March 31, 2008 – While a winter sport like skeleton seems an unlikely choice for a woman from the tropics, St. John resident Alexa Putnam is making her mark.
"My goal is to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympic in Vancouver," she said.
If she does, she'll be speeding down an icy track face first on a slim sled.
Putnam, 19 and a 2006 Gifft Hill School graduate, was back home visiting her parents, Bern and Elizabeth Putnam, during the week before Easter.
She said missing her family and friends is one of the challenges.
"I'm so far away," she said.
After a brief visit with family and friends, she headed off to Lake Placid, N. Y. for a week of specialized training for skeleton racers from smaller nations and to participate in the America's Cup.
Putnam hopes to participate in the 2009 World Championships to be held in Lake Placid. She qualified for the 2008 World Championships in Altenburg, Germany, but was sidelined by bronchitis.
Always athletic with an interest in horseback riding, surfing and dance, she got into skeleton racing in 2004 when former St. John resident Troy Billington introduced her and other St. John youths to winter sports. While the others dropped out, Putnam persevered.
Along the way, she's appeared on the cover of "V.I. Playground," a tourism magazine. She's also had the fragrance "Alexa" created in her honor, with half the proceeds going to help fund Special Olympics and half funding her skeleton career.
Her interest took her to Germany, where she's trained with the German team at Bertchtesgaden since August 2006.
"It's beautiful, right in the Alps and only 20 minutes from Salzburg," she said.
She learned to speak German almost as soon as she got to Germany because her coach and colleagues didn't speak English.
"I'm a very talkative person," she said, bubbling with enthusiasm about her career and her life.
Learning German has fostered her interest in languages, and she plans to study Dutch next.
She's headed back to Germany to train after her stint in Lake Placid and another visit to St. John.
The next winter season begins in late November or early December. Putnam plans to be ready.
As the territory's only skeleton racer, she has to accumulate enough points to qualify. She said teams from other countries accumulate points through the group effort.
She said this year, she accumulated enough points for the territory to stand at 11 in the world rankings.
Training her best every single day is always a challenge, Putnam said .
Another challenge comes with funding, with the annual tab for training and travel running about $25,000.
"The whole island helps."
She said she gets help from the V.I. Olympic Committee, Hawksview Estate vacation villa, 8 Tuff Miles, her parents, of course, and other family members and friends.
Putnam said she was accepted at the University of Utah, but decided to defer college to take advantage of the skeleton opportunity.
"I want to do physical therapy," she said, speaking about her future goals.
To learn more about Putnam's career, visit www.alexaputnam.org.
