FACES OF WHISTLER
GEARING UP FOR THE GAMES
MEMORIES OF THE 2010 OLYMPIC GAMES IN WHISTLER STILL RESONATE WITH LOCAL ATHLETES STORY BY BRADEN D UP UIS
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ABOVE: MARIELLE THOMPSON WINS THE OVERALL SKI CROSS WORLD CUP IN LA PLAGNE, FRANCE.
MARIELLE THOMPSON
LOGAN SWAYZE
PENTAPHOTO
alking to some of the current crop of elite Whistler athletes, there’s a clear common denominator. Whatever sport they excel at, they all point to the 2010 Games in their hometown as the catalyst that pushed them to the next level. “Being able to watch people I grew up looking up to, like Ashleigh McIvor or Mercedes [Nicoll], or Mike and Britt Janyk, watching them compete in person, and having them do so well, you kind of realized, ‘Well, if that person can win Olympic gold, maybe I can do that someday,’” says ski-cross racer MARIELLE THOMPSON. “It makes it a bit closer.” Now 29 years old, Thompson was just 18 when the 2010 Games illuminated her hometown. Four years later, she realized her own Olympic dream, taking gold at the Games in Sochi, Russia. Just four months before the 2018 Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, Thompson ruptured her ACL and MCL in a training run in Switzerland, and looked like she might miss her chance at a repeat. But, an innovative surgical procedure and an intense rehab regimen allowed her to line up in the starting gate to defend her gold. Her 17th place finish wasn’t the result she wanted, but the experience of her second Games alone was invaluable. >>
