Bilodeau honoured to be Olympic champion, intimidated by popularity

VANCOUVER (CUP) — Within half an hour, every Canadian in Vancouver had learned Alex Bilodeau's name.

The moguls skier had seized gold with a score of 26.75, winning not only Canada’s first gold medal at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, but the first Canadian gold medal won on home soil.

Bilodeau, however, has been taken aback by his sudden rise to the Canadian sports stratosphere. “Yesterday, they were naming names, and I don’t pretend to be in that category of Gretzky,” he said. “The Prime Minister called me, Mr. (Jean) Chrétien called me, everyone called me.”

“I was an old freestyler yesterday and now . . . I just can’t believe it.”

Despite his humility, Bilodeau was fiercely proud of his achievement. “It’s something to perform at the Olympics, but it’s something else to do it at home,” he said in French. “I was given that chance on a plate, (and) I was lucky enough to take it.” He emphasized, however, the point made the day before by his counterpart in women’s moguls, silver medalist Jennifer Heil, by insisting that a medal is worth no more or less at the Games when it is won first or last.

He cited his whole family as positive influences, but said that his brother Frederic, who has cerebral palsy, provides a lot of motivation. “You look at him, he’s got all the right to complain, and how many times does he complain in a day? I can’t even count mine,” he said. “That’s when you put everything back in perspective, and say ‘I should just shut up, swallow, and go train.'"

Bilodeau and his coach, Peter Judge, were also defensive when asked about accusations of favouritism in Olympic judging. An Australian official had told the Queensland Courier-Mail that he thought that Bilodeau could not have achieved a 4.8 or 4.9, because 5 is meant to be a perfect score. "I thought Dale (Begg-Smith, silver medalist) won, but that's just a gut feel."

According to Judge, the weighted system of judging would correct for a judge that showed favouritism. “Yesterday, Jenn Heil . . . stated very emphatically that she didn’t lose gold, she won a silver. (Hannah Kearney) skied better than her,” he said. “To suggest that a judge could have had an effect on the outcome is not only uneducated, it’s a bit absurd if you understand . . . how our sport is structured and how the scoring system is structured."

Bilodeau thought that any ripples even out eventually.

“Sometimes you’re in the good grace of the judge, sometimes you’re not,” he said. “Everyone’s going to be equal at the end. You always have your ups and downs.”

The tired skier had only slept three hours in the previous night, due to a number of media appearances following the win. He spoke of how honoured he felt to be an Olympic champion, and although he seemed intimidated by the international focus he had received, he was mindful of his impact on history. “I’ll probably be in the Trivial Pursuit,” he said, causing a cascade of laughs in the press theatre.

To celebrating Canadians around the country, his achievement was clearly more than trivial.