UPHILL STRUGGLE Scots-born racer fought back from injury and set her sights on the Olympics

SKIER Natalia Harte has fought her way back to fitness following a horrific knee injury. The teenager from Bishopton has set her sights on a place in the 2014 British Winter Olympics squad. And with her level of determination, some sponsorship – and a lot of snow! – she might just make it ....

EVEN when she was lying in a hospital bed with a ruptured knee, Natalia Harte did not give up on her ski-ing dream.

“I didn’t think it was all over for me ... not once,” recalls the 19-year-old, firmly.

“I just did everything the physio told me to, and kept focusing on the thought of getting back on to my skis. I never thought – ‘this is it, it’s finished’.”

Natalia’s first taste of ski-ing was when she was two, on a family holiday.

“Everyone in my family loves ski-ing – we used to go on ski holidays all the time and that’s where I first tried it,” she smiles.

“But it wasn’t until primary school that I got into racing.

“I enjoyed it so much I joined my local ski club and then spent the next few years racing and training with the British Ski Academy.”

Natalia was selected for the British Children’s Ski team when she was 12.

“I didn’t realise I was any good at first – I was just a little girl having fun and going fast with my friends,” she laughs.

“It was a very special moment to be selected and a great confidence boost.”

By this time the family had moved to England and Natalia was soon regularly achieving top 10 places in international junior races. In 2009, she became the Under-18 Champion at the British Championships in Meribel, in France.

But then, in February 2010, disaster struck.

During the giant slalom in an Italian National Junior race in Pila, Natalia crashed and ruptured a ligament in her left knee.

“I needed an operation to reconstruct my knee and then lots of rehabilitation – it was a long and painful process,” she recalls.

“The doctors said it would take a year to get back on my skis but I did it in five and a half months.”

In her first race after her injury, in Tignes in France, Natalia won first British girl and second inter-national girl in her category in the giant slalom.

Ski-ing has become a family affair for Natalia – her younger sister Julia now skis too, and the girls’ dad is their coach.

“It’s really good – we push each other and we get a bit competitive with each other which is a good thing,” smiles Natalia.

“And dad knows us so well he knows when we could do better and how to motivate us.”

The big challenge for Natalia as she works towards winning a place in the British Olympic team for Russia in 2014 is getting training time on snow.

“There is not a lot about in the south of England,” she grins.

At home I spend most of the week doing dry land fitness in the gym or at the athletics track to get as fit as possible – I’ve only had about six weeks’ training on the snow in the past couple of years, partly because of my injury and partly because it’s expensive.

“Funding is a real problem – I applied for a bursary from the British Ski and Snowboard Association but I was unsuccessful because of my lack of time on snow following my injury.

“I’m hoping to attract sponsorship so I can get more snow time and maybe if I can prove that my injury has not affected my performance there might be a chance of applying for another bursary in the future.”

Natalia, who has a part-time job in her local Marks & Spencer to help pay for her trips abroad, is currently dividing her time between home and competing in races in Italy and Switzerland.

“There’s a lot of moving about at the moment but it’s a good thing,” she says.

“I think if I work hard for the next couple of years, I might make it into the Olympic team. You’ve got to think positively.

“To be there, ski-ing in Russia, would be amazing and to win a medal?”

Natalia laughs: “I can’t even describe how incredible that would feel.”

Ann Fotheringham reports.