Author Topic: TAR 30: Kristi Leskinen & Jen Hudak (Professional Skiers/Friends) #TeamExtreme  (Read 43582 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline georgiapeach

  • Amazing Race Admin
  • RFF Administrator
  • I Live at RFF
  • *****
  • Posts: 54196
  • TAR Detective




Name: Kristi Leskinen

Age: 36

Hometown: Uniontown, Pa. and Scottsdale, Ariz.

Connection to teammate: Retired Professional Skier and friend

Qualifications: 2nd Place World Champion and 3rd place X Games skier

Instagram: @kristileskinen

Twitter: @kristileskinen


Name: Jen Hudak

Age: 30

Hometown: Park City,  Utah

Connection to teammate: Professional Skiers and friends

Qualifications: 2-time X Games Gold Medalist and 4-time National Champion

Instagram: @jenhudak

Twitter: @jenhudak
RFF's Golden Rule:
Have RESPECT for each other, regardless of opinion. This of course includes no flaming/insulting other users and/or their posts.

Offline georgiapeach

  • Amazing Race Admin
  • RFF Administrator
  • I Live at RFF
  • *****
  • Posts: 54196
  • TAR Detective




Kristi Leskinen and Jen Hudak (#TeamExtreme)

Kristi

 Age: 36
Hometown: Uniontown, Pennsylvania and Scottsdale, Arizona
Current occupation: Retired professional skier, athlete mentor, and entrepreneur.
Three words that describe you: Adventurous, daring, and literal.
What do you hope to accomplish by running the race (other than winning $1 million)?
 The experience of traveling to places I may never get the chance to see otherwise, meeting new friends, and sharing the adventure of a lifetime with them.



Jen

Age: 30
Hometown: Park City, Utah
Current occupation: Professional skier, coach/mentor, and marketing manager 
Three words that describe you: Indomitable, intelligent, competitive, and empathetic.
What do you hope to accomplish by running the race (other than winning $1 million)?
 Besides winning, I hope to reignite my inner competitor, to fight hard for something again, and to work as a team toward a common goal! My competitive ski career ended short because of injury and I left some things on the table—I don’t want to let that happen ever again!

RFF's Golden Rule:
Have RESPECT for each other, regardless of opinion. This of course includes no flaming/insulting other users and/or their posts.


Offline georgiapeach

  • Amazing Race Admin
  • RFF Administrator
  • I Live at RFF
  • *****
  • Posts: 54196
  • TAR Detective
Biography


 
#TeamExtreme

Name: Kristi Leskinen
Age: 36

Instagram: @kristileskinen
Twitter: @kristileskinen

Hometown: Uniontown, Pennsylvania and Scottsdale, Arizona

Current occupation: Retired professional skier, athlete mentor, and entrepreneur.

Describe what you do: My family owns a resort hotel and a marina in Pennsylvania. I help there where I can. I also have investments in sports-related startups and have a love for mentoring young female athletes.

Three words to describe you: Adventurous, daring, and literal.

Favorite hobbies: Skiing, wakeboarding, biking, hiking, golfing, and painting.

What is the accomplishment you are most proud of?
 All my medals pale in comparison to the honor of helping to develop a brand new sport and watching it grow from one or two women competing all the way to the Olympics. I'm also very proud to have competed as a pro in multiple sports.

What scares you most about traveling?
 Food poisoning and mosquitos.

What excites you most about traveling?
 Experiencing new and different cultures and seeing all of the world's natural beauty.

What country and place would you most like to visit and why?
 I'd love to see the coasts of Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. As a skier, I traveled to cold destinations all over the world and I'd love to see the tropics.

What do you hope to accomplish by running the race (other than winning $1 million)?
 The experience of traveling to places I may never get the chance to see otherwise, meeting new friends, and sharing the adventure of a lifetime with them.


Name: Jen Hudak
Age: 30

Instagram: @jenhudak
Twitter: @jenhudak

Hometown: Park City, Utah

Current occupation: Professional skier, coach/mentor, and marketing manager

Describe what you do: As a professional skier I formerly competed intensely on the world stage in halfpipe skiing. I now create content (video, photo, and written word) to share the power that outdoor adventure can have in one's life. It's time spent outdoors, pursuing new challenges, that teaches me about this world and helps me be a better person. I also help various publishing entities make money through referral-based advertising (that's technically my day job now!).

Three words to describe you: Indomitable, intelligent, competitive, and empathetic.

Favorite hobbies: Skiing, writing, mountain biking, and coaching.

What is the accomplishment you are most proud of?
 I am most proud of my impenetrable mind. Coming back from numerous injuries to continue my pursuits in skiing, I was able to return strong and have big wins after some pretty major knee injuries.

