This winter I’ve been training hard for Ski-Cross in the Winter Games. There’ve been a lot of early mornings on the hill, a lot of time in the gym and a lot of travel to get race ready; it’s been hard and rewarding work.

When I got back from Australia on Tuesday my wife Claire and daughter had developed gastroenteritis. Obviously I took care of them; they are my number one priority. I was very careful though because with the Winter Games on Friday I wanted to be fit and healthy. 

On Thursday we had the training day in the Ski-Cross course. I was feeling great and faster than I had all season. I was ready to put my best foot forward in the race

 On Thursday evening the diarrhea and vomiting kicked in.

I was gutted because come Friday morning I hardly had the energy to move. But I wasn’t going to let that stop me competing so I went up Cardrona and raced anyway. The racing didn’t go well; I qualified in 11^th and got through my first race, but was then knocked out in the quarter-finals.

 What gutted me the most was not where I came but the unknown of how well I could have done if I’d been fit and well. 

But I have a belief that it’s not what happens to us in life that’s important, it’s the meaning we give those events and then what we do with that that defines us. 

The day after the race it was my daughter’s first birthday. It was a wonderful day celebrating an incredible year, and that really put what’s important in perspective. 

I haven’t yet decided what meaning to give to that race, I’m sure there’s a reason it happened, I just haven’t worked that out yet! What I do know is that it’s up to me to make a positive out of the situation because no one else can do that for me.