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Park City skier Devin Logan chases Olympic medals in two disciplines

Devin Logan skies at the 2016 Toyota U.S. Grand Prix in Copper Mountain, Colorado.
Courtesy of U.S. Ski & Snowboard

When it comes to the Olympics, specialization rules. Most athletes keep to a niche sport, in which they have honed their skills for most of their lives. But not Devin Logan. The 25-year-old skier from Vermont, who now lives and trains in Park City, has made a name for herself as both a slopestyle and a halfpipe athlete.

Not only is she competing in both, she is thriving in both. Since late 2015, she has competed in roughly 50 FIS-recognized events in halfpipe and slopestyle — mostly world cups and qualifications — and finished in the top 10 in all but nine.

In the Sochi Winter Games, she only performed in slopestyle, but took a silver.



In the Pyeongchang Olympics, Logan hoped to prove herself to the world as an innovator in the sport — someone who pushes athletic and technical boundaries — while still finding success. The slopestyle competition is scheduled for Friday evening Mountain time, while the halfpipe event is set to begin Sunday evening.

“I feel like I’m more prepared,” she said before traveling to South Korea. “Every Olympics is different, but when there’s media and fans and judges watching, it’s definitely going to change things. But I’m confident in my skiing right now.”



At the time, Logan was taking care of some last minute errands around Park City and soaking in a moment of respite before gearing up for the intensity she knew awaited in South Korea.

“Laundry for one,” she said. “Being on the road, I’ve accumulated a lot of things, so just unpacking a little bit, going to the post office, sending emails, sleeping in.”

She said the lead up to the Olympics was long, with essentially two full seasons of competitions, plus an X Games, where she took third in slopestyle and seventh in big air. Logan said she is ready for the Winter Games.

“There’s a little bit more pressure added on, but I kind of took summer off and spent it on the back jump at the (Utah Olympic Park),” she said, adding that her skiing has “progressively gotten better throughout the season,” which is good, because she didn’t want to peak too soon.

“There’s this thing called the Olympics coming up,” she said sardonically.

She has been competing in halfpipe and slopestyle since she was 11 years old, and said earning medals in both has been a longtime goal.

“Not accomplishing both going into Sochi was kind of disappointing,” she said. “The last four years, I’ve been digging deep, and wanting to achieve this goal.”

That not only means being proficient in rails transitions and nailing high-rotation tricks, but meticulously planning her season, and paying close attention to her body.

“I sit down with my coaches and plan it out, but when it comes down to competition, the schedule is intense,” she said. “It’s mentally and physically exhausting because when someone has a day off I’m doing the other event.”

Fortunately, there’s a lot of overlap. She said tricks she performs in slopestyle sometimes translate easily to the pipe, or at least, inspire her to find ways of incorporating aspects of the sports into each other.

“When I learn something in the jumps, I say, ‘Oh I can do this in the halfpipe — I just have to flip it more or spin it more,” she said. “I don’t have that pressure of when people are training in one event all day every day.”

Of course, she does feel pressure — it comes with the territory.

“But I’m making history,” she said. “I’m the first female freeskier to do both … and I’m trying to enjoy every moment of the Games.”


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