Tasia Tanner finished 11th in the aerial skiing competition on Wednesday as she made her debut at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympic Games.
At the top of the ramp — Extra Bubble Gum in her mouth and her self-described “divorced dad” playlist playing through her headphones — she did what she has done since childhood: she launched.
For the Park City native, the result was less about placement and more about perspective.
“Ever since I was younger, I always had the dream of competing at the Olympics,” Tasia said. “Whether it was in gymnastics or skiing, I knew I wanted to go.”
Tasia learned to ski at age 2. Long before she chose aerial skiing, she had already decided she wanted to be an Olympian.
Her athletic career began in gymnastics, where she trained competitively and developed the air awareness that would later define her skiing.
As she grew older — and taller than most elite gymnasts — she began reconsidering her path. Around the same time, new ski ramps were installed at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City.
“I saw those new ski ramps and I had to give it a chance,” Tasia said.
She began training in the summer, launching herself off ramps into a pool below, translating her tumbling background onto skis. The combination of speed, height and acrobatics clicked almost immediately.
The Utah Olympic Park, originally built for the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Games, has long served as a training ground for elite winter athletes and is preparing to host events again in 2034.
For Tasia, it became the place where gymnastics evolved into aerial skiing — a freestyle discipline in which athletes ski down a steep incline, launch off a ramp and perform multiple flips and twists before landing on a sloped hill.
Aerials became an official Olympic medal event in 1994 and demanded both gymnastic precision and fearlessness — qualities Tasia was already developing.
But her path was not without interruption.
At 13, Taisa tore her ACL, a devastating injury for a young athlete whose sport depends on explosive takeoffs and stable landings. The injury required surgery, and two additional procedures followed in the years after.
Three surgeries would have sidelined many Olympic aspirations. Tasia chose a different approach.
“I took some time off, about a year, and just focused on loving the sport again and regaining strength,” she said.
Rather than rushing back to competition, she skied recreationally with friends and family. She returned to what skiing felt like when she was younger — simply enjoying it. The pressure eased, replaced by time on the mountain with the people she loved most.
That reset shifted her perspective.
“If you aren’t having fun,” Tasia said, “there’s no reason to do the sport.”
Time away from competition also allowed her to focus on life beyond the slopes. While training at an elite level, Tasia completed both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, balancing coursework with travel and rehabilitation. Off the snow, she channels her energy into baking, often bringing homemade treats to teammates and friends.
“My family jokes that I’m going to make my in-laws fat because of how much I bake for them,” she said.
As she pursued her degrees and began building a career outside of sport, some family members wondered whether her Olympic dream had quietly come to an end.
“We thought when she graduated with a bachelor’s degree that would be it,” said her father, Tyler Tanner. “When she graduated with her master’s degree, we thought, ‘Well, that’s for sure it.’ She’ll just get a job. And she did get a good job, and we thought that would be it.”
But Tasia saw the opportunity differently. What others viewed as a natural stopping point, she saw as a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
Tasia finished 11th in the world.
For the Park City skier who once had to relearn how to love the sport and gained many talents along the way, that was enough.
“Through hard work and effort she has accomplished her goals,” Tyler said. “It’s not so much that she’s competing in the Olympics, it’s more that she has become a well-rounded individual.”