Richmond parishioner makes rush for gold

Alexa Loo’s sights on Turin

By JEFF GRAHAM

Nobody could ever accuse Alexa Loo of burying her talents. Whether crunching numbers or flying down slopes on her snowboard, the Richmond native is turning heads and making the most of her God-given abilities.

The parishioner of St. Joseph the Worker Parish will be watched by the world when on Feb. 23 she competes for her country in the parallel giant slalom at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

The accountant turned world-class snowboarder said she has done everything in her power to develop her ability to rocket down the slopes, and explained that the parable of the buried talents has inspired her to great heights along the way.

"If you’re given a bit of talent, you should do everything you can with it," she said. "Whenever I’m having a bad day I think about that parable, and I find the spark that it takes to get the last run or the last few repetitions done."

"There are so many days when there’s a howling blizzard and the last thing you want to do is get out there."

The countless hours of training have paid off in spades; Loo is peaking at just the right time, placing third at the World Cup in Kronplatz, Italy, on Jan. 15. It was the first time Loo had finished on the podium for an event, and her performance was a revelation to those who have been following her career.

"It was my first podium ever, and it was a really big breakthrough for me," she said. "I won the qualification for the event and people said, ‘What have they been feeding this poor girl.’"

"I had been riding well, and I had felt that I would be able to make that breakthrough, it was my first time making it to the final round, the final four," she said.

"I was focused and I was there to do a job. It was wonderful. With the Olympics around the corner this was a big confidence boost. It was my last World Cup before the Games and it was great to be on the podium and be re-assured that I can compete at that level. I think I can repeat this performance at the Olympics."

Loo is a somewhat late bloomer. She didn’t take up snowboarding until she was 15 and didn’t start doing it competitively until she had graduated from UBC in 1994 with a bachelor of commerce degree.

Despite the late start, it was obvious that Loo had some serious talent for racing a snowboard, and she began training full time. Loo and her teammates, who are now training at Mount Tremblant in Quebec, have kicked their full-time training regimen into high gear in preparation for the games.

"We are going pretty hard right now because we have lots of time leading up to the event," she said with just over two weeks left to go. "Even after you practise all day you stretch, have something to eat, and squeeze in a physio appointment."

Somehow Loo also manages to squeeze in work as a chartered accountant for the firm Meyers, Norris, and Penny, and serves as the athlete representative to the International Ski Federation and as treasurer on the board of Athletes Canada.

"I have a flexible work arrangement," she understated. "I mainly do promotional work for the firm."

Loo also explained that while she is excited about the Olympics, she is not looking too far ahead.

"You have to look ahead but not too far ahead; you have to look at the finish line, but not miss the bump in front of you," she said. "I’m just looking at each step of the process as I go."

By all indications Loo is enjoying the ride, and is thankful for the opportunity to live out her Olympic dream, while being surrounded by beautiful scenery every day.

"You can’t help but give thanks when you’re up there. I thank God because it’s so beautiful."

"Those epiphanies come so often in a day."

Loo also tells a funny story about an incident where an epiphany managed to get her lost.

"I was in Slovenia, which is close to the Italian border," she said. "I was listening to Radio Maria, which is all Catholic, all the time."

"They started saying the Rosary on air, and I got into kind of a trance while listening to it, and I missed the turn to the ski hill."

Although Loo may not be expert at saying the Rosary in Italian while driving a car, she is thankful for the prayers and support of others, especially her mother Toni and father Charlie, as well as her brother Charlie Jr. and sister Nancy, who will all be in Turin to cheer her on.

"My mother has sent me a couple of e-mails saying that she’s praying for me," she said.

Loo also believes she has the support of a special intercessor in heaven.

"My mother’s father, Louis Morin, died before I was a twinkle, but it was my grandfather’s dream to have one of his children compete in the Olympics."

On Feb. 23 that dream will be reality.