Justin Kripps negotiated the Beijing bobsled track dozens of times before he even set foot there.
Because the COVID-19 pandemic delayed preparatory events and training sessions at the new Yanqing Sliding Center for months, the Canadian driver regularly equipped himself with a virtual reality headset to perform his rehearsals .
The Olympic track was inaugurated in 2020, but over the next year only Chinese athletes were able to experience it due to the pandemic. To compensate, the leaders of the bobsleigh and skeleton federations distributed point-of-view videos to international sliders.
Kripps estimates he completed around 250 virtual runs before he and his teammates hit the Yanqing track for a test run last October.
“I memorized the track,” says Kripps.
“I can use (the helmet), go around the track and have a little idea about the turns, their direction, obviously, and the number. It’s seeing the turns in person and negotiating the track on a bobsled that you’ll really realize what you’re going to have to do. But it’s good to get a little insight. »
The need to adapt
Like their compatriots in anticipation of the Tokyo Summer Olympics, postponed from 2020 to 2021, each of the Canadian athletes qualified for Beijing had to adapt and, as a result, perhaps discovered traits of their personality they did not know.
“The pandemic has been a challenge for everyone,” notes Kripps. When I realized how big a deal that would be, I thought of a quote from Darwin, who says it’s not necessarily the strong who survive, but the adaptive. »
Some of these adaptations have become permanent.
Ben Coakwell, Kripps’ teammate on the bobsled team, calculates he spent $15,000 to convert his garage into a gymnasium that served not just his teammates, but also cyclists, soccer players and Calgary area hockey while the training halls were closed in 2020.
“It’s there permanently, that’s for sure. It was an expensive exercise, but on the other hand, I didn’t know what was accessible to athletes from other countries. I couldn’t run the risk of training only with milk cans, illustrates Coakwell.
“Regularly, he adds, I received messages telling me, ‘I heard you have this gym. Would you mind if I practice?’ I said yes to everyone, because I was aware of the importance of having access to it, and the repercussions at that time. »
In better shape
For six months in 2020, Quebecer Mikaël Kingsbury, the reigning Olympic champion in moguls, hardly touched his skis. That didn’t stop him from winning world titles in moguls and dual moguls in 2021.
“I ordered a lot of equipment, and I built myself a very good training room at home. I bought an Olympic trampoline,” said the athlete from Deux-Montagnes.
“My body was in better condition than it has ever been. I can be very effective training alone at home. »
For their part, the members of the long track speed skating team faced two problems: the pandemic, but also a mechanical failure which deprived them of access to the Calgary Olympic Oval from September 2020 to June 2021.
In July, the national team held races for its athletes at the Oval to make up some lost time. This practice could continue, hinted coach Bart Schouten.
“We really wanted to give ourselves an extra day of racing because we didn’t compete that much last year. We feel like it’s something that later on helped sharpen the athletes’ level of focus, Schouten said.
“August and September were more productive because they again realized what it takes to run. It’s something we plan to keep. »
Laurent Dubreuil, a long track specialist, could not count on an oval in his hometown of Lévis, where such a track was under construction, nor in Calgary in 2020-2021.
Because the pandemic had caused the closure of training rooms in Quebec in the spring of 2020, Dubreuil was limited to weighted squats and front lunges in order to strengthen his legs. Nevertheless, he won the world title in the 500 meters and the bronze medal in the 1000 meters the following year.
“The increased emphasis on strength training has been good for me,” said Dubreuil.
“Not being able to skate at all made it difficult during the pandemic, but as I’m a sprinter I couldn’t get on the bike more often. I was doing a lot of strength training and I got a lot stronger. »
