Idea Whose Time Has Come: Olympic Magic School Bus

VANCOUVER -- Just picture it: An Olympic Magic School Bus making its way across the country.

The idea would be to have Canadian Olympians travel around and tell their stories to school kids. The goal would not be to inspire the next generation of Olympic athletes, but to inspire kids to chase their dreams and, most of all, to get moving.

It's something that could happen in April, after kids are back from March break and the athletes have wrapped up their World Cup seasons and had a chance to de-compress.

This shouldn't just be about medalists, either. Every Olympian has their story to tell. Many who didn't make it this time also have some pretty compelling tales.

Just think of some of the messages these athletes have to deliver:

* Alex Bilodeau: It's about inclusion and being totally inspired by his brother Frederic, who has cerebral palsy

* Joannie Rochette: The courage to keep chasing your dream amid great adversity.

* Chris Del Bosco: Coming back from addiction to put it all on the line.

* Jenny Ciochetti and Ryan Blais, the bobsledder and aerialist who both fell painstakingly short of makng the Olympic team but still came to support their teammates

* Clara Hughes: How finding your passion can rescue you from a dead end path.

 * Jasey-Jay Anderson: Never give up. Stay true to yourself.

* Brian McKeever: Refusing to let a disability define you. Handling a setback with class.

The possibilities are endless. It should definitely include Paralympic athletes. It should also include past Olympians.

This idea was borrowed from Olympic triathlon champion Simon Whitfield. He voiced it many years ago, but nothing ever came of it.

That's the problem in Canada. There's no vision in this regard, no creativity. The Canadian Olympic Committee sticks to the same old, same old and, of course, nothing ever changes.

The federal government doesn't even come close to understanding the opportunity that's at hand right now, how the magic of the last three weeks could be harnessed. They're not prepared to invest any more money in our sport programs and athletes, sounding as if they feel they've done their bit and corporate Canada needs to step up.

That last part is true, but what they don't realize is the opportunity for partnership here. Canada's Olympic athletes don't want a handout. They never have. They're wired to work for everything they get.

Hence, something like the Olympic Magic School Bus idea would be a great fit. Why not devise a contract with athletes and federations for a prescribed number of school visits? Why not have an Olympian or Olympic coach run a gym class here and there? You don't think that would jack the kids up? Why not create a book series that could be used in schools, promoting these athletes and the values their stories represent?

Prime Minister Harper and Sports Minister Gary Lunn, why would you let an opportunity like this slip by? You jumped on the opportunities for photo ops at the Games. You couldn't get enough of those.

Olympic champion kayaker Adam Van Koeverden, flagbearer at the 2008 Beijing Games, put it so well in a tweet:

“PM Harper makin' the rounds. LT SpeedSkating & Curling, sittin w/ CDN Oly Medalists. If you like it then you better put a ring on it, Steve.”

Clara Hughes' Wrong Turn Led To Good Turn

VANCOUVER -- Clara Hughes took a wrong turn while driving in Vancouver last summer. She ended up in the downtown eastside and what she saw there disturbed her deeply.

“I will never forget seeing people suffer so much,” said Hughes, who capped a brilliant Olympic career Wednesday with her sixth medal, a bronze in the 5,000 metres. “I just couldn't believe I was in Canada and this siituation, this reality exists in our country with people who were shells of themselves. It was surreal. I felt like I was in a movie set. I just couldn't believe it was real.

“I said to my husband Peter that day that I can't leave town without feeling that I did something to maybe help this.”

Hughes did just that Thursday, donating her $10,000 in prize money from the Canadian Olympic Committee to Take a Hike, a youth at risk foundation program for troubled teens which exposes them to outdoor adventures such as kayaking, journeys into the back country and camping.

“It parallels what sport has done for me, it took me out of a really bad direction and path in life,” said Hughes. “I think that this program is something that works. I think there are many programs helping kids and I think this is going to shift and change the direction of some lives just like sport did for me. I feel like I can leave town now and feel like I didn't just come and skate in circles.”

Hughes's husband, Peter Guzman, met one of the teachers in the program, Nick Boulding of John Oliver Secondary School, while kayaking around Vancouver Island. Hughes gave Boulding two tickets for his students to attend her 3,000-metre race last week at the Olympics and a contest for the tickets was held involving an 800-metre run, essay writing and scuplture.

