Curse-slayer Bilodeau stays cool as cucumber

Weight of a nation on his shoulders? Pressure to win first Canadian gold on home soil too much too handle? Nah, not for mogul skier Alexandre Bilodeau.

"There was no pressure!" the 22-year-old shouted after scored Canada's first gold model of the Winter Games on Sunday and allowing a nation to heave a collective sigh of relief.

Bilodeau is Canada's curse-slayer, the young man who did away with a 34-year jinx that kept the country from winning gold at their own Games, first in Montreal in 1976 and then Calgary in 1988.

Sure, chalk it up to his superb technique on the bumps and jumps but it might just be his cool character and ability to have fun in the face of adversity that made the real difference. Just ask coach Dominick Gauthier, who noted his charge's freshness over the past two weeks.

"We have been training on a mountain called Apex and he was cool all week," said Gauthier, a smile stretching from ear to ear.

"He was so relaxed. He organised curling and golf matches. I saw an Alex who was so calm coming here."

Baby-faced Bilodeau does relish the company of his Canadian team mates, who he says are "nice guys" and "fun." He also enjoys skiing everyday with Gauthier's other big talent, Jennifer Heil, the moguls skier who lost the women's gold on Saturday and had to settle for silver in what many called a continuation of the Canadian medal curse.

One of the big reasons Bilodeau remains grounded and keeps things in perspective is that his older brother Frederic suffers from cerebral palsy.

Frederic was in the stands to see his brother win despite a disability that had him slipping and sliding on the snow.

"You learn so much from those people," Bilodeau told reporters. "Everybody could complain, but all you see is a smile on their faces." That makes Bilodeau go training whenever he can, even when it is raining, helping him tame those moguls more every day and head down the steep, slim course with serenity.

Cool on skis, yes, but he might not be so calm and confident when it comes to curling.

"I have got way more respect for those guys in curling," he said. "It's really hard."

VANCOUVER, Reuters