When ski racer Paula Moltzan notched her first World Cup top-10 at the age of 26 last month, it was just the start of the best week of her life.
It was a milestone in what Moltzan calls “part two” of her skiing career, which came after she was dropped from the national team, went to college for three years and then came back as both a better athlete and a whitewater rafting guide.
Come 2022, she can become the oldest U.S. female Alpine skier to compete in her first Winter Olympics in more than 70 years.