What scares you most about traveling?
 Not being able to communicate effectively to get where we're trying to go. Also, potentially getting sick from food and/or water.

What excites you most about traveling?
 Seeing the different ways that people go about their daily lives, immersing myself in someone else's culture, realizing how BIG the world truly is, and experiencing new cuisine!

What country and place would you most like to visit and why?
 I would most like to visit Southeast Asia (Vietnam or Thailand)—it's an area of the world that I've never been able to visit. The mountains and hills look breathtaking and the architecture is majestic. Most of my travels have taken me to snow-capped mountains, so traveling to a warmer climate would be a nice change of pace!

What do you hope to accomplish by running the race (other than winning $1 million)?
 Besides winning, I hope to reignite my inner competitor, to fight hard for something again, and to work as a team toward a common goal! My competitive ski career ended short because of injury and I left some things on the table—I don't want to let that happen ever again!
RFF's Golden Rule:
Have RESPECT for each other, regardless of opinion. This of course includes no flaming/insulting other users and/or their posts.

Offline georgiapeach

  • Amazing Race Admin
  • RFF Administrator
  • I Live at RFF
  • *****
  • Posts: 54196
  • TAR Detective
Version 2. Thanks Will!

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/mpCbykVQS3k" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/mpCbykVQS3k</a>
« Last Edit: December 14, 2017, 07:56:54 PM by georgiapeach »
RFF's Golden Rule:
Have RESPECT for each other, regardless of opinion. This of course includes no flaming/insulting other users and/or their posts.

Offline georgiapeach

  • Amazing Race Admin
  • RFF Administrator
  • I Live at RFF
  • *****
  • Posts: 54196
  • TAR Detective
RFF's Golden Rule:
Have RESPECT for each other, regardless of opinion. This of course includes no flaming/insulting other users and/or their posts.


Offline georgiapeach

  • Amazing Race Admin
  • RFF Administrator
  • I Live at RFF
  • *****
  • Posts: 54196
  • TAR Detective
Lovely article!



Utah champion skier Jen Hudak is not afraid to run ‘The Amazing Race’
 Hudak is certain she wants to compete, but she isn’t 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 isn’t 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 wasn’t 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 don’t 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 — they’re #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 didn’t 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 don’t know what they’re going to ask you to do, so you can’t really prepare. You just have to hope that you had enough life experience to take anything that they throw at you.”

“The Amazing Race” isn’t 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. “It’s 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 we’d 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 don’t even think I’ve spent that much time with my husband.”


They agreed beforehand to “communicate to the best of our abilities and make sure that we’re not bottling things up and getting on each other’s nerves. And don’t take anything personally.”

They looked to two other Utahns for an example — Dave and Connor O’Leary, who had to drop out of Season 22 because of an injury but came back to win Season 24.


“I haven’t met them, but both Kristi and I really admired the way that they ran the race. Hudak said. “They’re 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. I’ve missed flights on my way to World Championship events or a World Cup final event. And we’re sweet-talking the flight agents to upgrade us so we’ll 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.”


“We’re not scared of heights or extreme situations,” she said. “Obviously, we’re free skiers and enjoy mountain biking and climbing and all sorts of crazy stuff. So we didn’t 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 can’t swim or can’t 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 won’t drown, let me put it that way.”


And she “borrowed a friend’s stick-shift car” to practice. “I’ve driven stick a lot, but I don’t 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. “ I’m such a competitor that anything that wasn’t purely about the competition was nonexistent to me.”


And she’s decided she’s anxious to see episodes of the show after all.


“I should probably be more nervous than I am,” she said. “I’m not too worried about how much of an idiot I’m going to look like.



“You’re 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/
RFF's Golden Rule:
Have RESPECT for each other, regardless of opinion. This of course includes no flaming/insulting other users and/or their posts.

CocoNuts

  • Guest
They were great to watch!

Offline georgiapeach

  • Amazing Race Admin
  • RFF Administrator
  • I Live at RFF
  • *****
  • Posts: 54196
  • TAR Detective
Jen's blog: Ep1 recap

http://jenhudak.com/blog/
RFF's Golden Rule:
Have RESPECT for each other, regardless of opinion. This of course includes no flaming/insulting other users and/or their posts.

Offline TARUSAFan

  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 1240
Finally another alpha female team in the likes of Dustin & Kandice, Nat & Kat, Brooke & Claire and Kym & Alli. Love the competitiveness of these 2.

Offline georgiapeach

  • Amazing Race Admin
  • RFF Administrator
  • I Live at RFF
  • *****
  • Posts: 54196
  • TAR Detective
Are you reading Jen's weekly blog? If not--you should be! Full of all sorts of insights!

