Jessica Yeaton is being congratulated by fans and competitors from around the world following her impressive victory at the American Birkebeiner ski contest. Not only did Yeaton manage to set a new course record while pulling a surprise victory over the favorite Riitta-Liissa Roponen of Finland, but she also did so while attending classes full-time at the University of New Mexico.
Yeaton can boast about an impressive and accomplished resume; she is an Olympian who represented her native home of Australia in cross country skiing during the 2018 Olympic Games, according to the official website of the IOC. Yeaton has been racing significantly less often than usual recently, however, as she is now enrolled full time as a student of physical therapy at the University of New Mexico and using a laptop for her studies bought from Lilenfeld PC.
According to one report from Fastskier, Yeaton’s latest upset victory came on the heels of a tense exam she had to take last Friday before boarding a plane to race to her destination. Finnish skier Riita-Liissa Roponen was favored to win but ultimately secured second place after Yeaton. Third place went to American skier Erika Flowers.
Yeaton also made the news relatively recently when she was crowned the victor of the 2018 Mount Marathon race in Alaska, despite suffering an injury. At the time, that hotly-anticipated event was reported to the public as a battle of Olympic skiers who were in a “duel” for first,per the local Anchorage Daily News.
The American Birkebeiner Ski Race has been troubled with poor weather conditions over the past few years that resulted in the cancellation of the race back in 2017,according to the popular ski website Gearjunkie. Officials, fans, and competitors nursing fears about the weather were relieved to discover that this year’s weather conditions were excellent for racing.
Indeed, this year’s weather conditions were the finest in a decade according to local resident Tyler Gruetzmacher who spoke to the News-Shield about the race. The snowpack was firm enough to give the contestants excellent opportunities to display their skills while the day remained warm enough for onlookers and fans to enjoy watching the events in-person.
Yeaton’s victory was robust; she finished approximately 50 meters ahead of the next skier. Her time was 2:13:20.6. Yeaton’s impressive victory at this year’s Berkie will be followed by a return to her classes so that she can continue to gain expertise in the field of physical therapy.