Parents of Olympians see the Games through two sets of eyes, their own and those of the children living the dream.
That relationship puts the events surrounding competitions in a somewhat different perspective, even the terrible news of a death in the Rochette family.
“I lost my mom coming up on two years ago now,” said Kate Virtue, whose daughter Tessa is the Canadian ice dancer who won a gold medal Monday. “Tessa was very close to her grandmother and when we heard the news about Joannie, it brought it all back for Tessa.
“She and I are really close. I said to Tessa, if anything happened to me, I’d want you to go on and skate. Joannie’s mother is with her. I can’t even explain it. When that luger (Nodar Kumaritashvili) died, that was really emotional for all of us. Coming to the Olympics as the mother of an Olympian, I have a totally different perspective on all of this.
“That boy was someone’s child who had the same dream as your own child.
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“It’s devastating for Joannie, but she is a champion, a strong girl. She will do what she needs to do and her family will be proud of her.”
Therese Rochette, who is Joannie’s mother and Normand’s wife, died early Sunday morning in Vancouver General Hospital after suffering a heart attack. She was 55. Joannie has committed herself to competing at the Olympics — the short program goes today — and Normand is here to support his daughter’s choice.
Everyone around them on the figure-skating team, athletes and parents, is providing backup.
“It definitely has an effect on all of us,” said Joe Moir, father of gold medal winning ice dancer Scott Moir, who skates with Tessa Virtue. “We have a lot of love for Joannie and we’re praying for her. We know she has support for her here. Her mother is supporting her even more now. She has such Olympic spirit and it is just driving her forward. It’s totally awesome to see it in Joannie. She is being a true Olympian.”
Rochette’s story has also touched other Olympians and their families from all over the world. Julie Buckland is a figure skating mom — her son is an Olympian from Britain — and she knows all too well the pain Joannie and her father Normand are feeling.
Buckland’s son made a similar decision three years ago.
“I just know how that family is feeling. I’ve just been there,” said Buckland, whose husband Peter died in 2007 of a heart attack at age 48, just one day before 17-year-old Nicholas was due to compete in the junior nationals in Wales.
“There are no words. You’ve just got to go through it,” Julie said. “But that girl, I’m sure, will skate for her mom. All the people may find it strange if she still wants to skate, but being a mother of a skater in a similar situation, the skating might get that girl through.
“That’s her way of coping with it and it will be a comfort to her, knowing her mom, who was probably with her all the time through her training, and she’d know that her mom will be with her then. She needs to get on with it and do it.”
Buckland heard the sad news Sunday night, shortly before her son was due to compete in the original dance. It brought back a flood of memories.
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