Photography: Babiche Martens.
Twelve years after chasing glory on the snow, Anna Willcox is heading back to the Winter Olympics – this time with a microphone instead of skis. The former free skier is a presenter for Sky Sport and will be reporting from Italy – a full-circle moment that reminds her of the thrill and heartbreak of her own Games journey.
“I’ve been working towards this my whole broadcasting career,” enthuses Anna, 33.
“I would’ve loved to report from Beijing in 2022, but my first baby had just been born. Now my time is finally here.”
After competing at the 2014 Games in Sochi, where she placed 15th in the women’s slopestyle and just missed out on a place in the final, Anna was recovering from a “big concussion” and had her sights set on PyeongChang in 2018 when she broke her back in a qualifying event, derailing her Olympic dreams.
It was a conversation with her dad, world champion yachtsman and former America’s Cup sailor Hamish Willcox, and her Swedish mum Ulrika that helped cement her decision to retire from the sport a few months later.
Walking away when it mattered most
“My parents were always so supportive of my career, but after my concussion, they said they’d kick themselves if something happened and they hadn’t intervened,” she recalls.
“I look back now and feel so grateful I was able to literally walk away from the sport after those serious accidents.”
After spending most of her twenties competing and jetting around the world, Anna’s new life as a broadcaster, wife and mum to daughter Ziggy, four, and son Ardie, two, couldn’t be more different. Soon after arriving back in Auckland, she joined the team on Sky’s The Crowd Goes Wild.
“Hayley Holt was moving to Breakfast and they needed to replace her quickly, so they found another blonde skier!” she laughs.
Love found on the dancefloor
Not long after that, Anna met her husband Campbell Lowe “in the wild” on a Ponsonby dancefloor.
“I caught his eye and made the first move as he’s a bit shy,” she tells.
“The next night, we went out for dinner and he rocked up in his white Nissan Tiida. I’m not into cars at all, so when I saw this manly guy totally secure in driving that, I knew he was the one for me!”
Right person, right time
After years of living overseas and not wanting to be “tied down by a man”, the timing was perfect.
“I was ready to settle for the first time in my life. Cam and I have an amazing relationship – we’re such a good team. You know you’re with the right person when you bring out the best in each other.”
A wedding like no other
The couple’s love of music, dancing and a good party led to non-traditional nuptials at the Splore Festival.
“We saw a wedding party there a couple of years ago and I remember saying to Cam, ‘That’s how I’d love to get married.’ When we got engaged a year later, he said he’d talked to Splore and we were locked in for 2021!”
The day was everything they hoped for, with Anna’s 80-year-old grandma joining in the fun, and Shapeshifter as their “wedding singers”.
Anna loves being a mum, and can’t wait to see which of her and Cam’s “totally opposite” traits they pass on to their kids.
Parenting with personality
“Cam’s really athletic and has this incredible endurance mentality, whereas I’m an adrenaline junkie, so it’ll be interesting to see what they get! “Becoming a parent’s given me so much respect for my mum and dad, who supported me to become a freestyle skier. I see now how hard it is to watch your kid do something that puts their body and life on the line.”
She says “hilarious, positive and kind” Ziggy and “adorable” Ardie were both “small gestational age” babies, meaning they were littler than expected at birth.
The realities of newborn life
“Rather than the newborn bubble bliss, it was like being in the trenches for me,” Anna remembers.
“Ardie wasn’t gaining weight, so I had to triple-feed him around the clock for months and he ended up in the paediatric intensive care unit with a respiratory virus.”
Following Ardie’s birth, Anna struggled with post-partum depression, her second experience of it after a brief bout when she retired.
Finding light afte darkness
“I started taking medication around six weeks after Ardie was born and it was the best thing,” she admits.
“Those two months helped get me out of a dark place.”
Now with the kids older and her dream job beckoning, Anna’s in a much happier place, although she admits to a few nerves about the three weeks she’ll spend in Italy as it’s the longest she’s been away from the children since birth.
“The day after I get back from Italy, we’re taking the kids to the last-ever Splore so they can experience why it’s special to us,” she enthuses.
“My parents are coming too. It’ll be a blast!”
The Winter Olympic Games screen on Sky Sport, Sky Sport Now and Sky Open from Friday.
