Video: Alex Bilodeau looking to repeat success in Sochi. Allison Vuchnich reports.
Alexandre Bilodeau made history in 2010 as the first Canadian to ever win Olympic gold on home soil. This year in Sochi, he defends his moguls title against his fiercest competition: fellow Canadian Mikael Kingsbury.
Bilodeau is ranked second in the world; Kingsbury, first. They’re both going for gold.
“Winning the gold medal in Vancouver was a great achievement for myself, for my career and most of all it’s a dream coming true,” Bilodeau, 26, said in an interview.
“I’m not looking at Sochi as defending my medal, I’m looking at Sochi as another Olympic gold medal potential.”
But after Vancouver, he wasn’t sure he would compete again.
“I wanted to stop after Vancouver, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go to Sochi and raise the challenge of winning two Olympic gold,” he said.
But he went for it, and has been training hard ever since to give it one last go. “I’m unfortunately retiring after this season. That’s a decision that I’ve long made before right now, it’s been since 2010.”
“I’m going for it and whatever happens, whatever the result will be, I’ll be proud of my career and I’ll retire with no regrets and there’s new challenges coming my way after that.”
Kingsbury is young, aggressive and ready to win. “It’s my dream since I’m pretty young so I’m going to go there and try to do the run of my life,” he said. “Gold is my goal.”
The 21-year-old has visited Sochi three times so far to train and prepare for the race. The course isn’t too bad, he says – the challenge will be the weather. “The weather is changing every day, every hour, almost. It’s raining or it could be snowing, it could be very warm or it could be very cold.”
Having the race at night will help, he said, as the skiers won’t have to face the fog that often drifts into the mountains during the day. Kingsbury likes his chances on the hill after having won an Olympic test event and the Europa Cup on the same Sochi course that will host the Olympic event.
“I’ve been able to ski every kind of weather and I’ve been good in all kinds, so I’m ready for anything.”
And what will Bilodeau do after he retires? “I’m going to finish my studies in accounting finance at the University of Concordia, John Molson School of Business. And it’s going to be many great challenges, opportunities, that we’ll see what life brings me.”
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