Dufour-Lapointe’s Olympic silver feels like gold
PYEONCHANG, Korea, Republic Of Justine Dufour-Lapointe was anything but disappointed after losing her Olympic moguls title Sunday at the Pyeongchang Winter Games..
On the contrary, she believes her silver medal is worth more than the gold she won at the ‘14 Sochi Games.
In the middle of a snowstorm, the youngest of the Dufour-Lapointe sisters made a quick and aggressive run to earn 78.56 points in the super-final. France’s Perrine Laffont captured the gold with 78.65 points.
Kazakhstan’s Yulia Galysheva won the bronze with 77.40 points.
“I feel like I’ve given everything I could,” said the emotional 23year-old Canadian. “I gave my heart, my fire and the passion for my sport. “I skied like a real tigress.” The nine-hundredths gap that separated her from a second consecutive gold medal — which would’ve tied Dufour-Lapointe with Alexandre Bilodeau as the only ones to have successfully defended an Olympic moguls title (2010-2014) — didn’t seem to bother her.
In fact, the presence of her mother at the base of the slope was a victory in itself since only a year ago, Johane Dufour-Lapointe was sharing her cancer diagnosis with her daughters.
She is currently in remission, and will undergo a new series of tests upon her return home.
“I’m prouder of this medal than gold in Sochi, because I worked even harder to get there,” Justine Dufour-Lapointe said. “This was one of the most difficult years of my life, so no, I don’t want to be disappointed.
“This silver medal is worth more than that, it’s gold for me.”
The competition was especially difficult considering the heavy snow, which worsened as the evening progressed. As a result of the reduced visibility, super-final organizers decided to add a tree to the track to help participants find their bearings.