Hughes was struck by the kids' stories on the website (takeahikefoundation.org) when she read them the night before her 3,000 metre race.

“I e-mailed Nick and I said 'I was one of your students. That could have been me,'” she said. “The stories resonated. The transformations they had really resonated with me and the transformations I had because of sport.”

Hughes has been open about her own troubled past growing up in Winnipeg.

“I was one of those students that didn't care about anything and I was involved with a lot of drinking at a young age and drugs and smoking a pack a day,” she said. “That was me. And this is me now. There is a way out. It's different for every person. Sport is not the (only) answer, but I think goals and dreams and a sense of self worth is the answer.”

Hughes also found inspiration here in a relationship she developed with the Four Host First Nations, whom she contacted two years ago offering to get involved with their youth. She has been involved in several different initiatives with them.

The week before the Olympics, Hughes, her husband Peter and three members of the speed skating support staff went to visit the Four Host First Nations in Squamish for a brushing off ceremony, which is a ritual cleansing of frustrations, struggles and bad energy.

“We each had a chance to have all the demons brushed off,” said Hughes, later adding: “I came out of there and I did feel that clear mind and that open heart that carried me through these Games.” The youngest son of Tewanee Joseph, the head of the Four Host First Nations, gave Hughes a necklace with a silver hummingbird pendant.

“His (Joseph's) wife Rianne said 'We wanted to give you a hummingbird because we wanted you to have wings when you were skating,'” she said. “I wore this the entire Olympics, I wore this both of my races and carrying the flat into the opening ceremonies.”

Hughes said she her relationship with the Four Host First Nations “gave this whole path meaning for me here on the west coast.”

“It really had made this journey far richer than it would have been otherwise.”

Clara Hughes: "I have always felt I am Canada"

“When I’m on the line, when I’m at the Olympics, when I have the Maple Leaf on my back, I have always felt that I am Canada right now. I am Canada. I’m not myself anymore. I know who I am. But I’m something much larger than myself. And that’s always inspired me. And I think that’s what people connect to.” --- Clara Hughes

Today is Clara Hughes' last Olympic race. What an amazing, inspiring ride it's been. From the first interview we did before the 1996 Atlanta Olympics – where she'd win two cycling bronze medals for Canada – you had the sense you were talking to somebody special. Not saying this in hindsight or to be sentimental. You just knew. Her inner light shone through in a telephone interview. Or rather that should be her inner fire.

Of all the things I will miss about Clara Hughes, maybe the biggest – and this is a selfish one – might that she wrote your stories for you. Her quotes always came from the heart and she made it so easy – you only had to fill in some words in between and let her take over.

If you don't believe me, go to her website and read her journal entries. When I wrote about some of the incredible things she's overcome in a story about her being the opening ceremonies flagbearer, many people said that she should write a book. They're right – and she wouldn't need a ghost writer. She could probably cobble it together from her journal entries because they're so pure. She doesn't know any other way.

She has given me goosebumps so many times over the years – and I'm generally not a goosebumps kind of guy.

Okay, enough from me. I'm going to do what she's always allowed me to do – let her do the work for me. I've gathered a few favourite Clara Hughes quotes from over the years. In going over some of our old interviews, she's now got me all pumped up for today's race.

Clara Hughes on …

… taking singing lessons for the 2006 Turin Olympics:

“I always try to improve on something that I think I’m not good at or I think I can’t do very well and I try to take those things and do them better. You have to let go of your inhibitions. It’s not an easy thing to do. I think because I’m good at what I do it’s easier to get caught in the trap of just being very good and not trying to go beyond that and lose that beginner’s mind. For me, I’ve always tried to take on new challenges to get that beginner’s mind back. Then when I go back to what I’m good at, I have a whole different perspective.”

… on wanting to inspire youth:

"The days where I don't feel like doing anything, that's something that I think of. I have to do this job well and I have to do it so I can have the impact that I can potentially have on kids, on the youth. I think that for me the most important thing about sport right now is the potential impact it can have on the youth in Canada. They need something and they need some source of inspiration, not to make them great athletes but to make them outstanding people and people with goals and intentions that are good."

