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Just in time for the Olympics, John Kucera has finally figured it all out.
Five years into a World Cup career that saw him ascend to the downhill throne last season with a win at the World Championships, the 25-year-old Calgarian enters his second Olympic campaign armed with all the knowledge he needs to stay on top.
"The whole trick is to remember it's just another day," said Kucera of the Olympic downhill race at Whistler Creekside slated for the second day of the 2010 Games.
"At the world championships -- a bigger event, as well -- I just stayed in the same mindset that it was like any other race, and it paid off."
On the tail end of an otherwise disappointing season, Kucera made up for everything with a winning run at the Worlds in Val d'Isere, France, that made Canadian history.
That built his confidence. And that's exactly what he'll need to do in Whistler, where he's been made well aware by dozens of TV ads he can become the first Canadian to win Games gold on home soil.
After all, he's already blazed a trail that saw him become the first Canadian man to win a World Championship alpine skiing title and the first man to win at the Lake Louise Winterstart World Cup with a shocking Super-G victory in 2006.
It's there he and his Canadian Cowboys will open up the World Cup speed season with a downhill Saturday and Super-G Sunday.
As for whether the three-time World Cup podium finisher sees the Lake Louise event as an Olympic dress rehearsal by virtue of being in Canada, he agrees the experience will be a valuable one.
"There are some similarities and a lot of the same people involved," said Kucera, who was third in World Cup Super-G rankings two years ago. "The biggest distraction at the Olympics is finding time for family and friends because there are a lot of security issues. I like the atmosphere -- I don't think it's added pressure -- it's just more fun."