Olympic ski cross champion Ashleigh McIvor went from bombing down Whistler slopes to stepping up onto the podium amidst long overdue flurries at Cypress Mountain on Tuesday (Feb. 23).
After winning the women's ski cross gold medal, the 26-year-old said growing up in Whistler groomed her well for the sport, which requires a combination of skills developed from alpine racing and skiing the backcountry.
"Growing up in Whistler, you know, I was shredding pow and jumping cliffs and chasing the boys my whole life," said McIvor, who earned Canada's sixth gold medal of the 2010 Winter Games.
"That's what ski cross is all about. That's the beauty of ski cross, ski racing in its most natural form. Who could go out and represent Canada better than a Whistler girl?"
The International Olympic Committee added ski cross to the 2010 Olympic program in 2006. Fittingly, while an English student at the University of British Columbia in 2003, McIvor wrote an essay on why the sport should be included in the Olympics. Ski cross is similar to snowboard cross, as four skiers race a series of heats on a course with various jumps and other freestyle features. The top two out of four racers advance in each heat.
McIvor qualified second out of 35 skiers in the time trial and consistently took the lead at the start of each heat. She won every heat except the semi-final, which went to silver medalist Hedda Berntsen.
Canadian Ski Cross Team head coach Eric Archer said McIvor's domination at the start line gave her a big advantage throughout the rest of the races.
"She's been nailing that start and that was key here. To have the mental positivity of being able to do that right every single time was a huge advantage and she was just comfortable," said Archer, adding that McIvor's natural talent was on full display.
"She's one of those people that puts on a pair of skis and can do anything. She can go rip some big lines on the big mountain and she goes fast. She has a natural speed and that's something that you can't teach."
That doesn't mean she won the gold completely on her own. Despite rampant criticism that Canada's Own the podium campaign is not showing adequate results, McIvor said the support allowed her to concentrate fully on her golden goal. And on the eve of race day, she could only smile because she felt totally prepared entering the Olympic debut of women's ski cross.
"We've had so much support from fans and support staff thanks to OTP [Own the Podium] and friends and family. I just felt like I was going out there and doing this for all of them and I was made for it," said McIvor, who returns to the World Cup circuit next month ranked second overall behind France's Ophelie David, who placed ninth after crashing in the quarter-final.
But fellow Whistlerite Julia Murray was unable to prepare quite as well and had to settle for 12th place. In fact, she was fortunate to even compete in the Olympics having undergone surgery on Feb. 2 to repair a torn ACL, MCL and the meniscus in her left knee.
Murray, 21, qualified 14th and placed second in the one-eighth final before being eliminated in the quarter-final.
"It was quite the run. A lot happened in there. The start was slow. It changed a lot and I wasn't expecting that and my knee hurt real bad," said Murray.
"It's great to see [my Canadian teammates] do so well, but it's hard to know I [could have been] there as well. Next Olympics I'll be 100 per cent."
Kelowna, B.C.'s Kelsey Serwa won the small final to place fifth behind French bronze medalist Marion Josserand and fourth place finisher Karin Huttary of Austria.
"I wanted to be in the final with Ashleigh but I did the best I could," said Serwa. "Ashleigh is really, really good, so she makes it look easy and that's cool."
Fernie, B.C.'s Danielle Poleschuk qualified 10th but didn't advance to the quarter-final after starting slow in her first heat.
"I just missed my timing out of the start. I tried to do what I could. I'm frustrated. This is the earliest I've gone out in a long time," she said.
McIvor will receive her gold medal at a ceremony tonight (Feb. 23) in Vancouver.
