OH! Magazine - Australian Version August 2014 (Australian Version) | Page 8

( OH WOW! )

STEPH PREM
From injury to victory
Five-time Australian
snowboard champion and
former winter Olympian
Steph Prem talks to Toni
Krasicki about life after
injury and how it spurred a
new career.
ormer pro snowboarder Steph Prem is on top
of the world. Not literally, although when
she’s running luxury five-star skiing and
snowboarding holidays in the Canadian Rockies
through her business Premium Snow Tours, she
may as well be.
Excelling at giant slalom and snowboard cross,
she often says that winning the overall interschool
championships at 17 was a major highlight of her
career. But that was before turning pro and heading
to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
‘Obviously the Olympics was a major highlight of my
professional career but it was THE most exciting
and overwhelming week of my life,’ she says of her
experience.
While most elite athletes start priming for their
sports at an early age, Steph didn’t realise she had
the potential to turn her favourite hobby
(snowboarding) into a professional sporting career
until she was 18 years old. ‘After I finished my first
year of uni I went overseas to compete for the
season and it wasn’t until then that I realised I
maybe had what it took,’ says Steph about her life
changing decision to pursue the Olympic dream.
Sponsored by Billabong, her road to the
Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics was not your
typical fairy-tale where she was escorted by a crew
of elite trainers and massage therapists. Eight
years ago when Steph embarked on her four-year
training and competition schedule leading up to the
games she said that it was a tough journey with very
little support from governing bodies in Australia.
‘My dad was my dry land coach, my boyfriend my
snowboard coach and my support team consisted of
family and anyone who could contribute/was
enthusiastic and optimistic in helping me on my
journey.’ Calling her family and husband, ‘The

F

8

AUGUST 2014 ( OH! MAGAZINE )