Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Feature - Whistler’s Winter Olympians

The greatest show on snow, from an athlete's perspective"May the world be delivered from crime and killing and freed from the clash of arms."— Sacred truce beginning the first known Olympic Games

"The goal of the Olympic movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practised without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play."

— The Olympic Charter

"In the name of all the competitors I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honour of our teams."

— Athlete's Oath

"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered, but to have fought well."

— Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics, composer of athlete’s oath.

While rescuers searched through the ashes and debris in New York City for human remains and television sets around the world were glued into the war on terrorism last fall, a curved mirror lit the Olympic torch at the sacred Temple of Hera outside of the ancient city of Athens.

The torch travelled across the Atlantic Ocean and made a journey through the U.S., stopping in 46 states. It travelled to New York City, where it was carried into the city by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. It travelled to Washington, D.C., where it was met by the president and carried by members of Congress and the Senate. It even went as far as Alaska, where it was met by local dignitaries and athletes who have participated in past Games.

Thousands of people took part in the procession as it came through their towns and cities, each carrying it for about a quarter of a mile before handing it off to the next bearer. Aided by motorized vehicles in the more under-populated areas, it travelled over 200 miles a day.

On Feb. 8, it finally arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah, for the opening of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.

It was passed around some more within the stadium, from one Winter Olympic hero to the next, before the victorious 1980 U.S. men’s hockey team, the "Miracle on Ice," finally took it the rest of the way and ignited the cauldron that stands over the Olympic Stadium.

There the Olympic flame will burn until the closing ceremonies on Feb. 23, the defining symbol of an event that is rich with symbolism. The flame in that cauldron is a symbol of "The Fire Within," which also happens to be the motto of the 2002 Winter Games.

Looking into the fire, one is meant to get the sense that you’re looking into the same fire that burned at the altar of Zeus at the first Olympics more than 2,000 years ago, when Greek city states laid down their arms out of respect for the spirit of competition.

With the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon, and the ongoing war on terror, some critics questioned whether the U.S. should have gone ahead with Games at all. Besides the obvious safety issues, they wondered if this was an appropriate time for the nation to focus on something as trivial as a sporting event.

But then again, it’s been a long time since the Olympics were just about the sports.

"The Olympics give the world a chance in the midst of a difficult struggle to celebrate international peace and co-operation," said President George W. Bush at a press conference prior to the opening ceremonies. "All people appreciate the discipline that produces excellence, the courage that overcomes difficult odds and the character that creates champions."

While there is a certain amount of national pride at stake, the modern Olympics are about setting aside differences and bringing countries and cultures together in an open and peaceful way.

The sports themselves have also taken on extra significance. Rather than being about winners and losers, they’re about being your best for the love of your country and the love of your sport. The participants push the boundaries of athleticism and their own human limitations in search of that one perfect moment.

Somebody did the math. According to research it takes about 10,000 hours of training in a sport, or approximately 10 years, to produce one Olympic calibre athlete. If an athlete has a strong foundation in one of the core sports, such as swimming or gymnastics, you can shorten the time slightly, but in the end it’s still an overwhelming commitment.

If the spectators watching from the grandstands and at home haven’t missed the whole point of the Olympics, they will appreciate the effort of the athletes, whether the medal winners represent their country or not.

Taken in this broad, symbolic context, it’s easier to understand why elite athletes train their whole lives just to get a glimpse of the Olympic flame.

Whistler Olympians

More than 2,300 hundred athletes, representing 77 different nations, are taking part in the 2002 Winter Games, competing in 15 sports. The sports can be broken down into 78 men’s and women’s events, and 234 medals (not including multiple medals for team sports).

Team Canada has sent 154 athletes to Salt Lake City, plus 109 coaches and support staff, to compete in 12 of those sports.

Whistler was well represented at the opening ceremonies. Local alpine star Britt Janyk narrowly missed qualifying as a racer, but alpine coaches Rob Boyd and Jim Pollock, as well as Alpine Canada program director Joze Sparovec, all call Whistler home.