… on being open to experiences heading into an Olympics (see pic of new friend made at Games above):

“I mean a race is a race. But the Olympics is huge. And it can totally overwhelm you if you don’t have a sense of who you are there. And also, if you’re just so closed that you walk around with your blinders on, I think it’s just a soulless experience. I don’t want to have that. Life’s too short for that. In whatever you do, if I’m bike touring or walking down the road here, if I don’t have my eyes open, if I’m not seeing what birds are in the forest or what the environment has to offer, it’s a waste of time.”

… on being a fighter:

“I think you’re either a fighter or you’re a quitter. For me, I’ve always been a fighter. I always get to that point in a race where it hurts so much and you still have sometimes five laps to go, two kilometres to go. Sometimes, it’s four kilometres to go. You can’t believe that you can continue. For me, it’s always where I have this moment of questioning ‘Oh God, I just want to stop. Maybe, I’ll crash. Maybe, I’ll fall.’ These things happen in your brain because you’re human. So every survival mechanism, your brain is trying to get your body to quit because it’s survival. Life or death. For me, something always happens where that question goes and I’m like ‘No.’ It’s just like this ‘NO!’ And then I attack. It’s me. It’s just me. Sometimes I start thinking before a race ‘What if I can’t fight this time?’ That was in my consciousness for one skating season. And then I convinced myself race after race it’s just not an option. No matter how I feel, it’s actually not an option. So now I know it’s there and I can count on it. But I still have to work on it and make it even better.”

… on always considering yourself the underdog:

“I read once ‘If you wish to be out front, then act as if you were behind.’ I really like that one because that’s kind of me in a nutshell. Even if I’m world champion, if I’ve won the Olympics, if I’m the world record holder, inside of me I will never put myself ahead of anyone because the moment you do that is the moment you get your ass kicked. … That was something Marnie (McBean) once said in a talk. When they won the gold medal at the Olympics in Atlanta, the year before they won the worlds, and she looked at the fourth-place finishers, the French team, crying their hearts out. She said ‘I carried that fourth place with me to Atlanta. That’s what I carried. I didn’t carry the win.’ I really liked that. That’s so true.”

Hughes is the underdog today in the women's 5,000 metres. Teammate Kristina Groves is also a medal contender. The favourites are Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic and Stephanie Beckert of Germany.

Another thing Clara Hughes has taught me is never, ever count her out. Not with the Maple Leaf on her back.

If They Built It, Would You Come?

VANCOUVER – There were 8,800 people out at Cypress Mountain last night for men's freestyle aerials qualification. Let me make that clear because I still can't comprehend it: EIGHT THOUSAND, EIGHT HUNDRED PEOPLE – FOR MEN'S FREESTYLE AERIALS QUALIFICATION.

And they were pumped! They were so into it. The place rocked. They brought banners, flags, their kids and, most of all, their enthusiasm. Check out the red and white patriots above.

The revelation of these Games for many – including this reporter – has been the rock n' roll atmosphere created by Canadian fans.

As someone who's been to hundreds and hundreds of events featuring our Canadian athletes over the years and seen only their friends and relatives in the stands, it's been overwhelming to witness. The athletes have definitely never seen anything like it on home soil.

To be honest, I feared the atmosphere at many events here would be lame. Canada has never really embraced its Olympic athletes and really have no passion for most of these sports. The '94 Lillehammer Olympics remain the best ones for most who were there because of the atmosphere created by the people.

This may not be Lillehammer, but it stands on its own because of the way that Canadians have rallied behind it. The volunteers and the people in Vancouver have been awesome, too.

But it does lead one to wonder if there can be a spillover effect in any way for Canadian Olympic sport. Will many – or any – of those so fervently into it at the moment retain any of that interest once the circus has left town? Will they bring their kids out to events featuring Canadian Olympians in the future such as national championships, World Cups and many other competitions?

I suspect, unfortunately, that nothing will change, that these athletes will go back into what's almost a witness protection program, where the public doesn't see them for another four years.

And that's a shame, because a great opportunity is really being lost here. These athletes are really fine role models. Most are involved in causes that go beyond themselves. Most would take the time to share their stories with your kids.

In an age where the pro athlete is more and more removed from the rest of us, the Olympians are a different breed. (See freestyle skier Kyle Nissen signing autographs after Olympic qualifications last night.)