EP 1:  http://jenhudak.com/amazing-race-30-1/

EP 2:  http://jenhudak.com/amazing-race-30-2/

EP 3:  http://jenhudak.com/amazing-race-30-3/
RFF's Golden Rule:
Have RESPECT for each other, regardless of opinion. This of course includes no flaming/insulting other users and/or their posts.


Offline georgiapeach

  • Amazing Race Admin
  • RFF Administrator
  • I Live at RFF
  • *****
  • Posts: 54196
  • TAR Detective
 :welcome2: to Jen who has joined us in the Racers Corner for some strictly NON spoiler TAR discussion. Please welcome her to RFF!

And latest Blog is up! https://jenhudak.com/blog/
RFF's Golden Rule:
Have RESPECT for each other, regardless of opinion. This of course includes no flaming/insulting other users and/or their posts.

Offline Jen #TeamExtreme

  • RFF VIP
  • RFF Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 65
    • My Blog
Better late than never. Most of this is info you already have, but thought I'd share here: https://jenhudak.com/amazing-race-30-7-8/
“‎Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of others, instead, seek what they sought.” Matsuo Basho

Offline georgiapeach

  • Amazing Race Admin
  • RFF Administrator
  • I Live at RFF
  • *****
  • Posts: 54196
  • TAR Detective
:tu Jen!!
RFF's Golden Rule:
Have RESPECT for each other, regardless of opinion. This of course includes no flaming/insulting other users and/or their posts.

Offline Marionete

  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 3174
  • The sky's more blue
I love how the episode highlighted that Kristi & Jen got to the ARI in Bahrain 2nd, chose a different strategy than IndyCar, and finished the task 1st to the surprise of the boys.

It's little moments like this that make me think they are one of the smartest, most competitive, best performing teams in TAR history :colors

Offline georgiapeach

  • Amazing Race Admin
  • RFF Administrator
  • I Live at RFF
  • *****
  • Posts: 54196
  • TAR Detective
RFF's Golden Rule:
Have RESPECT for each other, regardless of opinion. This of course includes no flaming/insulting other users and/or their posts.

Offline BourkieBoy

  • Aussie Updater (TAR and Survivor)
  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 5814
  • I'm a Reality Television Nerd!
Hard luck girls!

Offline georgiapeach

  • Amazing Race Admin
  • RFF Administrator
  • I Live at RFF
  • *****
  • Posts: 54196
  • TAR Detective
RFF's Golden Rule:
Have RESPECT for each other, regardless of opinion. This of course includes no flaming/insulting other users and/or their posts.

Offline georgiapeach

  • Amazing Race Admin
  • RFF Administrator
  • I Live at RFF
  • *****
  • Posts: 54196
  • TAR Detective
RFF's Golden Rule:
Have RESPECT for each other, regardless of opinion. This of course includes no flaming/insulting other users and/or their posts.

Offline georgiapeach

  • Amazing Race Admin
  • RFF Administrator
  • I Live at RFF
  • *****
  • Posts: 54196
  • TAR Detective
RFF's Golden Rule:
Have RESPECT for each other, regardless of opinion. This of course includes no flaming/insulting other users and/or their posts.

Offline ghmorello

  • RFF Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 420
Jen will be having an AMA on The Amazing Race subreddit tomorrow at 7 PM ET.


Offline georgiapeach

  • Amazing Race Admin
  • RFF Administrator
  • I Live at RFF
  • *****
  • Posts: 54196
  • TAR Detective
Link please?
RFF's Golden Rule:
Have RESPECT for each other, regardless of opinion. This of course includes no flaming/insulting other users and/or their posts.

Offline Marionete

  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 3174
  • The sky's more blue
Love all the involvement with fans. :luvya:
Jen being here and discussing/answering questions for everyone has likely improved my enjoyment of this season a lot.

Link please?
Just google Amazing Race subreddit, it's one of the top topics.
https://www.reddit.com/r/TheAmazingRace/comments/806qy3/announcement_jen_hudak_ama_scheduled_for_monday/

Offline georgiapeach

  • Amazing Race Admin
  • RFF Administrator
  • I Live at RFF
  • *****
  • Posts: 54196
  • TAR Detective
RFF's Golden Rule:
Have RESPECT for each other, regardless of opinion. This of course includes no flaming/insulting other users and/or their posts.

Offline ghmorello

  • RFF Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 420

Offline RealityFreakWill

  • Big Brother Sho2 Updater
  • RFF Board Moderator
  • I Live at RFF
  • *****
  • Posts: 26294
  • WILL & JAMES AMAZING RACE 32 CHAMPIONS!
    • Facebook
CONGRATULATIONS

JEN & CHRIS HUDAK

IT'S A BOY!

HUDSON RAYMOND HUDAK

TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2020 @ 7:22 AM

7 LBS 15 OZ, 20 1/2 IN