A standing ovation greeted brightly smiling 麻豆社国产gold medalist Ma毛lle Ricker as she walked onto the stage waving at BC Place Stadium on Wednesday (Feb. 17).
The 31-year-old snowboarder became the first Canadian woman ever to win a gold medal on home soil after dominating the snowboard cross final at Cypress Mountain on Tuesday (Feb. 16). A day later, she was invading radio waves and television sets around the country.
A packed crowd of about 22,000 people, including her mother Nancy and friends holding up large cut-out block letters to spell out her name, roared as Ricker finally received her gold medal.
"It was incredible. The crowd was amazing. It was a really good time," she told reporters after the ceremony.
"It's a dream come true [] I feel so fortunate to be a Canadian athlete."
At Cypress Mountain the previous day, chants of "Maelle, Maelle" came from family, friends and fans packing the bleachers as Ricker hoisted the Canadian flag.
Ricker won all three heats to take Canada's second 2010 gold medal ahead of French silver medalist Deborah Anthonioz and Swiss bronze medalist Olivia Nobs. Fellow Canadian Dominique Maltais, who is ranked third on the World Cup circuit, was a serious medal contender until crashing in both qualification runs.
The start of Ricker's journey was tense. She crashed in her first qualifying run after thick fog delayed the competition two hours. There was talk that a second qualification run might be cancelled, which meant she may not even advance.
"It was really stressful in the qualifying, watching her fall in the first run," Ricker's brother J枚rli, who ran for 麻豆社国产council last year, told media after the race.
"Going through the finals I didn't get any sense of relief."
The skies soon cleared and lit the way for Ricker, who is now being deemed Canada's golden girl. She refocused and recorded the third best time in her second qualification run on her way to winning gold.
"Once I got into the final, the course was just getting more and more fun to ride and I was able to focus on getting out of the gate first," she said, adding that the home support provided a big boost.
"It was so, so fun. There's so many people behind us, so many Canadians watching and having a great time. I'm just really happy and proud to be a part of it."
Although the fog caused a scare during qualifiers, with a number of riders falling, Ricker said she embraced the rough weather that started the day.
"I'm a West Coast girl so I absolutely love bad weather. It's in my blood, so I woke up this morning, saw the rain and fog, and actually got a huge smile on my face," she said.
Gold comes with a price, however, as Ricker has undergone six knee surgeries. In fact, she was unable to compete in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics due to injury. And the win comes four years after Ricker crashed in the Olympic snowboard cross final in Turin and was taken to hospital by helicopter with a concussion.
"Turin was such a motivator for me. It just made me work that much harder and just go for it today," said Ricker, who entered the Winter Games 12 years ago in Nagano with a fifth place in the halfpipe.
Ricker returns to the World Cup snowboard cross circuit next month leading the standings with three victories. She is pursuing her second career Crystal Globe, having won the World Cup overall title in 2008.
