Beijing 2022 athletes honored in Montreal

Nicholas Richard
Journalism

The “I’m Going Back to Montreal” event, organized by the Montreal Sports Council on Wednesday evening at Parc Jean Drabeau, was honored with the athletes who made the city shine during the past Games.

Mayor Valerie Plante and President of the Montreal Sports Council Daniel Sauvago received dozens of athletes. All dressed in the company’s red Lululemon uniform, members of the figure skating, hockey, speed skating and free skating teams were warmly praised by guests.

For the skating duo of Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sørensen, the evening was like a second wave of acclaim: “When we came back from the games a few months ago, we were thrilled. After that, it was like a trough where you realize what just happened. After a few Weeks, it looked like nothing had happened,” Sorensen explained.

“It’s nice to have this honor and to have the kind of honor that highlights our journey. Sometimes you forget everything you’ve been through, so it’s really fun,” added Fournier-Beaudry.

The pair finished ninth at the ice dancing event and with everything they’ve been through in the years leading up to the games, they couldn’t be prouder.

The season that just ended was their first full season since 2016-2017. Previously, they skated under the colors of Denmark. When they changed citizenship, they had to wait a year before returning to competition. They finally played half a season with the Canadian team. Then Sorensen injured his knee and had to have surgery. Then came the epidemic.

After the Olympics, they were stunned by the outpouring of love they received. The two skaters still talk about it with affection.

For his part, Sorensen was surprised at how inspiring people were about their journey.

“You never get used to receiving that kind of recognition and it really touches us so much to see the impact we can have on young people. Thanks to the Games, I’ve heard from people I haven’t seen in 10 or 15 years, old friends, who congratulated us on achieving our goal of going to the Olympics.”

The reactions were numerous and generous, but the two athletes are happy to say that they are still the same people, despite the extraordinary feat they have just achieved.

back to reality

Marjorie Lagoy and Zachary Laga represent the future of figure skating in Canada. The two young athletes thoroughly enjoyed their Olympic experience, but soon had to get back to work.

For them, games were a dream. final goal. However, they soon realized that they had to get back to work.

“We started to settle down as soon as we got back on the ice in training. China was great, it was a great experience, but we had to get back to reality quickly,” Laga explained.

However, both players did not hide their happiness and took full advantage of their Olympic stay. This is why getting back to swinging things with this kind of evening is so special: “It’s such an honour, I didn’t expect it at all. The service is excellent, and it’s nice to meet everyone, it’s a great token of appreciation,” said Lagoy.

Fans’ reaction to their comeback surprised them a bit. They never believed that their journey and performances would reach so many people. The duo ended at 13^And in ice dancing, but their real reward was seeing all the support they had.

The same for his partner, who took the time to see the full extent of such success: “This is where we see we have an impact. People remember us.”

The life of an athlete is not easy, and in this type of event they can fully realize their achievements and see that what they managed to achieve is far from trivial.