Hard to say what the answer is here (Would love to hear suggestions from readers out there.) It needs a multipronged approach.

One thing that needs to be established is whether the public does care, whether they want the media to cover these athletes between the Olympics. Sports pages are dictated by public demand – and the only calls sports editors ever get asking for more coverage of Olympic sports tend to come from an athlete's family.

There's no question the Leafs, Canucks, Flames, Oilers, Senators, Canadiens will always dominate the sports pages, but is there some more room there for some more coverage of our Olympic athletes – and are readers prepared to ask for it?

The national sports federations in Canada have generally done an awful job of promoting their sports. The Canadian Olympic Committee hasn't been any better. Some of that has to do with the budgets of the federations. But a lack of creativity is also a big issue.

The Canadian Olympic bobsleigh and skeleton team was unveiled in a high school in Calgary. The atmosphere was incredible. That's the kind of connection all the sports need to make. When they have events, they need to bus in kids from all over the city. What school is going to turn down the opportunity to expose their students to something like that? If the team can have some athletes visits before the event, even better. But they can't just sit back and wait for people to come. Too many federations have done that for too long.

Maybe some of this can change under incoming Canadian Olympic Committee Marcel Aubut, who does seem to have a genuine passion for the athletes and is an aggressive promoter.

It doesn't have to be a grand show, though. But the Olympic sport community in this country has to show some initiative in keeping the spark ignited here going.

Gold Medal Performance: Glen Crawford, cameraman extraordinaire and father of two Olympians, Chandra and Rosanna, checks in again with a parent's perspective on the Games:

"WOW, can you believe how great this country is! The support for our athletes is just fantastic. As a parent of two Olympic athletes I know how much they appreciate it.

"But then there’s the support and recognition of the parents of athletes. Every parent who has ever helped their child in any endeavor knows that it takes a little extra energy & effort for them to succeed. To help your children onto the Olympic stage takes a lot of energy & effort.

"I can’t tell you how gratifying it is to see the generosity & support offered to Canadian parents by the Canadian Olympic Committee with the Canada House program as well as the marvelous opportunity offered to parents by Petro Canada. And there’s also the great work being done by the CAN Athlete Fund to make sure that not only are the athletes taken care of, but the parents of Canadian athletes are also being recognized during the Olympics.

"The Olympics are a huge event for any athlete and they are almost as huge for any parent of an Olympian. Even though we’re still in Canada, the challenges of working through the various levels of security and actually getting together with our children are also big. For my wife & me to have the opportunity to get together and spend time with our girls has been fantastic."

"GOLD Medal awarded to Canada House, Petro Canada & the CAN Fund Athlete parent programs!"

Tool of the Week: It's been a long, long time since the Sunnyside Hardware Tool of the Week has been awarded. As has been said in the past, it has to be a really worthy winner. Thank you, Ottavio Cinquanta, International Skating Union boss, for stepping up to the podium.

Seems like that's the only thing Cinquanta is doing here, stepping up to the podium to award medals and get himself and his bullet-proof coiff some more camera time. There he was last night giving the gold medals to Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (along with former Canadian figure skating kingpin and now Cinquanta crony David Dore – don't think that went down well with many in the Canadian skating community).

Anyway, back to Cinquanta. Don't they have anyone else who could hand out Olympic medals at the Games? It would have been nice to see someone like former Olympic ice dancing medalist Tracy Wilson handing those medals out last night. Or Barbara Ann Scott.

The kicker is that Cinquanta himself goes around wearing a medal around his neck. We got a close look at that medal and guess what it says? ... Winner of the Sunnyside Hardware Tool of the Week!

If It Were Easy, Everyone Would Own The Podium

Easiest thing in the world: Being a critic when things aren't turning out as hoped.

Toughest thing: Winning Olympic gold when everyone – including yourself – is expecting it.

The criticism is rolling in with one week left in the Games as Canada's plans to Own The Podium aren't unfolding as planned.

Some of the criticism is well earned. Some Canadian officials went overboard in declaring the team's intentions, most notably incoming Canadian Olympic Committee president Marcel Aubut at the pre-Games news conference and Speed Skating Canada boss Jean Dupre, who at press conferences for both long track and short track talked about his teams “kicking ass.”

But Canada could not embark on the journey to 2010 with a slogan like “We promise we're gonna really, really -- really -- try our best.”

