MPTC Health and Wellness Instructor Trains U.S. Olympic Snowboarder

U.S. Olympic Snowboarder, Courtney Rummel, visited Moraine Park’s West Bend campus earlier this month to share her journey from snowboarding in small-town Wisconsin, to competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Rummel’s visit was organized by MPTC Health and Wellness Instructor, Carrie Felix, who has trained Rummel for three years.

“Courtney is such a pleasure to train,” Felix said. “I started training her when she was 15, so I have gotten to watch her grow up. She is very hardworking and has developed a passion for working out over the last three years.”

Felix has known the Rummel family for 10 years and was approached by Courtney’s mom, Kim Rummel, in 2019 to become Courtney’s trainer.

Rummel competed in the women’s slopestyle and big air snowboarding events at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

“Watching Courtney on the big screen was so surreal,” Felix said. “The obstacles she faced to get to Beijing are not normal teenage obstacles. She gave up so much for her dreams, so to be able to watch her on the biggest stage of her life was amazing. The coolest part is that she is still the same goofy, funny, hardworking teenage she has always been.”

Rummel splits her time living and training in Park City, UT, and at home in West Bend, WI. Felix trains Rummel when she is in Wisconsin and coordinates with her trainer in Utah.

“In some ways, training an Olympic athlete is just like training all my other clients,” Felix said. “Everyone has specific goals when deciding to invest in a trainer. It is then taking those goals and where the individual is at in their fitness journey and looking to strengthen what they already have. What’s different with Courtney is she has other trainers that I need to converse with often. I need to know what she is doing at the U.S. training facility and what she needs to work on when she is with me. It’s also important to make sure we don’t do anything too crazy if she has a big event coming up.”

During her visit, Rummel spoke with students in Felix’s Health and Wellness class about how she got started in the sport, her training regimen, overcoming mental barriers, her experience at the 2022 Winter Olympics, and more.

“I love that I was able to share Courtney with my Health and Wellness class at Moraine Park,” Felix said. “Most students are not sure what they want to do after they graduate, so to show them options in their career field is so valuable.”