Olympic Skier Bella Wright Starts Her Day With Gratitude—and Some Billie Eilish Tunes

Olympian Bella Wright is carving her own path when it comes to competitive alpine skiing. Celebrated for her fearless style and precision on the slopes, the 27-year-old hopes the next two years will be a defining chapter in her career, starting with the World Cup in December.

“Beaver Creek, Colorado, is our first race of the season and my first World Cup in the U.S.,” the Utah native tells Well+Good. “It’s a huge highlight for me, and I would love to bring home a podium and win, especially in front of a home crowd.”

Meanwhile, Wright is also training hard for next year’s World Championship Downhill in super-G (a discipline of alpine skiing), and of course, the 2026 Winter Olympics set to take place in Italy. “I would love to bring home that Olympic gold and make all my biggest dreams come true in these next two years,” she says. “I think I’m at an age and experience level where I’m ready for it.”

But it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the speed skier, facing various injuries throughout her career, including a torn ACL. And while the eight-month recovery is no joke, she’s actually grateful for that injury.

“After my ACL, I definitely took things a little slow. It took me a while to gain confidence coming back, but it helped me feel less scared with injuries,” she says. “Injuries are part of the sport and come with the territory, so for me, they’ve helped me level up and kept pushing me to see how far I can go.”

Wright’s resilience and determination are fueled not only by her own experiences but by the advice of her mentors including former fellow alpine skier Lindsey Vonn and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. “He’s so good at being a motivator and is someone who’s very genuine,” she says of Johnson. “His biggest piece of advice was to always be the hardest worker in the room, to keep pushing, and to keep being a badass. It’s something I carry with me.”

While Wright’s mornings depend on her intense training schedule, we recently caught up with her to learn how she starts her day, what keeps her grounded, and how she balances her love for plant-based cooking with life on the slopes.

She starts her day with gratitude

I’m typically up around 7 a.m. I have a small notepad by my bed, and I’ve recently started writing three things I’m grateful for right when I wake up. It’s been something that I really appreciate, and because my brain’s a little foggy at that time, I love that it gets me going and thinking. Sometimes I think about the bigger picture, like gratitude for my career or family, and other times I’m grateful for simple things like my robe or lip masks. It’s just fun and doesn’t always have to be serious.

Her robe plays an important role in her mornings

I love to get ready in a robe: I wear fuzzy robes in the winter and silk ones for the summer. For some reason, I grew this obsession with robes, and I think I own about 10. I love a Skims robe, but the one I wear the most is from Chinatown in San Francisco. It’s a beautiful blue silk robe that has these amazing Chinese traditional elements to it, and I think it’s just beautiful. Starting my day with a robe makes me feel fancy when I’m not feeling fancy.

After a while, I’ll change into my activewear. You’ll usually find me in the Project Rock brand—I pretty much live in it. I’m a huge fan of their sports bras because they’re really supportive, comfortable, and flattering. Even their workout shorts and tank tops, they all move really well with an athlete’s body and you can tell it’s built for athletes. I think sometimes with activewear, it’s maybe built more for style but lacks functionality, so I really appreciate Project Rock. I also love their training shoes—my favorites are the Project Rock 7 Training Shoes.

• Skims Soft Lounge Short Robe ($90)
• Project Rock Sports Bra ($40)
• Project Rock Compression Shorts ($32)
• Project Rock Tank Top, ($25)
• Project Rock 7 Training Shoes ($150)
• Editor’s note: Wright is a current ambassador for Project Rock

She has sensitive skin so she keeps her skincare routine simple

In the mornings, I’m getting ready to either go to the gym or do something active with my day. I have a very minimal skincare routine and I have sensitive skin. I use Garnier’s Micellar Water, and I love my Shiseido skincare products. I use their serum, their moisturizer, and sometimes their eye cream too. I finish off with a lip mask. I’m addicted to the Sugar Recovery lip mask from Fresh and also love the ones from Laneige. Lip care has become such a big part of my skincare routine and is always something I’m carrying in my bag.

• Garnier Micellar Water ($10)
• Shiseido Power Infusing Serum ($38)
• Shiseido Essential Energy Hydrating Cream ($50)
• Shiseido Benefiance Wrinkle Smoothing Eye Cream ($65)
• Fresh Sugar Recovery Lip Mask ($29)
• Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask ($24)

She’s always drinking lemon water—especially in the morning

You’ll pretty much never catch me anywhere without having lemon in my water. In the morning, I love a tall glass of sparkling water with lemon—it’s something I have every morning before heading to the gym around 7:45 a.m.

I used to be a barista many years ago and I would drink way too much coffee, which would make me shake in my sleep from the caffeine. So I decided to wean myself off of it. Now, I love lemon with water and tea. I’ll still have coffee or apple cider, but only as a treat.

Breakfast varies, but it always includes protein

If I have time to make breakfast, my ideal meal is a quinoa bowl with tofu, sweet potatoes, tahini, and whatever vegetables I can throw in there. In the kitchen, my favorite gadget is my Breville wok. It’s an amazing vessel because you can just throw a bunch of ingredients in and it evenly cooks while putting a bit of char on it.

If I head straight to the gym, I’ll get a strawberry mango banana smoothie with vanilla protein powder and oat milk. I’m a born- and-raised vegan, and while I know how strong I am, and my trainers know how strong I am, I think everyone can always improve their nutrition. I work with a nutritionist in Park City, Utah, at the Center of Excellence, and the U.S. Ski Team has provided that to so many athletes. Protein is important to me and I love that I’m able to continue learning about all the different ways to get protein and be strong.

• Breville Electric Wok ($150)

Music sets the tone for her day

I’m always listening to music in the morning, and my genres vary. I’d probably say I listen to rock the most, but sometimes it’s Billie Eilish or something soft. It really depends on my mood, but music is always involved to get me ready.

Then she starts her first workout session

My first session starts at 8:30 a.m. and varies between cardio or strength and runs between an hour and a half to two hours. After that, I’ll have some physical therapy for 30 to 60 minutes. Physical therapy is mainly focused on maintenance and all the aches and bruises I’ve had over the past couple of years. Most recently, it’s on my right hip and my right shoulder—it’s a double whammy on the right side. We’ll go through some strengthening and mobilization.

From there, I’ll go into lunch at the center (we have an amazing chef who caters to all our needs and diets), and then we’ll go into our second workout for the day.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.