CARNELIAN BAY, Calif. – Amelia Josephine “AJ” Hurt of Carnelian Bay is pursuing the adrenaline rush that first hooked her to the sport of alpine skiing with an appearance at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.

She discovered her proclivity for speed and the connection to the mountains after joining Team Palisades Tahoe at the age of four. Her venture onto the slopes was influenced by visiting her father Steve Hurt on the job, a seasoned Palisades Tahoe Ski Patrol with over three decades under his belt.

The combination of the thrill and great outdoors was something she couldn’t find in any other sport.

Milano Cortina is Hurt’s second Olympic appearance after debuting in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Her career has been characterized by versatility as a multi-event skier. In 2020, she not only won the slalom national title, but also scored world cup points in another three disciplines: parallel, giant slalom and downhill.

Within the same season, she earned a slalom bronze medal at the 2021 FIS World Junior Championships in Bansko, Bulgaria, and finished second in downhill at the 2021 U.S. National Championships. This display of prowess across both speed and technical events set her apart as one of three American women racing both disciplines.

But competing at the top level started years before with her first world cup appearance at the age of 16 in 2017. She entered 2018 with momentum, securing two national titles in alpine combined and giant slalom as well as a silver medal in the team event at the 2019 World Junior Championships.

Hurt overcame a challenging 2024-2025 season after missing multiple events due to back and shoulder pain to achieve her best season slalom ranking of 29th, despite earning less world cup points than the prior year.

She finished the challenging season to win the U.S. Alpine National Championships slalom title in Vail, Colo.

Women’s alpine skiing competitions start Sunday, Feb. 8. Hurt is expected to compete in slalom and giant slalom.