Mike Riddle is now back home in B.C. after winning a silver medal in men’s ski halfpipe at the Olympic Games in Sochi, where the sport made its debut.
He joined Jill Krop on Unfiltered to talk about his experience at the Games.
He said being a medal winner still hasn’t really sunk in, but he’s had a hero’s welcome since returning to Canada.
“I think the Olympics is just a whole other ball game,” he said.
“The whole country gets behind you, it’s really cool to see how many people just get excited about it, it’s a whole other level than anything I’ve been involved with. It’s pretty amazing.”
Riddle, who has been competing professionally for the past seven years, said he could feel the support from Canadians all the way over in Russia.
“My phone was going off with Twitter,” he said. “Even though I didn’t have my phone on I was getting that through Wi-Fi.”
Riddle’s second run in the competition was better than his first. He said he tried something new he had never tried in competition before, and lucky for him, it paid off.
“What got me into this sport, was my family first and foremost,” he said. “My dad was a big skier in the 70s.”
Sarah Burke, who passed away in 2012, was a friend of Riddle’s, and she was instrumental in getting this sport added to the Olympic schedule. Riddle was part of a group that scattered her ashes beside the Olympic rings in the village.
“It was really cool to have her there with us,” he said.
- ‘I thought this is it’: B.C. man’s dashcam captures dump truck falling onto his car
- B.C. announces 670 subsidized units in next phase of rental housing plan
- Closing arguments begin in B.C. trial of man accused of driving into residential school march
- Soccer superstar Lionel Messi to miss Saturday match vs. Vancouver Whitecaps
Comments