Tuesday, February 12, 2002
Brassard goes out with a wimper
By CHRIS STEVENSON -- SLAM! Sports
DEER VALLEY, Utah - This was not the way Jean-Luc Brassard wanted to go out.
The former Olympic gold-medal winner, competing in his last Olympics, had a
poor landing after his second jump and failed to make it to the final as the
Canadian men's mogul team hit more than its share of bumps Tuesday.
Stephane Rochon of St-Hyppolite, Que., tabbed by many to win the gold, wound
up finishing 15th.
It was left to two unexpected performers to carry the day as Scott Bellavance
of Prince George, B.C., who started the year on the national development
team, finished sixth and Ryan Johnson of Mississauga, Ont., a late
replacement on the Olympic team after Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau broke his
neck last month, finished seventh.
Brassard, one of the classiest acts around, was overcome with emotion when he
was asked what was in his heart.
"I feel like I've just been hit in the face with a baseball bat," said the
29-year-old. "I feel like (Jamie) Sale and (David) Pelletier felt last night,
except I deserved what I got."
Brassard was as upset about the injustice suffered by the Canadian pairs
skaters, who had to settle for a silver medal in a controversial decision
Monday night.
"This was a tough one," said Brassard. "I've been skiing so well in practic,
even this morning. I've been landing the big air at the top (his trademark
Cossack-Iron Cross-Cossack, the JLB). It was a very electric run. I've been
skiing at a level where I could win the gold medal. I had my chance and I
missed."
Brassard's not sure what he's going to do for the immediate future.
"I'm going to wait until spring comes and the girls come out and then I'll
decide."
Rochon lost control about three-quarters of the way into the middle portion
of the run and that caused him to botch his second air.
"I don't know what happened. I was still feeling good after the morning.
Everything was perfect until just before the second air, then I lost my
balance," said Rochon, who is third in the World Cup standings.
"For sure this is disappointing for the Canadian team. We didn't perform the
way we were. We had four coming into the Olympics with good hope. Everybody
was skiing well."
The disappointment of the medal favourites was somewhat offset by the
performances by Bellavance and Johnson.
"To finish sixth is great," said Bellavance, 26. "My goal when I came here
was to put down my best run and I almost did it. I bounced (going into his
second air) and it made me miss my trick. I would have loved to have hit that
one."
Johnson, who said he will quit now to pursue a career dealing with the
environment, goes out on a high note.
"Those are the highest air scores I've ever gotten in my life, two of the
best runs I've ever had in my life, so I'm very happy," he said.
The gold medal went to Finland's Janne Lahtela, the '98 silver medalist who
was coming off a career-threatening knee injury, the silver to American
Travis Mayer, the 19-year-old World Cup rookie and the bronze was won by
France's Richard Gay.
2002 Games Freestyle Skiing Coverage
