Portland's Jackie Wiles is ready for Winter Olympics
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Alpine racer and native Portlander Jackie Wiles is ready for her moment. Photo: Mattia Ozbot/Getty Images
Portland-native alpine ski racer Jackie Wiles heads to the Olympic Winter Games next week healthy and primed to compete in the team combined event.
The big picture: Wiles honed her racing skills on the slopes of Mount Hood and has battled back from myriad injuries to take part in the games.
Driving the news: Wiles, 33, will compete in the team combined event, where two athletes per country race in the downhill and slalom events at Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
- She told Axios she may also race in the Super-G.
Catch up quick: Wiles grew up "chasing her brother" around Timberline, Mt. Hood Meadows and Cooper Spur, but it was at Meadows where she got the racing bug.
- She entered her first race at just 5 years old and earned her first spot on a World Cup podium in 2017.
- "I feel so fortunate to have grown up in an area that embraces active outdoor culture," Wiles said in a phone interview from a training center in Austria.
- "It was embedded in us to be outside skiing with family."
Yes, but: Injuries — including a broken fibula, nerve damage and a number of torn ligaments, knocked her out for 18 months in 2019.
- And other injuries — a torn patellar tendon and a broken collarbone — have occurred throughout her career.
- Still, she's racked up a number of impressive finishes: including third place in Austria in 2017 and Cortina d'Ampezzo in 2018.
- Her best finish also came in Cortina d'Ampezzo, where she snagged second place in downhill in the 2023-24 season.
State of play: Wiles, who finished third in the downhill earlier this month at Zauchensee, Austria, says she's "the healthiest I've ever been."
- Since then, she's been working out, refining turns on hill sessions, doing physical therapy, analyzing race videos and tuning equipment.
The bottom line: Wiles is itching for Olympic competition, backed by years of training in Oregon.
- "I feel lucky to have been in the sport as long as I have," she told Axios. "I'm skiing the best I ever have. Coming off a podium in Austria, I'm just looking to keep building that momentum going into Cortina."
What's next: The women's team combined slalom and downhill races will be held Feb. 10 with coverage on NBC and Peacock.