The Whistler Podcast

Episode 8: Team Canada (with Mercedes Nicoll)

February 12, 2020 Mayor Jack Crompton with special guest Mercedes Nicoll Season 1 Episode 8
The Whistler Podcast
Episode 8: Team Canada (with Mercedes Nicoll)
Show Notes Transcript

Our guest on episode 8 of The Whistler Podcast, Mercedes Nicoll, is a 4-time Olympian competing in Turin in 2006, Vancouver in 2010, Sochi in 2014 and PyeongChang in 2018. Mayor Crompton and Mercedes kick off the podcast by discussing her role with Team Canada at the recently held Youth Olympics and together they recognize all of the incredible local athletes that competed. On the second part of the podcast, Mercedes shares stories about how her Olympic dream was born, what it takes to qualify for the Olympic Games and reminisces about that time she shared an elevator with Team Canada’s Sydney Crosby.

Mercedes Nicoll:   0:02
The Whistler podcast. Candid conversations about everything Whistler.  With host, Mayor Jack Crompton.

Mayor Crompton:   0:08
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Whistler podcast. Thanks for joining us. I'm Jack Crompton. As always, we acknowledge that we live, work, and play on the traditional territory of the Lil'wat Nation and the Squamish Nation. And I want to thank Mountain FM for having us in their studio. Today, I am joined by Mercedes Nicoll. Thank you for joining us, Mercedes.

Mercedes Nicoll:   0:28
Thank you for having me.

Mayor Crompton:   0:29
You've been representing... you've been representing Canada and you represented Canada in the 2010 Olympics. I–as we were preparing, learned that you're a four time Olympian.

Mercedes Nicoll:   0:40
Yes.

Mayor Crompton:   0:40
Which was disappointing, because I had always talked about you as a five time Olympian. 

Mercedes Nicoll:   0:44
I'll take it.

Mayor Crompton:   0:44
You will? Okay! All right, Which one do you want to add?

Mercedes Nicoll:   0:47
I am a four time Olympian, but I just got back from the Olympics as mission team staff, so I don't know what that considers me.

Mayor Crompton:   0:53
I think that counts. We'll call that five. Right on. We're going to start with Whistler news, as we always do. And we want to talk first about those Games because there was a bunch of Whistler kids that were involved in that. Were you the chef de mission for that team in Lausanne?

Mercedes Nicoll:   1:13
It was an interesting Games because I was in St. Moritz with the sliders and the games were in Lausanne.  

Mayor Crompton:   1:18
Okay.

Mercedes Nicoll:   1:19
So we had a chef de mission, which was Annamay Oldershaw, who was based in Lausanne and came up to Switzerland–came over to S. Moritz a couple days–but I was sort of the team manager, director for the team that was at the satellite village in St. Moritz.

Mayor Crompton:   1:33
Okay, and so that's bobsleigh, luge, skeleton.  

Mercedes Nicoll:   1:37
Yes.

Mayor Crompton:   1:37
And it was all on a natural track?

Mercedes Nicoll:   1:41
Yes, so that track is made fresh every year from a group of Italians that come to St. Moritz and build this bobsled track and luge isn't really ever, um, a thing that happens there. So this was special for the kids.

Mayor Crompton:   1:56
So it's made every year. It's bobsleighed on by the best in the world–like that's where the St. Moritz events are for if the Olympicss were ever in St. Moritz–that's where they would happen on this natural track.

Mercedes Nicoll:   2:09
Exactly. And we just had our Canadian team bob four win gold there at the World Cup.

Mayor Crompton:   2:16
Oh, so the World Cup?  

Mercedes Nicoll:   2:17
Yeah, it just happened.  

Mayor Crompton:   2:18
Okay. All right. So how long does it take to build?

Mercedes Nicoll:   2:21
That's a great question.

Mayor Crompton:   2:22
You don't know. I saw the footage of them building it, and it's basically snow and water.

Mercedes Nicoll:   2:28
Oh, yeah.  That thing is like...that's not going anywhere. It's firm.

Mayor Crompton:   2:32
That's interesting. So, um, you had Whistlerite Caitlin Nash there  with you. Uh, what's the demographic of the kids that are on the Canadian team that you were over there with?

