Jennifer Heil Wins Silver
Moguls skier Jennifer Heil stood tall on the podium as her bright, contagious grin fought through the rain.
Cheers erupted as she bowed to accept her Olympic bouquet after winning Canada’s first medal at the Vancouver Olympics on Saturday night.
It was a moment of deserved celebration for the freestyle star from Spruce Grove, Alta., but also one framed in disappointment. The silver medal that she won was not the one she, or the country, was looking for.
Heil represented Canada’s best shot at winning the nation’s first Olympic gold medal at home when she entered the moguls finals as defending champion.
“I know how much hard work goes into winning any Olympic medal,” she said later. “For me, I didn’t see the difference in the value of what date a medal is won. Canadians can be assured that that medal is coming on home soil.”
Canada is the only multiple Olympic host not to win gold at home, missing out at the Montreal Summer Games in 1976 and the Calgary Winter Games in 1988.
Heil was the penultimate skier in the final run, and for a brief moment she sat in first position after an electrifying run that gave a point total of 25.69.
Only American Hannah Kearney was left, and the 23-year-old ripped down the course in a near-perfect run. We held our breath and Kearney’s score came in: 26.63.
“I think the qualifying run was the key to my success today,” Kearney said. “In some ways, it was redemption for the absolute failure I experienced in Torino.”
Despite being the favourite in 2006, Kearney had failed to win a medal as Heil took the gold.
Mixed with pride
The electricity that Heil had sent jolting through fans from coast to coast diffused into that strange mix of pride and sadness we’ve grown use to.
It was, in many ways, a fitting end to a day that brought moments of heartbreak, frustration and joy.
Canada’s Chloe Dufour-Lapointe was a bright spot on a rainy day. The 18-year-old from Montreal ripped down the course in the finals and briefly sat in first position — a sign that the future of women’s moguls in Canada is in good hands.
Meanwhile, medal contender Kristi Richards turned a devastating fall in the finals into a memorable moment in Canadian sport.
The 28-year-old B.C. native pulled herself out of the snow after a rough tumble before the final jump. Stepping back into her skis, she paused and stared at the finish line, as if to acknowledge what could have been.
The crowd erupted and Richards flew down the final quarter of the Cypress Mountain course and pulled off a perfect back-flip. Gliding across the finish line, she smiled and the crowd roared.
But the Americans wrote powerful storylines of their own Saturday.
Shannon Bahrke pulled off an unexpected run that put her on the podium in third place, while Kearney fought off the demons of her Olympic past to claim the gold. In Turin, the moguls star had stumbled out of the starting gate in the qualifying round and didn’t reach the finals.
Canada’s high expectations sat on Heil’s shoulders Saturday night and she carried them well.
Through the complicated disappointment of winning a silver medal but losing a dream, she smiled with pride on the podium.
“I wanted the gold. I won the silver,” she said smiling through tears later. “This is Canada’s medal.”
