Just before Aidan Mulvihill began to soar through the air on his skis, one thought crossed his mind.
听"As I'm going off the jump, it's like, 鈥業'm gonna land this,'" the 13-year-old recalled. "You can't have any doubt in your mind because then you have that potential to fall."
听"You just wanna be like, 鈥業'm gonna do it 鈥� I'm gonna land it and I'm going to ski away,'" the Brackendale resident continued. "I'm going to stomp it."
听And stomp it he did. Mulvihill was one of several 麻豆社国产skiers who put on medal-winning performances during the B.C. Games in Kamloops from Feb. 22 to 25.
听Mulvihill's performance was something of a highlight, given that he managed to take gold in two events during the tournament.
听Adding to the sweetness of victory was the fact that it was Mulvihill's first time winning gold. So doing it twice in the male under-14 division of the same tournament had a particular significance. In addition to catching first in big air, Mulvihill also took gold in slopestyle.
听Back on the hills, as he was flying over the slopes for the big air event, Mulvihill pulled off a rodeo 540, a move that forces athletes to go spinning through the air at a dizzying pace.
听It was a trick that Mulvihill had practised at least 100 times beforehand on an airbag, then multiple times on snow.
听The 12 hours of practice he put in each week paid off.
听"It was a great experience," said Mulvihill, who trains with the Whistler Blackcomb Freestyle ski club. "It was awesome. So happy."
"When I got called up [to the podium], I was like, 鈥極h my gosh,'" he said.
"He killed it," said Brandon Fritz, one of Mulivhill's coaches. "He did so well."
The process of getting ready for the games started last year.
Trampoline training, including at Squamish's Airhouse, was a significant component of preparing for the competition, Fritz said.
But perhaps more important than any one technique was learning self-direction.
"I really try to gear these guys into... learning how to progress on their own without needing a coach," he said. "They really picked up on that and responded well, and they've really taken a lead in their own skiing."
It was a matter of teaching athletes to use problem-solving skills, Fritz said.
"You give them the dots, and they can connect them," he said.
However, at first, connecting the dots wasn't something that could be done alone. Including Fritz, there were some other coaches who helped prepare the athletes for the B.C. Games.
Mulvihill cited Fritz, Dexter Butterworth, and Tami Bradley as significant influences.
Sara Blais was also part of the coaching team that helped local athletes succeed at the B.C. Games.
And Mulvihill wasn't alone in his accomplishments. There were other big wins at the competition.
Malica Malherbe took two fifth-place finishes in the female under-14 moguls and slopestyle.
Lynnette Conn took second in female under-14 moguls.
Chase Capicik took gold, silver and bronze in female under-14 moguls, big air and slopestyle, respectively.
Owen Scarth placed third in the male under-14 moguls.
Byron Jackson took fourth in the male under-14 moguls.
Dexter McPherson placed in the Top 10 for the male under-14 slopestyle.
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