We were fortunate to have a quick chat with Lorraine Lamoureux, the mother of Canadian snowboarder Justin Lamoureux. Justin competed in the Men's Snowboarding Half Pipe this year, finishing seventh overall. Both Lorraine and Justin were very happy with the seventh place result. Justin had actually competed in the previous Winter Olympics in Torino but failed to make it past the qualification round. According to Lorraine he was very thrilled with how he finished this time around.
It's been a great road to success for Justin, who decided upon the completion of university that he wanted to go into competitive snowboarding. Lorraine was pretty honest with her feelings at that time, laughing that her initial response to Justin was something along the lines of, "Are you mad??"
Justin has competed ever since university though, referring to his snowboarding as 'going to work'. And clearly it has paid off with great success over the past eight years, making the Canadian roster for the last two Winter Olympic Games. And he comes to Vancouver very composed, calm and relaxed - just not that worried about the pressures of the 2010 Winter Games being hosted here in Canada.
Lorraine is very appreciative of everything done for the Canadian Olympic families at the 2010 Winter Games. When she made the trip to Torino, there were not nearly as many options for the Canadian families to get together. Canada House was around, but nothing like the this year, including a hotel for the Canadian families, transportation and, most importantly, the ability to meet a lot of the families of Justin's friends.
Lorraine is very happy with her son's result, the setup in Vancouver and appears to have really had a great time overall with her Olympic experience. Whether Justin continues on with competitive snowboarding or moves on to other avenues, Canadians are proud of his accomplishment this year and wish him nothing but the best. Many thanks to Lorraine and the Lamoureuxs for the chat! Hopefully the rest of your time in Vancouver went just as well.
Photo Credit: ctvolympics.ca
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