Squamish's Ma毛lle Ricker says she's confident and raring to defend the gold medal she won in snowboard cross at the 2010 Winter Olympics, despite having suffered a compound fracture of her left forearm while training in Colorado on Jan. 28.
Ricker, whose competition at the 2014 Sochi Games goes down on Sunday, Feb. 16, said in a conference call with Canadian media on Feb. 5 that while she expects the surgically repaired arm will be painful, all her training and mental preparation will stand her in good stead when she pulls out of the gate for her first preliminary-round heat.
I'm hoping that everything will go like a usual competition, Ricker said. I've spent a lot of time visually preparing and I have a feeling that all that preparation will just take over once things get started.
Ricker, 35, was asked whether the Sochi Games might be her competition swan song.
I've spent a lot of time thinking about that question, but I haven't made any decisions yet, she replied.
Ricker's history of having competed successfully after serious injury suggests her statements aren't just idle bravado.
In 2011, she suffered a broken left hand during the Snowboard World Championships in Spain on Jan. 18. Most didn't expect her to compete at the long-running Legendary Banked Slalom at Mount Baker, Wash., on Feb. 14.
Instead, with plates and screws having been surgically implanted in the hand, Ricker not only showed up but captured her fifth straight roll of golden duct tape appropriate given her condition awarded to the Mount Baker race's winner.
Instead, with plates and screws having been surgically implanted in the hand, Ricker not only showed up but captured her fifth straight roll of golden duct tape appropriate given her condition awarded to the Mount Baker race's winner.
Said Ricker, cheekily, I have raced before in not completely ideal situations and still been able to focus and have good runs. I'm going to add this [latest injury] to my little bag of tricks and use that to my advantage.
Ricker, who qualified for the Sochi Games last season, said she expects her main competition to come from Canadian teammate Dominique Maltais, American Lindsey Jacobellis and the Czech Republic's Eva Samkova, who are 1-2-3 in this year's World Cup standings.
She said she has felt spoiled to have had amazing medical and physiotherapy care since last month's injury. She said the arm was feeling stronger and more stable by the day and that fortunately, it won't prevent her from gripping the handlebars in the starting gate.
I definitely always drank a lot of milk growing up and I have quite stubborn bones, just like my personality, she said with a laugh.
However, she added, I'd be lying if I said [the injury] won't be in the back of my mind. I'm hoping that everything will go like a usual competition.
Her first time on snow since the injury will be the first training day for snowboard cross on Friday (Feb. 14), but she said she doesn't expect the layoff will affect her ability to compete.
The injury gave her a week to return home to 麻豆社国产and feel the love and support from her hometown heading into the Games.
Aside from all the time she's spent doing physio on the arm, Ricker said, I've been wandering around in the coffee shops [in Squamish] a little bit and I've had amazing support from everyone in town, as well as from the medical support staff.
