\u201cI was like, \u2018I\u2019ll be back for the world championships, no worries\u2019, and I literally left my ski bag there. That\u2019s how adamant I was that I wasn\u2019t gonna be retiring.\u201d<\/p>\n
But then came the \u201cbig turning point\u201d, thanks to a difficult conversation with her parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had this really big concussion about September 2016, and then two months later, I broke my back,\u201d Willcox recalled to Cowan.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents have always been really supportive of my career and skiing \u2013 even though as a mum now, I\u2019m like, \u2018oh my God, please don\u2019t choose a sport like this\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut there was a big turning point around that time. They sat me down and were like, \u2018we actually don\u2019t support this any more, and we would kick ourselves if something really big happened that you couldn\u2019t come back from and we didn\u2019t have this conversation\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo they had a really blunt conversation with me where they were like, \u2018we don\u2019t want you to do this any more, you\u2019ve got so much more life ahead of you\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, the decision had to be mine and I did come to it on my own, but that conversation hit me more than I realised.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just five years into her career, Willcox announced her retirement from sport, going on to launch a career in broadcasting and later becoming a mum.<\/p>\n
But it coincided with a difficult period in her life, in which Willcox fell into depression on multiple occasions.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne period was before my kids were born \u2026 it literally came out of nowhere and there wasn\u2019t really anything significant in my life that had happened for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to therapy, and that really helped. It took about six months of going to therapy, if not more, to come through that. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor me it was like anxiety and panic attacks, which I\u2019d never had before, and the therapy really helped manage it in some ways.\u201d<\/p>\n
Twelve years since her appearance at the Sochi Olympics in 2014, Anna Willcox will be returning to the Winter Olympics next month \u2013 this time as a broadcaster. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
Willcox also had \u201cpretty severe\u201d post-partum depression after the birth of her second child, and on this occasion she leant on medication to get her through.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was so bad. I laugh because I\u2019m through it, thank God, and I\u2019m not planning to have any more children\u2026 but that was the first time in my life I took [depression] medication and I really needed it. It was a game-changer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was actually a moment where I got the Olympic rings tattooed on me because I just wanted a reminder of the fact I had done something really hard before and I could get through this as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, nearly a decade on from the heartache of retiring, and 12 years since her Sochi Olympics appearance in 2014, Willcox is returning to the Winter Olympics next month – as a broadcaster.<\/p>\n
She\u2019ll be flying to Milano Cortina in Italy as part of the Sky team, covering the Games for The Crowd Goes Wild \u2013 an opportunity Willcox tells Real Life feels like a \u201cfull circle\u201d moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I came into working for Sky it was 2018, and I literally had just started and the Pyeongchang Olympics was only a few weeks away\u2026 and then the next [Winter] Olympic Games in Beijing, I just had my first baby, so the timing was bad there.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow it\u2019s like, okay, this is my time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Willcox says the New Zealand Winter Olympic team is full of medal potential, led by superstar snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s such a young team; she\u2019s one of the veterans and she\u2019s like 24-years-old, which is wild,\u201d she told Cowan.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlice Robinson, she\u2019s a bit of a vet, this is actually her third Olympic Games. She\u2019s an alpine skier and she\u2019s been on form the last year and a bit. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then in the park and pipe, you\u2019ve got [freestyle skier] Luca Harrington, who\u2019s had a big year; he\u2019s the current Big Air world champion.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then you\u2019ve got Fin Melville Ives, who\u2019s just on fire right now in the half pipe, and also Luke Harrold too \u2013 so there\u2019s two big medal hopes in the Olympic halfpipe. It should be very exciting to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milano Cortina kicks off on February 6 and runs until February 22.<\/p>\n
Real Life with John Cowan is a weekly show featuring interviews with prominent guests talking about their life, upbringing, and the way they see the world. Tune in Sundays from 7.30pm on Newstalk ZB or listen to the latest full interview here<\/a>.<\/p>\n