One member of the freestyle moguls team, Kelly Ringstad, calls Whistler home. Mogul skier Tami Bradley and aerialist Andy Capicik, who are married, divide their time between Whistler and Vancouver, and mogul skier Scott Bellavance also lives here for most of the year.

We are also represented on the snowboard team. Trevor Andrew, named to the Olympic team after Guillaume Morisset was injured in training, calls Whistler home, as does Daniel Migneault. Mike Michalchuk lives in Pemberton, and Natasza Zurek lives in Vancouver, but trains in Whistler. Coaches Christian Hrab and Steve Legge also call Whistler home.

In addition, local Mark Ludbrook will represent Whistler and Canada at the 2002 Paralympic Winter Games in March.

A number of past Olympians are watching from Whistler, and a number of Whistler's past Olympians are in Salt Lake City with the Canadian contingent. You've seen them around town and you know their names – Steve Podborski, Rob Boyd, John Smart, Ross Rebagliati, and Lori Glazier, to name just a few.

For them, the Olympics were a dream come true. And, like every dream, it’s kind hard to explain once it's over.

Steve Podborski — Lake Placid, 1980; Sarajevo, 1984

Going into the 1980 Winter Games at Lake Placid, Steve Podborski was already a proven threat on the World Cup downhill circuit. Although he was only 23 at the time, he had been competing on the world stage since he was 18 years old and had earned a fair share of podiums.

During his career, which stretched from 1974 to 1984, he won eight World Cup downhills, 20 World Cup podiums, and cracked the top-10 44 times. To this day he remains one of the top skiers in the history of the sport.

It was a long way to go from flat Don Mills, Ontario, to supremacy on the mountains that stage downhill competitions, but it didn’t feel all that unusual. Podborski – "Pod" to his friends – just liked to race.

"When I started skiing, it wasn’t because of the Games, but because I could ski," he says. "I started racing because that was the logical step and the natural progression just took me to the Olympics."

Although it was a casual introduction to the Games, Podborski would come away feeling that he had been part of something "impossible to describe."

"There’s no question that the Olympics is radically different than other events," he says. "In a World Cup you’re competing with your own brotherhood of skiers, weekend after weekend. At the Olympics, you’re with the best athletes in all of the sports. At the opening ceremony, you’re with bobsledders, skaters, lugers, all of these athletes that are the best at their sports. And they’re all there because they deserve to be.

"It’s a complex emotion. You’re really proud to be Canadian, representing your country as the best your country can produce. And because it was in Lake Placid, there were Canadian flags everywhere, my family was there, it was a great feeling."

It had been a mild winter up to that point, and as a result the alpine events took place on $5 million worth of man-made snow.

The men’s downhill team, dubbed the Crazy Canucks for their win-or-crash mentality, was out in full force. While they weren’t the favourites going in, nobody was counting them out, either.

Ken Read was the favourite of the group, but his run came to a premature end when his binding released in the first 15 seconds. Fans were stunned to watch Canada’s greatest medal hope cartwheeling down Whiteface Mountain.

After that nobody expected Podborski to win a medal for Canada, but Podborski figured out a way to deal with the pressure.

"There is a lot more pressure at the Olympics than at a World Cup. You wouldn’t believe the number of people that go ape at the Games because they can’t handle it," says Podborski.

"I tried to stay composed. You can only be so happy, or nervous. The Games are going on around you, and it’s a circus, but after a while you realize that all you can control there is your own performance. So you focus on that."

Podborski stunned the skiing world that day with a bronze medal performance, behind Austrian skiers Leonard Stock and Peter Wirnsberger.

He was the first North American to win a downhill medal at the Games.

It was also one of two medals that the Canadian team would win that year, including a silver for speed skater Gaetan Boucher in the 1,000 metre event.

"I was the first Canadian male to win a medal in downhill skiing, and it was an incredible experience. Going to that podium was one of the best experiences of my life. But the thing that stood out the most for me when it was all over was the opening ceremony. It was a profound and moving experience."

