Stanwell Park's Mia Rennie sets sights on 2026 Olympic Games after Beijing heartbreak

On track to qualify for the Winter Olympics, the Stanwell Park skier's Beijing dream had ended in an instant.

Not only had Rennie torn her ACL, but she had injured almost every ligament in the knee and underwent surgery late last year.

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"When I did it, I knew instantly," Rennie said. "The ACL's the big one. I've done my MCL multiple times, I've done my LCL before, when I got the report back from the doctor and it said ACL, I don't even remember the rest of the day.

"I called my parents and told them and I was crying, but I don't remember anything else, it was devastating."

It's a feeling Tess Coady knows well.

The Australian snowboarder was training in Pyeongchang prior to the 2018 Games when she tore her ACL. Her Olympic dream dashed.

Coady spent the past four years determined to make amends for the disappointment and eventually received redemption when she won bronze in Beijing.

Rennie, who spent the past two weeks commentating for Channel 7, was watching closely as her friend achieved a lifelong dream.

The pair caught up after Coady returned home and she had a simple message for the 18-year-old.

"I was at Tess Coady's welcome home party on Friday and we spoke about it for ages," Rennie said. "She was just like 'you've got this', it was a good conversation.

"She told me to work hard, be patient and be kind to yourself.

"I felt so inspired seeing Tess and (British snowboarder) Katie Ormerod, these athletes that missed out on the last Olympics because of injuries and have now got there and got on the podium and done their best.

"Before the Olympics, I felt very in over my head, how do I get back to the level I need to be at? Now there's a pathway and I've also seen other athletes do it at the Olympics, I'm so inspired and there's a fire in my belly."

Rennie is facing an arduous path to return to competitive skiing.

Given the extent of the damage, she is likely to remain off the snow until late in the Australian winter, at the earliest.

It's a tough pill to swallow for someone who has spent her teenage years chasing snow and living out her dreams.

Instead, Rennie will spend the next six months at home in Stanwell Park, living the life of a regular 18-year-old while embarking on an extensive rehab program.

The goal is to ensure that such an injury does not happen again and the path to Milano-Cortina in 2026 is a smooth one.

Having sat in the commentary box as her rivals were challenging for Olympic gold, Rennie is even more motivated to follow in Coady's footsteps.

"I would love to hope I can get back and do a couple of runs at the end of the Australian season, but we will see.

"I missed the Olympics, so I want to get on the snow as quickly as I can, I miss it more than anything, but my goal is to be strong and get so strong that the odds of this happening again are going to be super low.

"If I get super strong, I'll get back on the snow when I can and hopefully I'll be competing again within a year."

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