Olympian home to greet fans
Turnbull gets big welcome at Pictou County Wellness Centre
Her silver medal dangling around her neck, Canadian Olympian Blayre Turnbull greeted hockey fans at the Pictou County Wellness Centre on Tuesday.
“It’s special — the support Pictou County has shown since I’ve made the team,” Turnbull said during a brief interview, just after she dropped the puck during a pre-game ceremony at the Pictou County Crushers/Truro Bearcats game.
“It’s something I’m really proud of, and I’m proud to be from Stellarton and Pictou County.”
Turnbull arrived back home Monday after a long trip from South Korea, where she and her Team Canada mates lost a heartbreaking gold-medal game against the rival U.S. on Feb. 22.
“We were just happy to be able to welcome her home, and give her a chance to say hello to the community,” said PCWC general manager Dave Hood, noting the lineup of autograph-seekers at the PCWC lobby included a healthy number of female minor hockey players. “It was nice to see the young female players, who know what she’s accomplished and will be looking up to her for years to come.”
Turnbull, 24, said she took a lot of memories away from the Winter Olympics experience.
“The memories, and the group of girls I got to be teammates (with) for the past season (and) meeting a bunch of other athletes and how the country got behind us cheered us on and supported us the whole way.”
When they weren’t practising or playing games in Pyeongchang, Turnbull and her teammates cheered on other Canadian athletes.
“We saw some figure skating, saw Tessa (Virtue) and Scott (Moir) win gold,” in ice dancing.
“We saw Kaitlyn Osmond win a bronze medal and the men’s hockey team win bronze. We got to see a bunch of other events, too. It was a great experience for us.”
It’s a bit too soon for Turnbull to start thinking about four years down the road and the 2022 Winter Olympics.
“I want to get back for another chance to win (gold),” she said. “But that’s something that’s a long ways off and I really haven’t had a chance to sit down and seriously think about it yet, so that’s something I’ll do in the next few weeks, after this whirlwind of excitement is all over.”
She said it isn’t easy to put into words the disappointment Canada felt when they lost to the U.S.
“We put in the work, and I thought we deserved to win but at the end of the day, we got a silver medal and it’s something we should be proud of.”