Vali Höll, women's downhill World Cup Champion

At just 19 years of age, Vali Höll is no stranger to the World Cup podium. In 2018, she won every Junior World Cup race and went on to win the overall title two years in a row, occasionally beating the fastest Elite times. Her 2020 season was cut short by injury and further complicated by the pandemic and studying for her final year of high school. She tells Payson about the rehab process at the Red Bull High Performance Centre in her native Austria and her rocky start to elite racing during the 2021 season. After a string of disappointing finishes, she made a mental reset, refocused on positivity, and dominated the final World Cup in Snowshoe, West Virginia, eventually winning the overall title.

She talks about the pressure that followed her from her success as a junior to her first elite season, and how she finally managed to overcome these expectations in time to dominate at Snowshoe. They also talk about the initiative she took early in her junior career to find and negotiate contracts with sponsors, and the importance of female mentorship in her career.

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