, Bright was feeling better on her board than ever before at the X Games pre-fall.

“The exciting thing for me is, just personally with my riding, at X Games the way I was riding I had never felt that way before on my snowboard. It just felt great, it felt like it was fluid and I was able to do little fun tweaks on my tricks.

“Things are just clicking and working and that just comes with time on snow.”

Bright is looking forward to plenty of Australian support at Cypress Mountain like they did at the Torino Games.

“That was the funnest part for me at the last Olympics, seeing my friends in the stands with their shirts off with ‘Torah’ across their chests.

“Vancouver is the closest we (Australians) are going to get to a home Winter Olympics so I think its going to be a special one. Unfortunately not all my family will be able to be out here but there’s a lot of them.”

In 2006 on her Olympic debut Bright finished fifth and has continued to improve her riding since then.

“There’s no real motivation coming from that (Torino). The motivation comes from wanting to be my best and my past four years have been my best.

“All anyone can ask is to just ride their best on the day. I know that my ability on the snowboard can give me what I would love…to be on that podium.”

And will there be any new tricks produced to win the gold?

“There’s talk of this double cork but the truth is I don’t know whether it will be out there at the Olympics, I don’t think I need it in there this time around.”

Bright will be joined by teammate and world championship bronze medallist Holly Crawford as they take on the Americans on Thursday the 18th of February.

Andrew Reid
Vancouver