“What’s It Like…” Roundup: Maëlle Ricker

In the “Goin’ for Gold” issue of OWL, we interviewed seven Canadian athletes about what it’s like to do what they do. Two of them have already gone on to win gold (coincidence?!), and a few are still competing.

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to recap the performances of some of our interviewees. So let’s start with gold medal-winning snowboard cross racer Maëlle Ricker (pictured above). In the issue, we asked Maëlle what it’s like to
go for the finish line in a race. Here’s what she said:

“My strategy for starting a race is to get out of the gate as fast as possible… preferably in front of the other riders. I don’t usually feel nervous about clearing the first jump, but sometimes the last jump is scary because it’s the biggest and also the last chance to do a pass. Everyone is gunning for the finish by that point in the race, and it gets pretty wild. When you see the finish line you have to focus on your fastest line to get there and make sure that your competitors aren’t going to be able to get by you. It’s easy to lose focus when you’re that close to the end.”

Click here to see how Maëlle followed every word of her strategy on her way to gold. I love how she got out of the gate in front of the other riders (just like she planned), and how that put her way out in front for the rest of the race.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more rounding up. As blog reader Hailey pointed out, the Olympics are on until this coming Sunday. Lots more to come!

Craig, owlblog@owlkids.com