Downhill skier Elise Pellegrin will be representing Malta at the Worlds for Alpine Ski and 2014 Olympics in Russia.

She is the first Maltese woman to ever compete in these championships.

Ms Pellegrin was born on May 7, 1991, in Blois, in the region of Loir-et-Cher in France. 

When she was three years-old, she watched her brother ski in her hometown of Ventron, in Les Vosges, France.

Watching him she was inspired to compete.

At the local ski-hill Frere-Joseph she started competing and won her first competition at the age of eight years-old. This is what started the avalanche of passion that she has ridden to being the professional skier that she is today.

In 2011 she won the women’s downhill title “Champion des Vosges”.

When she was 10 she was interviewed on a radio station about the local ski hill. It was during that interview that she shared her Olympic dream for the first time.

Ms Pellegrin’s great grandfather was born in Malta and moved to France for work. It was this connection that pushed Ms Pellegrin to seek Maltese citizenship.

This made her the perfect candidate to compete for Malta at the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships in Schladming next month and at the 2014 Olympics in Russia.

For Ms Pellegrin this is a great honour and a huge opportunity of a lifetime to connect her Maltese and French roots.

Ms Pellegrin is currently studying a diploma in Business Management. Her future ambitions include coaching and teaching French and Maltese children how to ski. She hopes to bring her passion of ski to Malta. 

Outside of her world of ski, Pellegrin enjoys cycling, roller skating, volleyball, shopping, and above all spending time with friends and family.