In this time of quarantine, there is only so much that we can do. Eat, sleep, watch television, or go for walks? It's happening to all of us. Even the Olympic athletes.
Aurora native and Canadian Olympic snowboarder Derek Livingston has been watching Netflix, baking sweets with his girlfriend, exercising and walking the dog to keep busy. It all looked so different several months ago, when he was on the top of a mountain, prepared to tip the snowboard from a flat surface on to a thin sheet of snow, with a heck of a view in front of him on the way down.
He had just finished in seventh place in the World Cup in February in Calgary before all sports came to a standstill.
Although he is not supposed to be a part of the summer Olympics this year, Livingston believes it was the right call to postpone the competition.
He told The Auroran from his home in Whistler, British Columbia, “It's a great call and I think that's going to build a lot. It's going to build a lot of the hype leading into the Winter Olympics and, I think, that's going to bring all the media attention in one year. I think it's going to bring a lot more eyes to every sport, especially with this going on.”
Born in Scarborough, Livingston's family moved to Aurora when he was young. The children were sharing rooms in their home in Scarborough, so the family decided it was time for a change, seeking a larger space for everyone to live comfortably.
It was at the age of eight that Livingston and his brother opened their Christmas gifts to find a snowboard packaged inside.
“I didn't even know what snowboarding was,” said Livingston. “That's a funny question, because, I've never really asked them, ‘why did you buy us a snowboard?'”
Seemingly, mom and dad's intuition paid dividends. Livingston's father was into skiing, but he knew how to teach snowboarding to his boys.
It wasn't until the spring when Livingston and his brother went out on the board to practice. The next winter, his parents signed him up for combo classes; a fusion between skiing and snowboarding, at the Alpine Ski Club. The family, including his grandparents and his cousins, were all members there.
Livingston found a group of other riders that were interested in getting better. All of a sudden, snowboarding became fun. He became more and more competitive.
In between the ages of nine and 10, Livingston quit skiing permanently. He joined the Interclub Freestyle Program at the Alpine Ski Club, travelling to other resorts in the area and riding in competitions all around Collingwood.
This was the start of something special.
Livingston began taking on freestyle competitions as far back as 14-years-old. Along with his brother in his teenage years, Livingston helped lead the Aurora High School Snowboarding team to multiple Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) championships.
In 2009, Livingston continued to compete in an immense amount of competitions. He says, he never really finished in podium positions too much, but ranking in the top five at the NorAm circuit in 2009 and competing in Cypress Mountain in B.C and Stoneham in Quebec, earned Livingston and four other riders an opportunity to compete for the national team.
“It was big; it was my coach, Jesse Fulton, who definitely made the national team recognize us.”
Even bigger was the chance to make the Olympics in Vancouver 2010. Unfortunately, he missed the cut. However, he never felt shy to enter more competitions. He seized the opportunity and knew the Olympics was a hairbreadth away.
With another three years of training and FIS Snowboard Championships, he was close. One more qualifier to go before the Olympics and Livingston broke his collarbone.
After riding at Stoneham in the same month, Livingston had qualified for the Sochi Olympics with a few screws and a plate inside of him. The doctor said if he fell the wrong way, he could take the screws right out.
He claimed this added to the nervousness he felt in Sochi aside from the gravity of the competition, with numerous eyes and camera lenses aimed at him.
“I always get nervous butterflies in my stomach and I feel, if you're not nervous, you don't feel really in the zone. You're not present, you're not ready for this event if you're not feeling nervous,” he shared.
He finished in 19th place, best amongst all Canadian riders and one spot shy of the semifinals.
Following another four years in preparation for the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, he was ensconced beneath the cameras and the coverage.
There was nothing that was going to faze Livingston anymore and no broken bones either. He finished 17th.
“I was feeling healthy, I was strong, I was confident and had learned a few tricks I had.”
“I think it showed in my first run I landed a really solid run. One of the better runs I've ever put down. And then, for my second run, I just wanted to go bigger and get more air and clean everything up. But, unfortunately, I think I went a little too big and wasn't able to land my second run.”
Leading up to this year, Livingston had strung together an impressive run of top finishes, including a third-place finish in the Halfpipe World Cup at Mammoth Mountain Resort in the United States.
Now, his sights are set for Beijing 2022 while currently recovering from a foot injury.
“I've got my eyes set on learning some new tricks, getting stronger, getting back to snowboarding 100 per cent and start qualifications. For the Olympics and the next season coming, I'm hoping to go to Beijing.”
Now 29, Livingston is only thinking about Beijing. Once 2022 is finished, there is a lot he wants to consider. Amongst those options is giving back to the game, possibly becoming a coach. Only time will tell what he desires when the moment presents itself.
With regard to snowboarding in Canada, Livingston says there is so much we can do. Especially in schools. As a former OFSAA champion, schools can promote the sport and there are plenty of locations across Ontario to host competitions. The problem is the cost. It's not cheap.
“So, what I feel like what a lot of those schools should do is reach out to those resorts and make a program where people can go away once a month or every two weeks and join the snowboard club.”
He went on to add, that it doesn't have to be within schools. He wants to see snowboarding grow.
By Robert Belardi
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