INTRODUCTION: There is a gap in the literature investigating athletic readiness in sports, with the majority of research focused on a return to sport (RTS) post-injury (Schilling & Radwan, 2020). During the COVID-19 pandemic, athletes of all ages, including alpine skiers, were negatively impacted due to disruption in their organized training routines, practices, and competitions (Ehrlich et al., 2020). This disruption presented an unknown obstacle to young ski racers` future athletic readiness since the quality and quantity of training opportunities changed during mid-season (Jukic et al., 2020). The objective of this study was to understand how young ski racers` dryland training during the COVID-19 pandemic shaped their experiences and perception of their athletic readiness for returning to on-snow competition. METHODS: Participants were between the ages of 14-20 years and were recruited via email. Eligibility was on the basis of their current affiliation with an Alberta (Canada) ski club. Three female Alpine skier racers agreed to participate in semi-structured interviews. Interpretative phenomenography was utilized to understand how dryland training during the pandemic shaped their experiences and perspectives of their athletic readiness for returning to on-snow racing. RESULTS: Three superordinate themes emerged from the data: confidence in the capacity to return to snow, the perceived disparity in racing opportunities, and the perceived loss of readiness. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS: Participants` perception of their readiness may have performance implications for their future races. Findings from this study may inform the development of resources for athletes upon RTS in the context of an unforeseen event such as a pandemic.
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