Two Morrison medal hopefuls head to Korea
Speedskater Josie can’t wait to enter Olympic stadium with Team Canada
It’s her first Winter Olympics. She carries the weight of being part of a team expected to bring home medals.
But Josie Morrison isn’t worried about how she’ll perform in Pyeongchang next month. At least, not on the ice.
“What I’m most excited for, and what I’m most nervous for to be honest, I’m most nervous that I’ll walk into the opening ceremonies just bawling. Just absolutely bawling,” the 23-year-old Kamloops athlete, who will join Canada’s long track speed-skating team in South Korea, said with a laugh.
“I’m just going to be so happy to be there; that’s been a moment I’ve pictured my whole life. I’ve wanted to get there, I’ve wanted to represent Canada. To know that it’s coming to fruition, and I’m walking in … I’m just nervous that I’ll be crying the whole time, not being able to see what’s happening.”
You can forgive Morrison if we see her crying face when she walks into the Olympic stadium — “It probably leans more toward the ugly side, sadly,” she said with a chuckle — if you account for her history.
This year marks 10 years since her dad Owen Spence suffered a fatal fall from a ladder while hanging Christmas lights at their home. Her husband, Olympian Denny Morrison, has been making headlines for his remarkable story; he nearly died in a motorcycle crash in 2015, then suffered a stroke a year later. She was there for both.
Her triumph at the Olympic trials is tempered by the fact her sister, Tori — who also made the Olympic qualifying standard and finished third in the same race — wasn’t included on the team going to South Korea.
And while the media previously found her notable mostly because of her husband, that changed when she won her first World Cup medal, taking Team Pursuit bronze in Heerenveen, The Netherlands, in November.
It was the first time since 2013 any Canadian women medalled in that event.
“I’m an up-and-comer,” she joked. “I’ve yet to have a wiki page.” She could after these Games. With teammates Ivanie Blondin — who won the first individual World Cup gold in the 3,000 metres by a Canadian woman since 2006 — and Isabelle Weidemann, Canada is a medal threat in these Games.
“I have made huge leaps this year in my individual performance,” Morrison said. “I know I still have a lot to work on, as an individual athlete, but the great thing about being in a team sport is you have teammates to make up for where you’re lacking, and pushing you to be better.
“That’s what I love about going into this Olympics, is that we are stronger together.”
Much like her relationship with Denny Morrison.
The product of Fort St. John, who struck gold in Team Pursuit at the 2010 Games in Vancouver, was in the same crumpled condition as his Yamaha R1 motorcycle in 2015 after a car turned in front of him. Josie helped him recover from injuries that included a bruised heart, ruptured kidney, punctured lung and broken femur.
It was the same a year later when, after completing a three-week, 1,290-kilometre bike trek along the Arizona trail, Denny suffered a carotid artery dissection — a stroke — that landed him in hospital. Josie was the one who noticed the symptoms after they stopped for a rest on the drive back.
“I had given him a cracker, and noticed he couldn’t properly eat it. He had crumbs on his face, drool coming out of his mouth,” she said.
“As we walked further, the more evident it became that something was really wrong. He couldn’t keep his sandal on his left foot, he couldn’t put his left arm through his jacket, his glasses sat on his face lopsided, and that’s when I knew. There were symptoms all through his body of a stroke.
“The whole process was scary, but Denny was still his funny self through the stroke. He continued to crack jokes and make me smile like normal.
“It feels like we’ve been together for a lot longer than we have been,” added Josie, who married Denny on the dock of her mother’s cabin in the Shuswap last May.
“I think it’s because we’ve experienced so much throughout each other’s lives when we were dating. To experience those highs and lows with each other, has made our relationship so strong.
“He does call me his guardian angel, though, which is kind of nice. And super cheesy.”
What I’m most nervous for to be honest, I’m most nervous that I’ll walk into the opening ceremonies just bawling. Just absolutely bawling.