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Utah champion skier Jen Hudak is not afraid to run The Amazing Race
Hudak is certain she wants to compete, but she isnt sure she wants to be on TV.
By Scott D. Pierce
Jen Hudak is a two-time halfpipe skiing world champion and two-time Winter X Games gold medalist, known for performing all sorts of death-defying stunts. She insists she isnt afraid of anything.
Except, maybe, a fear of seeing herself on television. The Park City woman was gung-ho to compete in the upcoming season of The Amazing Race, which premieres Wednesday at 7 p.m. on CBS/Ch. 2. But she wasnt interested in seeing how the CBS television series turned out.
Going into it, I was, like, I am not going to watch a single episode. I dont want to see my face or hear my voice, Hudak told The Salt Lake Tribune.
She teamed up with fellow free skiing champion Kristi Leskinen theyre #TeamExtreme in a season that features former NBA players Cedric Ceballos and Shawn Marion, Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi and a fellow driver, competitive eating champion Joey Chestnut and a fellow competitive eater; along with lifeguards, champion debaters, firefighters, musicians, Big Brother alumni and goat yoga instructors. Really.
(The actual Race is run before the show begins airing. The new season began production on Oct. 1; the results are kept confidential until the finale airs.)
Hudak has wanted to compete in the round-the-world competition for a million dollars for a long time.
She and her ski coach applied to Amazing Race four years ago, but never heard back. A year later, Hudak applied to Survivor and made it pretty far along in the casting process, but didnt get on the show.
And then, this past summer, a Race producer called to see if I was interested in going on. And I was, like, Yup, she said with a laugh.
Hudak and Leskinen are no strangers to competition, but this is considerably different than freeskiing.
With skiing, we train specifically for a certain task in a specific run and work on a specific trick, she said. But with this, you dont know what theyre going to ask you to do, so you cant really prepare. You just have to hope that you had enough life experience to take anything that they throw at you.
The Amazing Race isnt just about racing around the globe. Contestants must complete tasks and overcome challenges.
This is weeks of competing intensely, versus a 30- or 45-second halfpipe run, Hudak said. Its definitely different, but equally as awesome.
The Race casting directors asked Hudak if she had someone else in mind to compete with her, and she immediately pointed to Leskinen. They competed against each other for a dozen years, and have probably gotten closer post-retirement and bonded over that shared experience and finding life after free skiing.
But wed never spent more than a week at a time together. And certainly not 24-7, glued to the hip nonstop, Hudak said with laugh. Honestly, I dont even think Ive spent that much time with my husband.
They agreed beforehand to communicate to the best of our abilities and make sure that were not bottling things up and getting on each others nerves. And dont take anything personally.
They looked to two other Utahns for an example Dave and Connor OLeary, who had to drop out of Season 22 because of an injury but came back to win Season 24.
I havent met them, but both Kristi and I really admired the way that they ran the race. Hudak said. Theyre both really good people and were kind throughout their journey.
The two members of #TeamExtreme have insane travel stories from their time as competitive skiers. It once took Leskinen 52 hours to get from New Zealand to Arizona, which somehow involved her going all the way to Pennsylvania., Hudak said. And same for me. Ive missed flights on my way to World Championship events or a World Cup final event. And were sweet-talking the flight agents to upgrade us so well be able to sleep on the plane because we literally get off and have to be competing the next day.
I think all of that kind of stuff was advantageous for us.
But the Race also includes one physical challenge after another. And Hudak said #TeamExtreme had a leg up there because they have no paralyzing fears.
Were not scared of heights or extreme situations, she said. Obviously, were free skiers and enjoy mountain biking and climbing and all sorts of crazy stuff. So we didnt have to worry about that kind of stuff.
A longtime fan of the show, Hudak has seen more than few contestants get into trouble because they either cant swim or cant drive a manual transmission car. But that was another nonissue for #TeamExtreme.
Kristi is like a fish and I can tread water for a long time, Hudak said. I wont drown, let me put it that way.
And she borrowed a friends stick-shift car to practice. Ive driven stick a lot, but I dont do it regularly.
Hudak is no longer worried about the TV aspects of this TV show. I actually totally forgot about the cameras, she said. Im such a competitor that anything that wasnt purely about the competition was nonexistent to me.
And shes decided shes anxious to see episodes of the show after all.
I should probably be more nervous than I am, she said. Im not too worried about how much of an idiot Im going to look like.
Youre going to see the real Jen, let me put it that way.
http://www.sltrib.com/artsliving/tv/2017/12/29/utah-champion-skier-jen-hudak-is-not-afraid-to-run-the-amazing-race/