Olympic great Jennifer Heil named chef de mission for Milan-Cortina Winter Games
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A selfless athlete and leader during her moguls skiing career, Jennifer Heil will bring those qualities and others to her role as Canada's chef de mission for the Milan-Cortina Olympics in 2026, the Canadian Olympic Committee announced Tuesday.
As team spokesperson, the native of Spruce Grove, Alta., will also serve as a mentor, supporter and cheerleader with the aim to motivate and inspire athletes while protecting their performance.
"This is a massive honour," Heil told Anastasia Bucsis of CBC Sports. "I have a lot to draw on for the athletes. But I think more than that, I have perspective. And sometimes perspective is lacking as an athlete coming into your Games, which sometimes can be too much and too much pressure.
"I have that experience to release the pressure valve a little bit for the team."
The key position is filled by an athlete who represented Canada on the international scene, particularly multi-sport Games.
Heil inspired her teammates at the 2006 Olympics, winning gold for Canada's first medal in Turin, Italy. She then earned the first medal by a Canadian (silver) four years later in Vancouver at her third and final Games before retiring in 2011 with 58 World Cup podium finishes, including 25 gold.
"I could go for one more Olympic Games," Heil told reporters at the time. "I'm still at the top of my game, but for me I feel it's an important time to build my future. I want to be as successful off the slopes as I have been on the slopes and I feel that time is now."
WATCH | Heil named chef de mission for Milan-Cortina Olympics:
3-time Olympian Jennifer Heil is the chef de mission for Milan-Cortina Games
37 minutes ago
Duration 1:29
Heil's moguls teammate, Alex Bilodeau, won the country's first Olympic gold in Vancouver the day after she climbed the podium.
"She's given me so much and I think a big portion of why I'm here today," Bilodeau said of Heil, an honoured member of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame since 2015. "Definitely she's a legend in our sport."
Somewhat lost from Heil's Olympic medal performance in Vancouver is the fact she opted out of her final pre-Games event to give other Canadians a chance to qualify. She was on a roll, having won four consecutive World Cup events.
Leaves sport on a high
Heil left the sport on a high, capturing gold in moguls and dual moguls at the freestyle world ski championships in 2011. Months later, she was the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award recipient as The Canadian Press female athlete of the year.
At 41, the four-time world championship gold medallist will try to help Canada's athletes achieve their dream next February in Italy.
Heil believes sport is part of her present endeavours and challenges when she relies on grit, emotional control and perseverance.
"I've been retired for a while but don't feel like those lessons have left me," she said. "I think if anything, I've become a better leader.
"I'm excited to rely on what I experienced as an athlete, from being a rookie to being a favourite to having crushing pressure."
In the lead up to Milan Cortina, Heil will attend preparation seminars for athletes and coaches and serve on Games-related committees that finalize team selection and another deciding Canada's flag-bearers for the opening and closing ceremonies.
She will emphasize "joy" being at the forefront of the athlete experience.
"That doesn't mean that we're enjoying the grind of every moment and it doesn't hurt," she said. "But joy has to be a part of it. And there needs to be a lot of resilience. There needs to be a lot of adaptability. There needs to be the ability to turn off the noise."
Heil began skiing at age two and over the course of her amazing career was a five-time overall World Cup champion. Heil fell in love with freestyle as a youngster watching Canadian Jean-Luc Brassard win gold at the 1994 Olympics.
Away from the slopes, Heil supported Plan Canada's "Because I am a Girl" initiative, which ran from 2012 to 2018 and raised millions in its efforts to lift girls around the world out of poverty.
In 2022, Heil graduated from Stanford University Graduate School of Business in California.
She has also been an active contributor to charitable initiatives through her B2ten foundation that provides training and technical support to Canada's aspiring elite athletes.
"She has been an incredible role model and leader," Hall of Fame cross-country skier Beckie Scott told retired CBC Sports host Scott Russell in 2015. "There are many young women out there who can say they were profoundly impacted by Jenn. And for that alone, she can be very proud."
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