A booming voice echoes off the top of Cypress Mountain and rings in Maëlle Ricker’s ears.
“Riders ready!,” yells the race announcer.
Maëlle grabs the handles of the start gate, bends her knees and gets ready to fly.
“You can do this,” she says to herself. “This is your story.”
“Feeling confident is a huge part of getting ready for a big race.”
The race that’s about to start is one of the most thrilling races at the Winter Olympic Games – the snowboard cross. Maëlle and three other women are about to race down a winding, twisting course of jumps, rollers and banked turns…at top speed and at the same time. It’s also been a wet sloppy day and the course conditions aren’t exactly ideal.
“You have to be safe so you make sure you always wear a helmet and the appropriate equipment. You have to respect the mountain, Mother Nature and your competitionbecause the sport can be dangerous.”
Maëlle knows all about that danger first hand because four years before, in Turin, Italy, she crashed near the top of the race. She had hoped to end that race with a medal, but instead she ended it in a hospital with a concussion.
“I made a technical mistake and caught an edge and then crashed on a jump.”
There have been crashes and spills during the qualifying runs for today’s final as well. Maëlle has fallen on the course more than once already in training and in her first qualifying run. Maëlle knows that riding in traffic is a big part of the attraction of this event, for the competitors and the fans.
“You have to work hard, dedicate yourself and train for it. Each of the racers wants to take the fastest way down the hill. It can actually be fun to jostle around out there, and the fans love it as well, but you have to respect each other in that situation. We have an agreement on the course that we won’t cheat, that we won’t bully someone else just to win.”
Cheating could be cutting off another competitor, pushing them or knocking them over. Maëlle knows her competitor’s action is a part of the race she can’t control, or worry about.
“It’s extremely rare that someone would actually cheat. We are like a family in the snowboarding world. But cheating happens and you have to just let it wash off your back. You can’t retaliate. You want to win by being the best, not by being a bully, even to a bully.”
Maëlle certainly feels at her best today.
“Five seconds warning,” yells the announcer.
Maëlle knows the start is hugely important – if you can get out in front, you have a huge advantage – so she has trained every muscle to shoot her body out of the start gate and into the front of the pack.
“That allows you to set your own race. You pick the line you want to follow down the course and you decide how you want to take a turn or a jump. It’s about control, taking control of your race and making your own line down the course.”
Maëlle’s start is perfect and she bursts into the front. Now it doesn’t matter as much what the other boarders do. Maëlle will be the first person into the turns, the first to the jumps, and, if she keeps her body and mind focused and in control, first to the finish line.
“Playing fair is also more fun for everyone because at the end of the race you want the winner to be the best person, the fastest person. That way we also stay friends, not just competitors, and you can be happy if you win or if someone else wins fairly.”
There’s no catching Maëlle this time. She’s both fair and fast and she keeps her line, and leads the race from start to finish. The hometown crowd erupts with a cheer.
“I can’t describe how happy I felt crossing that finish line.”
Winning the race fair and clean just made it even sweeter.
CONNECTING: Building a foundation for new learning
Using Context Clues
As snowboard cross is new to the Olympic Winter Games, the students may not be familiar with Maëlle’s sport. Before introducing the story, offer the following quotes to the students and allow them to analyze and take from the quotes to determine the sport with which Maëlle is associated.
- Maëlle grabs the handles of the start gate, bends her knees and gets ready to fly
- You have to be safe so you make sure you always wear a helmet and the appropriate equipment
- It’s about control, taking control of your race and making your own line down the course
Record the students’ responses and highlight which clues they used to determine the sport. The use of text clues, assists students with making better meaning of text. Have the students read the story of Maëlle and make inferences as to what her strengths, feelings and beliefs are. Get them to record which clues they used to arrive at their ideas.
Watch “Ricker is the best snowboarder” at www.olympischool.ca/podcast
PROCESSING: Using strategies to acquire and use knowledge
Design a Game
Have the students brainstorm a variety of games they like to play. Choose one of their games and discuss what makes the game fair, what safety precautions are needed to ensure everyone is safe and what things students can do to show good sportsmanship.
After the discussion, challenge students to create their own game taking into account the following:
- What are the rules of the game that make the game fair?
- How do you make the game safe (i.e. remove obstacles, use softer equipment etc.)?
- List ways in which the participants can display good sportsmanship.
Review the games and allow the students to teach their game to the rest of the class. Emphasize the importance of respect, fair play and safety. After the game, reflect upon the positives of the game and how it could be modified for more participation and fair play.
TRANSFORMING: Showing understanding in a new way
Case Study
Students create a case study in which they are a judge or official of a sporting event (i.e.
Figure skating judge, hockey referee, etc.). During the game the student observes something
unfair (i.e. use of illegal equipment, poor sportsmanship etc). Students share their case
studies with one or more students and have them answer the following questions.
- What do you perceive to be unfair in the situation?
- What do you feel should have happened in this situation?
- Being the official, how would you handle this particular situation?
Remind students to use particular facts from the case study and to use their own personal experiences when responding to the questions. Challenge the students to identify ways in which they can be increasingly respectful at school, at home and in their local community.
EXTENDING: Making further connections to Olympians
Explore numbers and the Olympic Games by developing numeracy problems from Olympian results and sport specific numbers.
Sample Numeracy Exercise
In order to win the gold medal in Olympic snowboard cross, Maëlle has to compete in five runs.
Her mean time for all five runs is: 45 seconds
Her individual run times are as follows:
| Run Time 1 | 45 s |
| Run Time 2 | 44 s |
| Run Time 3 | 43 s |
| Run Time 4 | 45 s |
| Run Time 5 | ? |
Based on the information above, calculate the fifth run time.