It came as a big surprise for two-time Olympic medallist Jenn Heil to learn something new this summer that made her a better skier.
Heil hopes this “big breakthrough” will lead to a podium performance when the World Cup freestyle skiing season opens Saturday with a moguls event at Ruka, Finland.
“It shocks me this late in my career to still be having big improvements in an area that was already my strength,” Heil, 27, told The Canadian Press in a telephone interview from Finland’s biggest ski resort.
“It’s incredibly surprising. But that’s what is so beautiful about sport.”
Olympic gold medallist Alex Bilodeau is also thrilled to be back on a mountain. It was a whirlwind summer for the 23-year-old from Montreal after he became the first Canadian to win Olympic gold on home soil during the Vancouver Winter Games.
“The only place I find myself the old Alex is on a hill or in the gym,” said the affable Bilodeau. “For me I’m really excited to be on my skis.”
Heil and Bilodeau will lead a 13-member Canadian team at the opening World Cup. Kristi Richards of Summerland, B.C., won last year’s season-opening race in Suomu, Finland.
Heil is a 10-year national team veteran, an Olympic gold medallist, and a five-time World Cup overall champion. So while training in the gym this summer it was a revelation to discover she wasn’t distributing her weight properly on her skis.
Trying to make something highly technical sound simple, Heil explained she was putting too much weight on her downhill ski. The Spruce Grove, Alta., native is now concentrating on shifting some of the weight to her other ski.
“It was one of those things that clicked,” said Heil, who now lives in Montreal and studies business at McGill University.
“I have a lot better control on the snow at higher speeds.”
Heil was the mogul champion at the 2006 Turin Games. In the months leading up to the Vancouver Olympics she was touted as one of the athletes who could become the first Canadian to win gold at home.
With a country holding its breath, Heil finished second.
Strangely, it was easier for Heil to accept the silver medal than deal with the gold she won four years earlier.
“In 2006 I had a huge letdown,” she said. “I wasn’t prepared for it.
“I had been dreaming of winning an Olympic medal since I was nine years old. I remember getting to that stage and then all of a sudden it was over. That was a real shocker having that chapter end. It’s like a good book. It ends and you don’t want it to be over.”
Seeing the excitement the Vancouver Games generated in Canada made Heil thrilled to have won a medal at home.
“To have the chance to be an Olympian at home, that doesn’t come around very often,” she said. “My best moment of my career is standing at the top of the hill, hearing my name announced, and feeling the mountain vibrate.”
Bilodeau said he doesn’t feel any extra pressure being the Olympic champion. He had four podium finishes last season but his only victory was at the Games.
“I have put that (the Olympics) behind me,” he said. “It’s one race. It’s a big race but it’s only one race.
“It doesn’t mean that just because I have an Olympic medal anything will be given to me on Saturday, or the rest of the winter. Every day I’m on the ski hill I want to be the best.”
Heil’s focus this season is on the world championships which will be held at Park City, Utah, in February. She still hasn’t decided if she will compete in her fourth Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
“I haven’t made any decisions,” she said. “I really want to focus on this year.
“One thing I’ve learned is we can’t focus on too many things at once and be successful. I’m pouring everything into this year and then I will evaluate.”
Bilodeau wants to make a statement in his first race of the year.
“I’m on the top of my shape and the top of my skiing,” he said.
“I’m looking to do the best skiing I can on Saturday. I’m expecting a podium for sure.”