A freestyle skiier who was slammed as the 'worst Olympian ever' is shaking off her haters and is pursuing a new challenge - competing on the TV show American Ninja Warrior.
California-raised athlete Elizabeth Swaney, 34, faced relentless criticism for her lackluster performance in the 2018 Olympic Winter games where she represented Hungary and simply skied down a slope without doing any tricks in the halfpipe skiing routine.
Following her shocking and simple routine she scored a 31.4, one of the lowest scores in Olympic history, and finished in last place.
Video of her routine went viral and critics accused her of 'scamming' her way into the competition by completing safe and boring routines, instead of performing jaw-dropping flips and tricks in mid-air like her opponents.
But the athlete was unfazed by the backlash saying 'I just love challenges' as she now tackles a new sport, this time on TV.
Elizabeth Swaney, 24, who went viral for her lackluster performance at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games is now trying to compete in the obstacle course TV show American Ninja Warrior
Swaney represented Hungary in the 2018 Winter Games in the halfpipe skiing sport where she simply slid down the slope without performing any tricks or stunts, landing her one of the lowest scores in Olympic history
Her performance confused judges and sparked outrage online as halfpipe skiing is a notoriously dangerous sport where athletes complete complex twists and flips midair, but Swaney played it safe and skied down the pipe without adding flair
Despite the backlash Swaney says she worked hard to make it into the Olympics.
The UC Berkeley and Harvard grad says that she's always wanted to compete in the Olympics ever since she was seven and saw figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi win gold in the 1992 Olympics.
To get to the Olympics Swaney dabbled in a variety of sports from rowing to ice hockey to skeleton, a sport where competitors hurtle headfirst down an icy track.
She differed from her peers in that she tested out various sports, instead of dedicating her time to one.
After failing to break through intense competition and land a spot in the U.S. Olympic training programs, she tried to represent other countries, which is allowed if athletes have a viable connection to that nation.
She failed to make the 2014 Sochi Winter Games for skeleton while representing Venezeula, where her mother grew up.
Her routine went viral and sparked outrage, many slamming her as the 'worst Olympian ever' saying the Olympics should be saved for the best of the best in the athletic world
'I just love challenges. I'm always trying to do my best,' she said on her last-place finish on the Today show following her stint at the 2018 Winter Games
Then she switched gears and tried for halfpipe skiing on behalf of Hungary, where her grandparents are from.
Halfpipe is a dangerous sport where skiers plummet down a steep track and down a pipe with 22-foot walls while performing impressive tricks.
The sport is considered to be dangerous as athletes flip, spin, and soar into the sky, and have to precariously land back on their feet. A bad landing could end in debilitating injury.
Swaney's Olympic dream came true thanks to the few number of global competitiors in the sport and after several athletes pulled out last minute due to injury.
Despite checking off her life-long goal, the response to her performance was a shock thanks to her stunt-less routine.
Her performance was described as a basketball player dribbling up and down the court, while never actually shooting a shot.
Following her bland performance she finished and victoriously fist-pumped.
Her routine went viral and sparked outrage, many slamming her as the 'worst Olympian ever' saying the Olympics should be saved for the best of the best in the athletic world.
On to the next: Now she's testing agility on the NBC show American Ninja Warrior
She was one of 100 'ninjas' who entered the Los Angeles qualifiers for season 10 of the show but didn't make it through one of the obstacle courses and didn't make it onto TV
A CBS sports columnist blasted her for accomplishing 'the real American dream: Scamming the system to achieve your life goals while doing the absolute bare minimum to get there.'
Many noted she didn't get into the Olympics for her cutting edge performance or talent - but instead by playing it safe.
As world rankings are based on points accumulated at qualifying events in the years prior to the Olympic games, she faithfully attended those events and skied, though simply, and accrued points each time.
In this way she could have outscored more ambitious athletes who fumbled their daring stunts and accrued less points.
When asked about her viral performance and the backlash, Swaney seemed unperturbed and said she was proud of herself.
Backlash: Following her performance at the Olympics she was slammed for 'scamming' her way into the esteemed competition where she performed no tricks
'I just love challenges. I'm always trying to do my best,' she said on her last-place finish on the Today show.
Speaking on her ambition, her father Tom said, 'She was just born that way.'
'She has an idea and she just goes and does it. It's been that way since she was a kid. If only it was so easy for me and for everyone,' he added.
When he read the negative reports on her, he asked her how she felt and she replied, 'Dad, I don't think I can read any more of those.'
Just a few weeks later she set a new goal for herself - get on the NBC TV show American Ninja Warrior. In the show contestants try to complete the world's most notorious obstacle course for a $1million cash prize.
Now she's living her parents' basement outside San Francisco training day in and day out to appear on the show.
When she's not training, she's working as a recruiter for tech company Thumbtack.
But most of the time, the ambitious athlete can be found at the gym training with weights and facing practice obstacle courses.
'When something is hard, she shows up every day until she conquers it. She’s a gym rat. And this sport is the ultimate test of patience and persistence,' he trainer Brian Kretsch said on her dedication to training.
She appeared on Season 10 of the obstacle course show but failed to get past the qualifying round and didn't make it onto air-time for the show.
According to her social media she's in the midst of filming Season 11 for the show.
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2019/03/15/how-elizabeth-swaney-went-from-worst-olympian-ever-to-competing-on-american-ninja-warrior/
Main photo article A freestyle skiier who was slammed as the ‘worst Olympian ever’ is shaking off her haters and is pursuing a new challenge – competing on the TV show American Ninja Warrior.
California-raised athlete Elizabeth Swaney, 34, faced relentless criticism for her lackluster ...
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Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
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