Not after two home Olympics without a single gold medal. That's not what people wanted to hear. A bold declaration and a plan to back it up was needed to rally business, goverment and public support.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC), much criticized in this corner in the past, probably deserves the most credit for recognizing this and realizing that a successful Games needed a successful home team. The COC and government also stepped up to the plate.

You can argue now that a name like Own The Podium was setting the team up to fail, but it has achieved some very important things.

It provided Canadian athletes with not only the needed resources to get ready but also the feeling for the first time that they were being fully supported in trying to achieve their goals. It has also raised the professionalism of many of the sports federations, something sorely needed in many cases.

The big shame in all of this is that a lot of the gains made will be lost when VANOC folds up its tent after the Games and the feds roll back their support to pre-home Olympic standards.

If you want to be successful in this game – or Games – you have to be in it for the long haul, not for a five-year ride. Developing an identity as a winner at a high-stakes event like the Olympics is a long term investment.

No, Canada is not owning the podium. Not even close.

But imagine how much worse it will feel if when we give up trying the first time it didn't work out.

The Olympics Are Indeed A Different Beast

Athletes like to talk about how the Olympics are a different beast and we're definitely seeing it.

A perfect example was the Swiss giving the Canadians a run for it last night in men's hockey. One game, one shot, anything can happen. If it's the Stanley Cup final, you know Canada is going to grind the Swiss down pretty quickly in a four-out-of-seven series.

Christine Nesbitt's narrow victory in the women's 1,000 metres, Mellisa Hollingsworth trailing in third after two runs of the women's skeleton again demonstrates that mastery of the World Cup ensures you nothing once you step to the Olympic line.

The athletes all know this, but it's something else to actually live it and try to focus on the things that made you a favourite or contender when you're fully immerse in the cauldron of Olympic pressure.

Give Nesbitt full marks for pulling it off in the women's 1,000 metres on Thursday, even if she was relucant to give herself much credit afterwards.

Nesbitt dominated the World Cup with four victories in four 1,000-metre races, winning by an average of about half a second – a huge margin in her sport.

It had been the same for Catriona Le May Doan heading into the 2002 Salt Lake Games. She'd won all eight of her 500-metre World Cup races by an average of 37/100ths of a second – again a huge margin for that distance. But after the first of two 500-metre races in Salt Lake, she led by only 3/100ths of a seconds. She won the second race by 15/100ths to capture her second straight Olympic 500-metre gold.

The Olympics does funny things to people. It doesn't render what they accomplished on the World Cup or at world championships meaningless. It just demonstrates it takes something special to be able to replicate it at the Olympics. Not everyone can do it. That's what makes it so meaningful

Denny Morrison has had a lot of success in speed skating's middle distances at the World Cup and world championships level, but things fell apart for him in the men's 1,000 metres on Wednesday and he finished a distant 13th. He was at a loss to explain what happened afterwards, but did say the pressure was a factor.

“It's the Olympics. It's who brings it on that day,” he said. “I'm usually the kind of guy that performs well under pressure. But not this competition, I guess. Not this day.”

His coach, Marcel Lacroix, certainly didn't recognize his skater.

“Something happened at the gun,” said Lacroix. “He was not focused like Denny usually focuses. He's usually really good under pressure. For whatever reason yesterday, I think the fact that the crowd, wanting to win so bad, he wasn't able to be himself. Something happened. Some demon came out. He wanted too much. He worked his way. But working at this level is not enough. You've got to be technically sound and yesterday his technique wasn't there.”

Morrison gets another chance in the men's 1,500 metres on Sunday, an event in which he's been world champion and once held the world record.

TheStarkSide's Medal Chances for Today: The old Spidey senses are calling for Canada's first alpine medal of the Games today in the men's super-G.

Here are three reasons why ...

Manuel Osborne-Paradis: He was trying too hard in the men's downhill. Now, he's got that out of the way. He's a great competitor and he's made huge strides in his technical skiing this season, to the point that he pulled off a surprising win in this discipline on home snow at the opening speed races in Lake Louise.

Erik Guay: This has not been a good season for Guay in downhill, but he's been fourth, fifth and seventh in three of the four super-G races. Combined that with his fifth in the Olympic downhill and a fourth-place finish two years ago in a World Cup super-G in Whistler and there's no reason that he shouldn't contend for a medal today.

