Father time finally catches up to Canada’s Ricker
‘ My body just knows it’s time,’ says 2010 Olympic gold medallist
It seemed for the longest time that Maelle Ricker would become the Bionic Woman of Snowboardcross.
She would take the tricky inside line in the banked turn and swoosh! right by Father Time. Again and again.
Through eight knee surgeries — or was it nine, or 10, she has lost count, a broken wrist, a broken forearm, nerve issues in her shoulder and a severe concussion — she was still competitive into her mid- 30s.
But the veteran queen of the rollers and the big jumps, the hometown girl who won Olympic gold in virtually her own backyard in 2010 at Cypress, has finally had to call it quits after nearly two decades on the national team.
The wonky right knee, on which she had arthroscopic surgery in February, just isn’t strong enough.
“It really clicked when we got back on snow in Chile in late August and September ( for pre- season training),” Ricker, who turns 37 in a month, said on Tuesday.
“It was my first return back onto snow after a long, long period of rehab.
“I’m no stranger to injury and getting back out there, but this time it was different. I just knew. My body just knows it’s time.”
But it was more than just the physical red light.
The mental caution light was blinking as well.
As stubborn as they come, Ricker had believed throughout the summer of rehab that she would return to the World Cup circuit.
It’s like clock work that process, she says “daunting, but in some ways, so comfortable for me. I really enjoy it.”
Yet, when the knee wasn’t up to the battle in Chile, Ricker felt the mental fight start to wane as well.
“It was just that this time, more so than other times, I was missing that fire that I know is needed to get out in front.
“And I always promised myself that if I knew I didn’t have that fire and the feeling to give it 100 per cent, to walk the fine line, to be in contention and be on the podium ...
“Mental toughness, as we know, is such a huge component of this sport.”
Ricker’s brilliant 100- watt smile and infectious giggle belied a mental toughness that was legendary. She had a greater pain threshold than an NHL tough guy.
In early 2014, three weeks before she was to defend her gold medal at Sochi, she broke her left forearm in a training run at X Games.
But after working tirelessly in the gym with the physio staff, and wearing a splint that allowed her to push out of the start gate, she managed to qualify for heat racing and finished 21st.
Her gold in 2010 was special, she says, “but most of the highlights come from the tough times ... and the journey along the way. That time trial run in Sochi was one of the biggest accomplishments of my career, one of the hardest runs I ever had to do.
“And I think back to some of the big training days we had, those days up on the hill riding from dawn to dusk. Those are the times that were most exciting.”
As for the win at Cypress in front of a wildly supportive home crowd, it’s not crossing the finish line first, or hearing O Canada from the medal podium that she remembers the most, but the preparation in the start gate.
“The positioning of my hands on the grip, the routine I do, of having every fibre, every muscle ready to pull out of the gate. That’s what gives me the shivers the most, that memory more so than other.”
Ricker began as a halfpipe competitor, finishing fifth at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, and did the two disciplines until 2007.
She won 16 times on the World Cup circuit, captured two Crystal Globes as the season- long winner in SBX and another for snowboard overall.
She also won a FIS world championship in SBX at Stoneham, Que., in 2013.
“Definitely huge mixed emotions,” she says of retirement. “I think it changes by the minute — very excited and elated and looking forward to the next step. Then at other moments, my eyes fill up with tears. I’m having a hard time letting go.
“Almost 20 years, over half my life.”
She is one of the rare athletes who never tired of the travel and the World Cup grind.
She’ll stay involved with the national team this coming season while “figuring out a way I can pass along my experience in a way that’s going to be really helpful.”
So is that coaching?
“It’s not defined. It’s going to be a growing relationship ... an experimental year to find out where I can make a difference.”