SPRUCE GROVE — It wasn’t the finish they had all gathered to celebrate, but the hometown fans of Olympic freestyle skier Jennifer Heil were still proud one of their own had brought home Canada’s first medal of the Vancouver Games — even if was just silver.
“It was a great race and, unfortunately, we ended up on the bottom side,” John Badach said in Heil’s hometown of Spruce Grove, Alta., on Saturday night.
“But silver’s still good, I guess.”
Badach was one of many at a local sports bar, which was loud with cheers and cowbells and bright with Canadian flags when Heil, the event favourite, hit the slushy, windy slopes of Cypress Mountain. Those cheers got even louder when Heil’s final run put her on top of the standings.
But the air rushed out of the room when Spruce Grove’s golden girl faded to silver at the last minute when American rival Hannah Kearney edged her off the top spot.
“It’s disappointing,” said bar owner Joe Scalzo. “Knowing Jenn, I know how devastated she is that she didn’t do it.
“But when she thinks back, tomorrow or the next day, (she’ll know) she skied the best she could.”
And Heil can certainly expect the same proud welcome the next time she comes home.
“Same as gold,” said Badach. “She put in a good effort and just wasn’t the best that day.”
Scalzo, whose bar is a well-known gathering spot for local fans to watch Heil’s races, said she is well-liked and well-respected in the community.
His daughter Jessica agreed.
“Jenn is a class act and she represents our town and our province and our country so well,” she said. “She holds herself with such poise, a silver is like a gold.”