Honestly I’m so at peace. I crossed that finish line and I looked back up at the course, and I just had a deep breath and I almost thanked the course and thanked that sport, and I felt ready. Of course I’m gonna miss it, I mean… I’m gonna miss those guys, I’m gonna miss having that opportunity to chase that one specific dream, to put all that work into testing my limits… I think I’m gonna be able to do that off the slopes. It’s a time of great change for me right now, but there’s gonna be a lot of discovery that I haven’t had in a long time. I’ve been having a very specific routine for a decade, and now, yeah, the world’s mine to discover, and test myself in so many different ways. I don’t need to know what those ways are gonna be yet. I know I’m gonna be tested and I look forward to it, because I’m gonna be building new skills and new adventures.

I am involved with the future of sports already with B2Ten and there’s really exciting things going on right now, and I’m gonna continue to be implicated in that as I already am. And one of my projects is the development of using sports to get kids healthy and active. That’s one of my passions. I know I’m not gonna get really far. Sports is my passion and I’ll be around. Whether it’s on a voluntary basis or whatever, I will be here.

When I first arrived I was the youngest by almost a decade, and then I took a year off, and then the following year I was the most experienced. When I came back in 2004 I was the only one who had ever been to an Olympic Games and who had that experience, so from that moment I think that something changed. It’s been a lot of fun the last couple of years with the new generation. And I think if the sport wasn’t in such good hands right now I‘d be very disappointed and very sad to leave, but I’m so excited for them. They have all the tools they need, it’s obviously very clear that they’re already winning, so it’s been really fun sharing my knowledge and getting to know these guys. I’ll just be supporting them from the sidelines now. Honestly it feels good, I’m really excited for them, I really hope that they can sweep that podium on the women side. When I came in I was the only woman winning consistently, the only woman on the podium for two years, and now, you know, there are so many different girls within the team and that’s really cool to see.

No I didn’t, I really didn’t. And I think that’s why when I came back I was probably able to win that much, because it wasn’t my priority. Of course I measured my success based on medals, that’s the measurement of success, but at the end of the day it was always about pushing my limits and focusing on the joy, and I don’t think I could have been that successful had I not had that focus. It’s great now that it’s all over to have had the success I had, but I measure my success in my effort, I measure my success on leaving nothing on the table, and standing on those start gates in 2006 and 2010 having no regrets… That’s how I measure my success.

Start line 2010. It was a personal satisfaction, it was an incredible challenge just to get ready, to be in the right mental space to perform in Vancouver, and it only got better as soon as they announced my name. I swear it’s like the mountain vibrated, and… I mean… just to be in that position, it was pure luck, you know, the Olympics coming to Canada, I was there, I got to experience that, I got to experience the support of the Canadians in going after my dream, and… yes, it was the most moving thing I’ve ever felt…