Robbie Dixon: There's just something about this guy that makes you believe he can get on the podium at the Olympics, even though he hasn't yet been there on the World Cup. He's tough-minded, a strong technical skier and like Osborne-Paradis grew up skiing on Whistler mountain. He has a lot of pride and it doesn't sit well with him that he didn't finish the downhill.

Canada's skeleton crew is in position to pick up some medals after the first two runs on Thursday – former world champion Jon Montgomery is in second place in the men's event, while reigning World Cup overall champion Mellisa Hollingsworth is in third in the women's.

They both have a lot of time to make up to get the top spot of the podium, with Montgomery three-tenths back of Martin Dukurs of Latvia and Hollingsworth trailing Amy Williams of Great Britain by 39/100ths of a second. But the Whistler track is one where a little mistake can cost you a lot.

In figure skating, the ice dancing begins with the compulsory figures and Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are considered contenders for gold, after winning silver this year at the Grand Prix Final.

View from The Stark Side: Canada's medal chances, Day 7

Canada's big chance today comes in long track speed skating at the Richmond Olympic Oval in the women's 1,000 metres. Christine Nesbitt of London, Ont., is the favourite, having won all four World Cup races at the distance this season. She is the defending world champion in the event. While Nesbitt has never faced this type of pressure or expectations before, she would appear to have the requisite mental toughness for the task. Right behind her is teammate Kristina Groves, who got her Olympics off to a strong start with a bronze in the women's 3,000 metres. Brittany Schussler has a shot at the podium for Canada here, too. The first two of four runs for the men's and women's skeleton are held today and Whistler and again Canada has the favourite in the women's event in overall World Cup winner Mellisa Hollingsworth. On the men's side, the Germans have been dominating but Canada's Jon Montgomery won the pre-Olympic World Cup race on the course one year ago while teammate Jeff Pain was third. Toronto figure skater Patrick Chan has a big hill to climb today in the men's long program after placing seventh in the short program. The 19-year-old is capable of a great skate, but even that will probably not be enough against a strong field in which many of his rivals have the extra firepower of the quad.

The view from The Stark Side on today's medal chances

One of the most exciting events of the day should come in long track speed skating in the men's 1,000 metres.

The guy to beat is American Shani Davis. One of the skaters who should definitely be in the mix for a medal is Canada's Denny Morrison.

Davis and Morrison are friends and former training partners. Davis trained with the Canadians for many years at the Olympic Oval in Calgary until after the 2006 Turin Olympics, when Canadian officials put a stop to it because they didn't want the American to benefit from all the Own The Podium resources being poured into the program.

Also watch out for young American Trevor Marsicano in this event.

Kalyna Roberge has a good shot to put Canada on the podium in the women's 500 metres in short track speed skating. She's smaller than most of her competitors and very shy off the ice, but like snowboarder Maelle Ricker she's a real tiger in competition. Many of the other skaters actually fear her.

The men's halfpipe goes today and everyone's talking about American Shaun White. The top two Canadians are Jeff Batchelor of Oakville and Justin Lamoureux. Batchelor won a bronze last year at the world championships but is not among the favourites for the podium here.

In cross-country skiing up in the Callaghan Valley near Whistler, it's the men's and women's classic sprint events. Chandra Crawford pulled off a huge surprise winning gold in the women's sprint at the 2006 Turin Olympics.

But it was a skating race in Turin, not classic technique. There's a huge difference and Crawford isn't nearly as strong in classic as she is in sprint. Throw in several injury filled years since her big win in Turin and she's a real longshot. So is teammate Sara Renner, who recently won a bronze in her last World Cup race in this event at home in Canmore, Alta.

But Renner will be a sentimental favourite and, who knows, might have yet one more great race left in the tank in this event. It would be an incredible story for an incredible person.

In the women's downhill, where American Lindsey Vonn is favoured, Canadians Emily Brydon and Britt Janyk are longshots after a tough season for the team. Janyk grew up skiing on the mountain, though, and does have one World Cup win in her career.

View From The Stark Side on Today's Medal Chances

VANCOUVER – In five World Cup women's snowboard cross races this season, Canadians Maelle Ricker and Dominique Maltais have been on the podium together four times.