Podborski competed again in the 1984 games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, finishing eighth in the downhill. He won the overall downhill title in the 1981-82 season, and retired in 1984 as one of the most respected skiers in the World.

"The competitors know that the Olympics is just another race, and it’s really open to anybody to win, but to the guy in Alabama, or wherever, who’s watching the Olympics on his television, it’s the only race that matters. He may not have seen a flake of snow in his life, but he knows who the gold medal winner is. That’s what makes it so important."

Although he stopped competing at the World Cup level a long time ago, Podborski’s relationship with the Olympics has endured to this day.

He is currently at the 2002 Winter Games, as a member of the media, and as the executive director of international relations of the Vancouver-Whistler 2010 Bid Corporation.

"I’ve been there as an athlete, now it’s my goal to bring the Olympics to our country once again," he says. "It’s a great thing. If you talk to any of the people who ever been in the Games, or were at the Games, they’ll tell you it is one of the greatest events in their lives.

"I can’t put it into words, but I know what the Olympics mean. For me it’s unbelievable to be part of making that happen for people at home, and our athletes. It's a big deal because it is a big deal. You can't deny it."

John Smart — Albertville, 1992; Lillehammer, 1994

For John Smart, skiing the bumps was a part-time job until word came down that freestyle skiing a medal sport in the 1992 Winter Olympics.

He was enrolled in a University of British Columbia business program at the time, and competing on weekends. Even with that level of commitment, he had climbed steadily through the ranks to become one of the top mogul skiers on the international circuit.

He knew he could do well at the Olympics if he put the books away during the winter and concentrated full-time on his skiing.

"I made my decision instantly. Of course that meant going to summer school, which I wasn’t too happy about," he remembers.

"When I got into freestyle the Olympics didn’t exist for me, or for anybody else for that matter. I never set out to be an Olympian, I didn’t aspire to the Olympics. Somehow that made it more important for me."

Freestyle was a demonstration sport at the Calgary Olympics back in 1988, which was slightly before Smart’s time. By the time it was accepted as an Olympic sport, however, Smart was at the forefront of the sport.

"I was in a good position to go," he says. "I was the leader in Canada for mogul skiing, and I won a gold medal in a World Cup in 1990. I was the first Canadian man to win a medal in five years."

Not only was Smart a shoe-in to go to the Games, he also had a good chance of coming home with a medal.

"And that’s what made it so exciting. The guy who walked away with the gold medal would have a different life after that."

Smart and the rest of the freestylers, held up at a World Cup, had a slightly different first Olympics in 1992. They missed the opening ceremonies, and with the freestyle staging area being in Tignes, they were separated from the action in Albertville. While they were cut off from the rest of the Canadian Olympic team, they were far from lonely.

"The top mogul skiers in the world at the time were French. The biggest icon at the time was Edgar Grospiron, and this was his home turf. There were tens of thousands of people lining the course, even during the training days," says Smart. "It was a big crowd, and we’ve skied in front of some big crowds, but you could hear it, feel it, sense it all around you, which was pretty mind-blowing."

To this day Smart believes he could have medalled in Albertville if he had just toned his routine down a little bit.

"I was trying to change the rules. Only a few people were doing helicopters in those days, and then never in competitions. For me it meant everything to do that jump at the bottom. It would have been big points, and a lot more tricky than anything the other skiers were doing.

"Another skier was doing it on the top air, but the bottom, when you’re going a lot faster, is a lot trickier."

Smart made a perfect run until he had some trouble landing the helicopter. If he had landed it perfectly he probably would have won the bronze, but he went off course slightly and had to settle for fifth. The spin cost him a medal, but gained him the respect of the fans and the other skiers.

In 1994, he was back again, and this time he took part in everything.

"It was a lot smaller venue, and everything was so concentrated I got to meet everyone," says Smart. "One of the people I met and got to know was Rob Boyd. We lived in the same town (Whistler) for years and never even bumped into each other. He was off doing the alpine thing, I was doing the freestyle thing, and our paths never crossed."

