We are delighted that Jaz is part of our BRIT Ambassador family to support and improve young adult mental health and fitness throughout the UK. Jaz is the first Briton to win a World Championship medal in Telemark Skiing and is six time British Champion. She has achieved five World Cup victories, across all three disciplines and has 33 World Cup podiums to her name.
"As a former student at the University of Suffolk and having spent the last nine years around junior athletes on the slopes, I know the importance of supporting young adult mental health.
Having been part of a club, a team or an academy for the whole of my career as a skier, I know the mental health benefits of being active, having a sense of belonging and being surrounded by friends and supporters.
The COVID-19 impacted on existing mental health challenges faced by many students, therefore the opportunity to be part of an inspirational UK-wide feel-good February fundraiser is a great way of feeling part of something special that continues to have a positive impact on the lives of students at universities and colleges throughout the UK.
I am delighted to be a BRIT Ambassador and uniting with Olympians, Paralympians, sports personalities, adventurers and explorers, to encourage participation in the annual BRIT Challenge, destigmatise mental health and champion equality, diversity and inclusion.
I urge my fellow winter sport athletes to join the BRIT Ambassador family and champion the BRIT Challenge at a university and/or college of their choice. This collective approach means that together we can support, enthuse and inspire vast numbers of students and young adults who take part in the BRIT Challenge. We need UK university and colleges to enter teams and provide the opportunity for their students to participate.
I look forward to supporting students and staff at The University of Suffolk, should they enter teams in the BRIT Challenge.”
Jasmin ‘Jaz’ Taylor
Great Britain World Championship medallist and six time British Champion
Jaz joined the British Ski Academy as an athlete at the age of 12, competing as an alpine skier. After becoming the youngest British Ski Cross Champion ever, aged just 15, she made the England Freestyle Ski Team in 2009. It was during this time that Jaz started telemark skiing; a discipline for which she showed potential on a far larger scale, competing in 2011 at her first World Junior Championships.
Telemark skiing originated in the Norwegian region of Telemark, where in the days before ski lifts, the free heel enabled skiers to climb back up the mountain. In recent years, telemark skiing has been reinvented as a new form of downhill skiing. Telemark skiing is both graceful and beautiful to watch; the free heel allows the knee to bend further in the tun which creates a unique “lunge” position. During a telemark ski race, the competitor must keep the perfect lunge with a foots length gap between the front and back leg between turns. This video of Jaz, shows the lunge technique in action;
It was the fluidity and grace of the discipline that first inspired Jaz to telemark. Jaz was invited to the World Junior Championships after the British Telemark Ski Team spotted her results in the French Cup series following her frequent podium appearances. Jaz has been on the team ever since. Between 2014 and 2020, Jaz completed her bachelor’s degree in Sport and Exercise at the University of Suffolk.