Today comes the big test at soggy Cypress Mountain.

Ricker and Maltais train together when the team is on the road, push each other constantly and are hoping to boost one another onto to an Olympic podium this time.

But it's a sport with a lot of variables – particularly when it comes to body contact – so there are definitely no guarantees, despite Sports Illustrated's prediction that Ricker will win.

No one knows that better than Ricker, who was the fastest qualifier at the 2006 Turin Olympics but crashed in the final and was helicoptered off the hill with a concussion. Maltais won bronze in that crazy race, best remembered for American Lindsey Jacobellis's hot dog move at the end that cost her a gold medal.

Ricker, a local hero from West Vancouver, has three wins this season and a third-place finish as well. Maltais, a firefighter from Montreal, has three bronze medals and a silver.

Patrick Chan begins his bid for a medal in men's figure skating as the short program is held today.

The personable 19-year-old from Toronto won a silver at last year's worlds, but defending Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko of Russia and former world champ Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland have both since returned and are looking sharp. It's a deep field with seven or eight skaters with a medal shot.

Chan, who struggled with injury this season and had a recent coaching change, will definitely be up against it to get a medal but he's a supremely talented kid.

An AAB Blog Post -- All Alex Bilodeau

I totally believe the way forward for Olympic sport in this country is to really sell the public and government the true value it can bring, the stories and examples it has to share with youth across the nation. The Alex Bilodeau story is a prime example.

On one hand, it's the traditional story of hard work and chasing a dream. But even more than that, it's a redemptive story about the power of inclusion because of his relationship with his older brother Frederic, who has cerebal palsy.

Actually, it's something from which we all can learn. Alex Bilodeau certainly has.

“We play golf sometimes, me, my father and him,” said Bilodeau. “He's never mad at himself. He's like 'Oh, I missed it. Oh, I got it. Oh, I missed it. Oh, I got it.' Never mad at himself. Just enjoying the moment.

“He's going to hit the ball until he gets it. It's a show watching him like 'Wow. How a person can be like that, enjoying life. He's got problems to walk. Everything. But he's playing golf.' It's really nice to see him.”

Bilodeau continues.

“I respect him more and more all the time,” he said. “I love him. He's part of you. He's my friend. He's always there for me. I always have fun with him. I had fights with him when I was young. He's a real brother; he's just handicapped. I'd steal his Lego. He'd steal mine. The next day we'd build a big Lego together. We'd play video games. 'Ah, you cheat.' 'No, I didn't cheat.' Anything.”

He can remember when kids would make fun of his brother because of his disability.

“When I was a kid and kids just want to have fun and sometimes they do jokes and sometimes they do jokes on handicapped people when they're in like elementary school,” Bilodeau said. “It's not their fault. They just don't know that reality. But being in that reality every day, you're just 'Guys, it's not funny.' It's something you learn really quick.”

Bilodeau credits his Mom for devoting herself to her three kids – he has a sister Beatrice, 16, who is aiming for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. He said she spent countless hours each day ferrying them all around.

“I can't hide it,” he said. “It was something that was really hard, having a handicapped kid was really hard for my parents. But if someone that you love, it's part of you and you respect it and you deal with it.”

Super Support: Alex Bilodeau's victory was more than anything a tribute to the kid's character, hard work and family support, but there were also a number of other factors involved:

* The mentorship he got from his coach Dominick Gauthier and big sister/training partner Jenn Heil

* The support of the B2Ten group of Canadian business people who have invested in about 20 top Olympians with no strings attached. It was founded by J.D. Miller of Montreal, Gauthier and Heil

* The increased support given to Canadian athletes through the Own The Podium

* One of the OTP projects was bio-neurofeedback training run by Penny Werthner which helped Bilodeau to prepare to deal with the pressure

* A training program developed by former Montreal Canadiens trainer Scott Livingston and his wife Jaime and Paulo Saldhana

There's a lot more, too, but it really speaks to what a well supported athlete can accomplish. This kid is a great role model, too, very bright and pursuing a university education at the same time he's been going for gold.

No Blade Runner: Bilodeau grew up playing hockey with speed skating legend Gaetan Boucher's three sons until his mother insisted he give up the sport.

Boucher remembers him as an enthusiastic player, but not much of a skater.