The breadth and depth of Canada’s Olympic moguls team takes pressure off skiers expected to strike gold, said Canadian Freestyle Skiing Association CEO Peter Judge.
“When we went into Calgary, we only had a couple medal hopefuls,” said Judge, citing the Calgary 1988 between Canadian figure skater Brian Orser and American Brian Boitano. “You had very few hands carrying a lot of weight.
“Whereas in this group you’ve got a lot of people, a lot of hands carrying that same weight and that makes for very light work.”
Alberta’s Jennifer Heil, who’s competing in her third Winter Games after winning gold in 2006 at Turin, said pressure to perform does come with Olympic competition but training programs have prepared athletes to perform in front of the hometown crowd.
“Honestly, I feel like I’ve won the lottery to have this opportunity to compete at home,” Heil said. “I know where I need to be, where my mind needs to be to deliver a great performance.”
Conditions at Cypress Mountain for moguls skiing are ideal, according to Judge, despite warm weather and rain melting the snow pack at lower elevations.
“When we were up there two days ago the helicopter was flying around grabbing snow and moving it,” he said. “VANOC has done a phenomenal job, let’s say, moving heaven and earth to make sure this is going to transpire.”
The women’s moguls competition happens Feb. 13 with the men’s moguls team competing Feb. 14.
