Early one morning during our hectic 2010 Winter Games tour I squeezed in a phone call to Roc Spence who is the father of Canadian alpine athlete Brad Spence; Roc works ski crew with my friend Ted. He has worked for 10 days as a volunteer at Whistler and is a National Technical Delegate – a big deal in the Ski Race Crew world. This heavy involvement in Ski Racing has had a huge positive benefit in Brad’s development as an Olympian. Roc is also a Volunteer Director of the Calgary Stampede.
Brad loved to play hockey and like most Canadian boys wanted to be a hockey player when he grew up. But Brad’s older brother was already into skiing as was the rest of the family so it was easier for all of them to concentrate on skiing as a family unit. This sounds similar to the Bilodeau’s story – skiing as an inclusive family sport.
He knew something was special about Brad as an alpine racer when he was 6 years old in the Nancy Green Ski League. At the end of the season the coach had a contest to see who could go the fastest off a jump. “Brad took the jump at Mach 1 and broke both his wrists – but the only thing he wanted to know was if he won – and yes, he did win the prize - shiny new green Bolle goggles.” Roc thought they still had the goggles somewhere in storage.
Bradley started as a downhiller with the family growing up and racing at Panorama. He had early success on the NorAm circuit in Downhill, GS and Slalom. He graduated to the World Cup circuit in 2004.
His early wrist breaks were not the last bones that Brad would break. Roc shared the story of the accident and leg injury at Bormio in the last Downhill World Cup race before the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino – which he unfortunately missed.
The crash shattered his leg - fracture of his tibia/fibula, torn ACL and MCL ligaments, and a fracture of his femur and he suffers from permanent nerve damage to his right foot. He required three separate surgeries involving thirteen incisions, and titanium hardware – WOW that hurts me just to think about it.
During this time he had to undergo intensive rehab just to walk again. Roc talked about “great determination and outlook that makes him a focused Olympian”. After three years away from competitive ski racing, he was good to compete again in December of 2008. He decided to pass on downhill for now and stick to the lower speed technical disciplines of slalom and giant slalom. In his first race back he started 56th and finished 13th in the NorAm race; he finished 3rd in his next race and by the end of the season, Brad had showed his strengths and achieved his goals of winning the slalom and GS Nor-Am titles.
After he is done competitive racing, Brad is considering a career in financial services and has a good start on this as an RBC Olympian who also helped with the Torch Relay.
At the end of our interview, Roc wanted to comment about the Petro-Canada Athlete Family Program. Because of Brad’s injuries they were not sure he would make it to the Games and did not have their names in for tickets. After Brad healed and was Vancouver-bound, Roc’s primary way to get to the games was as Ski Race Crew; however his shift was during the first week of the Games – 10 days before Brad’s races. Roc thought he was going to have to miss Brad’s appearance in the Slalom on Saturday. But thanks to Petro-Canada, Roc and his wife Laura will be able to come back and be there for Brad when he races. He said, “I am telling everyone who will listen, what an unbelievable relief it is to know we will be there and how thankful we are to Petro-Canada.”
Brad finished 32nd in the GS on Tuesday and will ski for Canada in the Slalom on Saturday – I will be clanging my cowbell for him all the way from Aurora! His best finish so far in his career was a 12th in the demanding Kitzbuehel Slalom on Jan 24 just before the games. Maybe he will peak for a medal?
Brad’s persistence and great mental preparation has helped him make it this far. He is only 25 years and Roc believes that he will be around in 4 years at Sochi as one of the new leaders of the Canadian Alpine Team.
Good Luck Brad!
Photo Credits: Calgary Stampede and Brad-Spence.ca
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