5 Days to Full Send: The Origin of Kyra Dossa's Olympic Story

Kyra Dossa spent her whole life doing gymnastics. And then, at 17, she hit a wall.

"I had been a gymnast my whole life. And then I got to this point where I couldn’t really go any further in the sport. That really bummed me out."

She wasn't ready to stop moving. So she played lacrosse and tried diving for a bit. But gymnastics had given her sixteen years of flipping, of air awareness, of performing under the pressure of standing on a four-inch beam while judges watched in scrutiny. 

She wasn’t entirely sure of her next step. 

Five Days

The answer came on a spring break trip to Park City. A family friend who knew a guy who used to coach aerials pulled Kyra aside. 

"He was like, you should try aerials. There's not a lot of girls that do it. You could probably go to the Olympics. It’s perfect. You know how to flip and you know how to ski."

Kyra didn't know a single person in the sport. So she went on Instagram, found the U.S. aerial team, followed Dani Loeb's account, and slid into her DMs.

"I just DM'ed her and was like, how can I do this?"

Loeb sent Kyra the development coach's contact info. Kyra emailed him. He said she could drop in for five days.

She had one concern.

"Honestly? I was worried. I remember thinking to myself, I think I'm too old to start a new sport."

Someone told her that Eric Bergoust, an American aerial skier who won gold at the Olympics in 1998, was 19 when he started.

"I was like, okay. If he did it at 19. I'm probably fine."

Kyra and her mom booked the trip.

"I had the best week of my life."

Bye, Family

In just five days, Kyra was hooked. She went home to Cleveland and immediately asked her parents to move to Park City. Her mom was flabbergasted. 

"She said something like, Kyra, you've done this for 5 days. You’re not about to move to the most expensive city in the country."

So Kyra began to negotiate. She moved in with her friend Kate's family for two weeks as a trial run. After two more weeks of jumping, she went back to her parents.  

She has a twin and they were supposed to graduate high school together. Finish your senior year, for the love of God. One year won't make the biggest difference.

"I said no. I was like, I need to do this. And I need to do it now. I don't know, after a while, I guess they just let me."

She did senior year online. Moved across the country. Cleveland to Park City, with no friends, safety net, nor gymnastics to fall back on.

"I didn't have any friends here. I didn't know anyone here. I guess I was just like… bye, family!"

Do It Scared

Although gymnastics gave her air awareness and a natural propensity to flip, the sport of aerials humbled her fast.

"Your early attempts normally don’t go very well. Ever. Unless you're just very naturally talented, but there's always some sort of slam. For me, I’ve landed on my head, I’ve landed on my back, I’ve landed on my side." 

One fall at the Utah Olympic Park water ramps stands above the rest. Kyra recalls catching an edge before she even left the ramp.

"I slammed into it. Immediately dislocated my fingers, broke them, and everything. That's probably my big fail, where I thought to myself…okay, that was actually scary. I didn't even make it off the ramp."

Through the ups and downs, she had made the decision that fear was never going to hold her back.

"I wasn't gonna not do it because I was scared. I was just gonna do it scared. That's kind of the aerial mindset. Like, you can be scared. Everyone, everyone in the sport is terrified. They'd be lying if they say they weren't. That doesn't mean you're not gonna do it, you're just gonna do it scared."

Photo Credit: Steven Kornreich/U.S. Ski Team

What Would Winter Do?

Only five years into the sport, Kyra credits her older teammates for taking her under their wing.

Her teammates, Chris Lillis and Winter Vinecki, are both veterans on the Olympic stage. Through the World Cup season, Kyra roomed with Winter and watched how she moved through the hard moments.

"She is literally the most resilient person I've ever met. Just this past year, she took so many crashes early in the season and she was always like, no, I'm fine, it's okay. And then she’d go and compete and do great. And I'm like, I don't know if I could do that. So if anything hurts, I think, okay…what would Winter do?"

Chris gave it to her straight with what it’s really like to compete in the Olympics. 

"He kind of told me, here's the rundown. It's gonna be the biggest competition of your life. It's gonna be the best experience of your life. There's gonna be a lot of nerves, some fear, excitement. He prepared me for pretty much everything."

And when asked if she's just getting started?

"Yep, you’re spot on."

ABOUT THIS SERIES

I'm Amy Wotovich and I’m on a mission to interview 100% of Team USA's 2026 Olympic and Paralympic athletes to create the most comprehensive mindset record of a single Games cycle. What do elite competitors actually believe about pressure, identity, failure, and joy? Kyra Dossa is one of hundreds of athletes sharing their unfiltered stories. Follow the journey!