There's been a few tributes on this blog about Olympic moguls champion Jenn Heil, so please excuse one more on this day of her official retirement news conference in Montreal.
Heil delivered one of the neatest quotes you'll see from an athlete at her final World Cup last weekend when she said that two of her proudest moments were being at the top of the Olympic courses in 2006 and 2010.
“It's funny that my greatest moments are at the start lines, not the finish lines,” Heil told Canadian Press. “It's never been about how many medals I can win. Of course, we define success by medals but for me it's always been about testing my limits.”
It's actually pretty remarkable how many of our Canadian athletes feel the same way. What they want is the opportunity to be in that start gate, with all that preparation in the bank, and then take their best shot with that one chance every four years.
Very few have executed better than Heil with Olympic gold in women's moguls in 2006 on the opening day of competition in Turin and then silver on the opening day at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
The second feat might have been even bigger and is perhaps the most underrated accomplishment of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Just picture for a moment the pressure on Heil to deliver Canada's first gold medal on home soil after two home Olympics without one. She was defending champion in her event and a consistent winner. Really, the only athletes with more pressure were the men's hockey team and they got to face it as a team.
Heil isn't the type to admit to feeling pressure – she's never been about excuses -- but a recent comment to the Star about what it was like heading into Vancouver gives you a taste of what she faced.
"Imagine walking around with a huge weight on your shoulders, trying to train with people telling you day in and day out that you will win the first gold medal," she said. "The pressure was enormous. Reflecting back, that is why my silver medal is so sweet. Those close to me were amazed that I was able to get out of bed the morning of the race."
Of course, she never said that before the race.
Olympic champion Duff Gibson, gold medalist in skeleton at the 2006 Turin Olympics, said of Heil under his nom de tweet @sportatitsbest: “Amazing athlete, person. Immune to pressure.”
Not so sure about immune, but she sure knew how to handle it.
This isn't a farewell tribute, by the way. You know she's going to be a huge contributor to Canadian Olympic sport in the future along with her philanthropic endeavours such as Because I am a Girl. It's also going to be exciting to see where her coach/boyfriend Dominic Gauthier goes from here. They've been the driving forces with J.D. Miller behind B2ten, which is helping other athletes reach the podium. One suspects neither one's about to stop doing that – helping others achieve their athletic dreams.
(The picture of Heil winning silver last week in Norway was snapped by photo ace Mike Ridewood for the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association)
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