By then Jean-Luc Brassard had emerged on the mogul scene, and the Canadian team was on top with five skiers in the top 10. Since only two spots were open to Canadians, Smart had to step his intensity up another notch.

"We were constantly pushing each other to go bigger, to go faster, and by the time the Olympics came around we were confident that one of us, if not both of us was going to come away with a medal," he says.

Brassard put on a gold medal performance, and Smart once again had a little trouble with the helicopter to finish seventh overall.

He retired from World cup freestyle skiing with 13 World Cup medals to his credit. He continued to ski, however, and in 1999 was the Pro Mogul champion.

He currently runs Smart Mogul Skiing, a summer camp on Blackcomb, where he has helped to train the next generation of World Cup mogul skiers.

Five members of the Canadian Freestyle Team are former SMS campers, as is Shannon Bahrke, a silver medal winner at Salt Lake.

He also runs a freeskiing camp on the glacier for new school skiers, and recently launched a line of clothing for both mogul and new school athletes.

"I got my business degree after all, and I’m using it," he says.

While he was disappointed twice, Smart maintains that the Olympics were one of the best things that ever happened to him.

"I’ve been there twice, and I know it’s not just another competition," he says. "You face the same skiers you face every race, only there’s a lot fewer of them because only a few qualify.… But you can feel the spotlight on you, and you know people are watching at home. It really means something just to be there."

Rob Boyd — Calgary, 1988; Lillehammer 1994

In his 12 years with the Canadian Team, Rob Boyd qualified for the Olympic three times. He raced in Calgary in 1988, and finished in 16 th place in the downhill. He qualified again for Albertville in 1992, but was sidelined with injuries to his back and leg. He qualified for Lillehammer in 1994, but after taking a few training runs, he decided he had not recovered from a knee injury three weeks previous, and gave his spot up to Luke Sauder.

For Boyd, it took a few years away from the Games to put them into perspective.

"For myself, it was never about the Olympics. I focused on the World Cup races because it shows who the more consistent racers are. The Olympics is just one competition, and you want to win, but if that's all you care about then you're probably setting yourself up for a big disappointment," says Boyd.

"Now I'm a little older and wiser, I appreciate more what the Olympics are about. It is a great event, and it should be a big deal.

"It's about setting aside problems, religious differences, racial differences, everything, and everyone coming together to focus on competition, performance, the pursuit of excellence.

"That's the main thing for most of the athlete's and I'm pretty sure they understand that."

While the Olympics do have a commercial side, and the gold medal winners can generally cash in on their fame, Boyd believes that the pursuit of anything other than the top of the podium clouds the issue for many athletes.

"On the one hand, you should always try to win. If you're just happy to be there as part of the spectacle, meeting the other athlete’s, then you're missing the point," he says. "On the other hand, if winning at the Olympics is the only thing you're training for, and you could care less about what the Olympics represent, then you missed the point there too."

Boyd’s World Cup career ran from 1985 until 1997, although he still races in various pro competitions like the King of the Hill downhill series. During his career he netted six World Cup downhill podiums and three World Cup downhill victories, including his famous victory in Whistler in 1989. To this day he remains the only male Canadian skier to win a World Cup race on Canadian soil.

He also has 30 top-10 finishes to his credit, and was ranked 11 th in the world in 1987. He was fifth at the world championships in 1987.

Boyd is currently in Salt Lake City as a coach with Alpine Canada Alpin.

Because the downhill was one of the first events, and the alpine venue at the Snow Basin Ski Resort is over an hour away from Olympic Stadium in Salt Lake City, only a few of the athletes took part in the opening ceremonies.

"It's harder to get a sense of it out here," says Boyd. "Some of the athlete’s made the trip because it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity... and it was a full day for them. Most of them stuck around to focus on the racing.

"When their part is over, they’ll join in with the Olympic party that’s going on, but until then I think most athletes taking it pretty seriously.

"My experience with the Olympics is one of the contributions I can make to the team as a coach. All of the skiers are excited about making it to the Games, and now I have to get them fired up for the races."



Comments