Under 23 Questions with Jesse Knori

In an effort to showcase the North Americans competing at this week’s International Ski Federation (FIS) 2017 USANA Nordic Junior World Championships and U23 Cross Country World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 22-year-old Jesse Knori, of the University of Colorado-Boulder Ski Team, who’s representing the U.S. at her first U23 Worlds.

On Tuesday, Knori placed 15th in the classic sprint, and on Thursday, she finished 32nd in the women’s 10 k freestyle.

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“My full name is Jesse, but you can call me Jesse (or Knori as long as you pronounce the K). I was born in Jackson Hole, Wyo., raised in Jackson Hole, and one thing you should know about my hometown is I am 6th generation Jackson Hole.

I started cross-country skiing when I was 16, thanks to my swim coach who told me to either train year round for swimming or do another endurance sport. Turns out I left swimming for skiing 🙂

I currently train in Boulder, Colo., with the University of Colorado Ski Team.

If I’m not skiing, you might find me mountain biking, backcountry skiing, swimming, playing beach volleyball, or drawing floorplans.

If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be an empty sketch book for me to draw in. (I know! Not a regular book *plot twist)

One of the things I’m most excited about for U23/Junior Worlds at Soldier Hollow is getting to race against the top U23 athletes in the world at one of the most weather changing, exciting courses I’ve ever raced on!

One race I’m especially targeting there is just experiencing the skiathlon. I’ve never raced in one and I think the energy of it all will be an amazing 15k.

The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was somewhere along the lines of ‘you’ve done all the hard work, go out and have fun’. There is something so remarkable about the type of people nordic skiing attracts and to just all be able to go out and push our bodies and smile afterwards is what nordic skiing is all about.

One of the best race memories I have is NCAA 15k classic race last year in Steamboat. The weather was bathing-suit hot, the tracks had long disappeared before our start and it became such a mental game. I love when race conditions are subpar, I think it challenges you as a person and it is exciting to test your body and mind when it isn’t perfect skiing on fast tracks on extra blue.

If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be Stina Nilson.

If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably be an interior designer for Kitchen and Baths or a Landscape Architect.

I’m missing three weeks (*heading straight to Alaska for college races after this) of school to be here, and my professors are probably thinking, ‘What is cross country skiing?’

You can follow me on Instagram @jknori or Twitter @JesseMKnori.”