Years before snowboarding became an Olympic sport, Malle Ricker dreamed of becoming a five-ring champion.
Her persistence and will to be the best paid off in February 2010 on the slopes at Whistler, not far from her North Vancouver roots, where Ricker made history, winning the snowboard cross event to become the first Canadian woman to win Olympic gold in her home country.
Today at the Northern Sport Centre, Ricker will share her 2010 experience and pass around her medal to a group of winter sport athletes from Prince George at the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame's Hero In You presentation.
Ricker, 32, is a two-time X-Games champion in snowboard cross who also competed in the 1998 Olympics in the snowboard halfpipe, a demonstration event at the time. Her gold-medal triumph came four years after she crashed in the 2006 Olympic final in Turin and finished an agonizing fourth.
"I think the big thing there is taking the good out of something like that," said Ricker. "It's a hard place to be, especially in snowboard cross because it means you did well all day and then you messed up in your last race. That only helped me for the Games in 2010 and that definitely was a huge factor for my success a year ago.
"I want to talk to the kids in P.G. about making goals and ways to reach goals and give them a perspective to look at success, not just results-wise, but different markers that lead up to one of your big outcome goals. I think about when I've heard other athletes speak and the fascinating thing is hearing about their journey along the way."
The 22 local winter sport athletes, aged 12-17, have been selected for PacificSport's Ignite athlete development program, based on their ages, their accomplishments in sport, and the likelihood they will be provincial team members who advance to national and international competitions.
The Ignite group began a 5 1/2-month program last week that features gymnastics training to work on flexibility and body awareness, and sessions focused on running technique and strength training.
"About 50 per cent of them are eligible for the 2015 Canada Winter Games so this is really a good group of kids coming up the ranks," said Kirsten Harrott, general manger of PacificSport Northern B.C.
Ricker's triumphs over adversity and the stories of how B.C. Sports Hall members Harry Jerome (track and field), Rick Hanson (wheelchair athlete), Daniel Igali (wrestling), Doug Hepburn (weightlifting) and Debbie Brill (high jumping) became world-class athletes will be featured in the Hero In You program today at the NSC. Their life lessons are the subjects of an educational program available from the Sports Hall as free downloads to school teachers all over the world.
"I use the stories of these athletes to bring up character traits that are universally appreciated, such as teamwork, courage, creativity, determination and social responsibility," said Michael Markowsky, creative marketing and outreach co-ordinator for the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame.
The Prince George visit is part of the Sports Hall's Live Your Dream 2015 program,a joint venture with 2010 Legacies Now, to encourage kids to get involved in sports now to enhance their chances of competing in the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George.
The B.C. Sports Hall of Fame is also bringing some artifacts it displays at its museum at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver, including one of the 88 torches made for the 1988 Winter Olympics torch parade in Calgary, a pair of speed skates worn by the Canadian Olympic team in 2010, and the bronze medal that Jerome won in the 100-metre sprint at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Tonight at the Coast Inn of the North, Ricker will be the guest speaker at the Fan the Flame dinner, a salute to the athletes, coaches and officials who represented Prince George at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax.
