Piera Hudson competing in Switzerland in 2022.
Photo: Jari Pestelacci/JustPictures / NurPhoto via AFP)
Determination is at the heart of how a Hawke’s Bay-raised athlete became part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) first-ever winter Olympic team.
The small, desert country is fielding two athletes at these Games, including New Zealand-born Piera Hudson, who has had a long, hard journey to fulfilling her Olympic dream.
Hudson also had the honour of being a flagbearer for the UAE during the opening ceremony for the Milano Cortina Olympics.
Hudson will check into the Olympic Village in Cortina in a couple of days as she gets ready to compete in her first event on Sunday, the giant slalom.
The 30-year-old is set to become the first Winter Olympian Hawke’s Bay has ever produced and told Nine to Noon that it didn’t feel real yet.
“I don’t think it will until I’m sort of competing on the day and then it might hit me. The Olympic opening ceremony was just amazing, I was buzzing, you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. It was the most surreal feeling to have finally sort of had that ‘I made it’ moment,” Hudson said.
“To be flagbearer on top of that was such a huge honour for my country, so couldn’t have asked for a better way to start it off.”
The alpine skier won multiple national titles and represented New Zealand on the international stage for most of her career. But the heartbreak of missing selection for the 2014, 2018 and 2022 Olympic Games hurt.
In 2022, she tried fighting her non-selection, having made the official qualification mark, but that wasn’t enough for the Sports Tribunal to overturn the decision.
It was about that time she decided to make Dubai her base.
United Arab Emirates’ flag bearer Piera Hudson during the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.
Photo: Franck FIFE / AFP
Hudson’s connection with the UAE goes back a couple of decades; she had a lot of family based there and growing up spent many holidays there with her cousins.
“Shortly after Covid I decided to move to Dubai myself just to make it my home instead of having to trek back to New Zealand so frequently.”
When not training in Europe, she trains at the indoor Ski Dubai facility – one of the biggest indoor ski domes in the world, based in the Emirates Mall.
“You walk into the mall and you’re carrying your skis and people are looking at you sideways and then you walk into Ski Dubai and there’s a chair lift …you can set up a course, you can get a good slalom training run in.
“I don’t train there too frequently because it doesn’t quite emulate World Cup and Olympics conditions but it is really lovely to train with the ski club there.”
The UAE Winter Federation welcomed Hudson with open arms when she decided to switch allegiances, but the challenge of getting citizenship and approval to represent the UAE seemed insurmountable at times.
It wasn’t until late last year that the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) approved the nation change, and final acceptance from the International Olympic Committee came very late in the piece.
“It takes years and I knew that going into it, but I also knew it was what I wanted to do. It was going to be worth it …I just knew I wanted to represent that country.
“There’s been a lot of lows with the Olympics in the past, representing New Zealand and not getting that opportunity when I had made qualification in the past and things, it’s a tough time.
“I’m really glad that my parents raised me to be resilient and persistent …I don’t take no for an answer very often so it kind of got me through, which I’m really glad about.”
Piera Hudson in action during an FIS Giant Slalom event in 2024.
Photo: Iain McGregor / PHOTOSPORT
Hudson has also endured massive injury setbacks during her career, including a horrific leg break and a full rupture of her anterior cruciate ligament in recent years.
She grew up on farm near Tikokino, so how did the mountains come calling?
“I was lucky enough to spend a lot of time in the South Island during the winter school holidays growing up. My Mum is originally from Dunedin and both my parents grew up skiing.
“They sort of chucked my brother and I in the car every winter and we went down to Wānaka and we were on skis from a very early age and both fell in love with it, my brother became a ski instructor for many many years.”
The adrenaline rush of slalom is something that never gets old for Hudson.
“It’s a hugely technical event, but at the same time, you have to have the courage to send it, even though the turns are tight, it is a high-speed event and there’s just a lot coming at you very, very quickly.”
When to watch Piera Hudson from NZ
The women’s giant slalom event will be held at 10pm on Sunday, 15 February (run 1) and 1.30am Monday, February 16 (run 2).
The women’s slalom event will be held at 10pm next Wednesday, 18 February (run 1) and 1.30am next Thursday, February 19 (run 2).
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