Passionate about skiing from a very young age, Britt was a 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympian in freestyle skiing (half pipe), is a qualified ski instructor and freeski coach.
HPSNZ
Tell us about your Olympic experience.
Britt
Representing New Zealand at an Olympics was my primary goal all the years I was competing as an athlete. To be selected for PyeongChang was a dream come true. It was the accumulation of eight years of hard work, but it was also a little bittersweet as I knew it was the end of the road for me for my competitive career.
HPSNZ
Of all the experiences, what was the most memorable?
Britt
I have two amazingly memorable experiences.
Without doubt walking into the Opening Ceremony was one – from catching the team transport, waiting with the team and then walking into the stadium behind Beau-James Wells flying the flag, alongside my teammates. The noise when we hit the stadium was intense – I was so proud to be a Kiwi.
My second amazing memory was dropping into my second run of qualifications and although I knew I was unlikely to qualify through to the finals, to know my now-husband, mum and dad and one of my siblings were right at the bottom of the pipe was so special. They had been in my corner for my whole journey so it was the perfect way to wind up my competitive career.
HPSNZ
Given what you know now what, if anything, would you have done differently in your Olympic campaign?
Britt
Now that I work at Snow Sports NZ I get to see really world class campaigns executed incredibly successfully. If I had my time again what I would do differently is focus on quality over quantity, to be ok with not training on some days, to sometimes take a day off to ensure the on snow days were as productive as possible.
HPSNZ
How different do you think the Olympic experience is today from when you competed?
Britt
PyeongChang was only two cycles ago and, unlike Beijing which must have been so very different without families there, I expect the athlete experience to be similar in Milano with their family and friends in the crowd to cheer them on.
What I hope is that there will be more coverage of all sports through the various digital channels now available. Paris was a great reflection of the increase in digital channels which meant more exposure and opportunities for athletes before, during and afterwards.
HPSNZ
How does your experience as an Olympic athlete contribute and help in your current role with Snow Sports NZ?
Britt
I think it gives me useful insights and understandings in two key areas.
Firstly, I competed alongside a few of our current athletes so I have some great relationships with them outside my job and I have known some of our younger athletes through my time as a coach at Cardrona. This all helps in terms of open channels for communications and developing rapport with the team.
Also knowing from personal experience what if feels like to stand at the top of the course in your bib and know what that pressure can feel like. This helps me to be able to understand when it is the appropriate time to connect with the athlete and team, and when a purely performance focus is required.
HPSNZ
If you were to give a current Winter Olympian or Paralympian one piece of advice for their Milano Cortina 2026 campaign, what would it be?
Britt
My advice would be for those athletes who sit outside the high performance programme and are mostly self-funded, like I was – I’d love them to understand there is more than one road to Milano. There is more than just option A. There’s options B, C and D. Just trust your gut and do what is best for you and your training plan.