Mercedes Nicoll:   2:44
Yes. So they're aged from around 15 to 17. And I had seven athletes there, three of which were luge, and they were all girls, and Caitlin and Natalie were both there–they were the doubles– and they end up getting silver. And I always say that the Olympics, even if there the youth Olympics are an emotional roller coaster, and those girls went through an emotional roller coaster and it was just great to be there for them at the finish.

Mayor Crompton:   3:11
And what's the role? Is the role to support them in their sport. You're not a coach?

Mercedes Nicoll:   3:18
I'm not a coach.

Mayor Crompton:   3:18
So what's your role there?

Mercedes Nicoll:   3:19
They have their own coach there. I'm there to support the coaches and pass on any information that they needed. Um, also in a mentor sense. So I've gone to past Olympics. I know what the expectations are, and I constantly reminded them that they were representing Canada. It's a totally different ball game when you're at an Olympics compared to any World Cup or anything else. You really understand what it is to represent your country.

Mayor Crompton:   3:45
Yeah, you had told me a story about going to Athens and participating in, what is it? 

Mercedes Nicoll:   3:54
The International Olympic Academy.

Mayor Crompton:   3:56
Okay. And so is that schooling that you get applied in a scenario like this?

Mercedes Nicoll:   4:01
No, not at all.

Mayor Crompton:   4:03
All right. Well, then where is it applied?

Mercedes Nicoll:   4:05
That is applied again by the mentors that Team Canada, the Canadian Olympic Committee, put forward, um, and you learn about what it is to represent Canada. I mean, I learned what it was at my first Olympics when I crashed and I had mentors there, and I was like, 'of course I have to go again'. And you have to remember that each athlete is wearing specific clothing to their country, and that's something that maybe we take for granted as as people that don't know much about the Games. Um, they have to wear one piece of clothing at least that represents, that's the Team Canada kit. And I'll have to remind them of that and to wear it properly, again because you're representing Team Canada. 

Mayor Crompton:   4:45
It's like your mom putting on the 'wear your hat and gloves'...

Mercedes Nicoll:   4:50
I am!

Mayor Crompton:   4:50
Putting on a toque as someone walks out the door.

Mercedes Nicoll:   4:52
I totally was, and there's  specific podium wear that they have to put on. So you have to be prepared if the athletes are going to get on the podium and have the outerwear there.

Mayor Crompton:   5:01
Um and did you get over to Lausanne at all or did you stay in...

Mercedes Nicoll:   5:04
I did, I made it for the closing ceremonies, so I got to see the whole like vortex that was built there for the athletes. Um, I got to partake in the closing ceremonies and meet the athletes that were down there in wave two. At these games. It was different. There were two separate waves that came in. That's never really happened at the games before. So wave one, the athletes came, they had opening ceremonies and then they left. Wave to the athletes came and they competed and had closing ceremonies.

Mayor Crompton:   5:32
Okay, Juliette Pelchat, was she there?   

Mercedes Nicoll:   5:35
She was there were. What time was her events? One in the morning. We were all up huddled around our computers watching her compete. It was amazing to see a bunch of Whistler kids on the international stage like that.

Mercedes Nicoll:   5:50
Yeah, I was just talking with Feet Banks. He's like, 'What is it that makes Whistler like breed Olympians?' and I honestly, it's just our lifestyle.

Mayor Crompton:   5:58
Yeah, well it's days on the hill.

Mercedes Nicoll:   6:00
It's that, but it's also like we strive to do better. And we challenge ourselves all the time.

Mayor Crompton:   6:06
Yeah, and I think it comes from a deep place of joy of being up there, too. We just love being in the mountains and participating in these sports. They're such a big deal to us.

Mercedes Nicoll:   6:16
I like to say that that's my therapy.

Mayor Crompton:   6:18
You'd have to love it to put as much time and energy into it as you have.

Mercedes Nicoll:   6:24
Exactly.

Mayor Crompton:   6:24
Any takeaways from those games?

Mercedes Nicoll:   6:27
Oh, I could just say that it was so nice to be on the other side of the Games. I was a little concerned before I left what it was gonna be like not being an athlete. And it was a lot less stressful because the Games when your're competing is like the most stressful time in your life as an athlete. So it was, it was an amazing opportunity. Great to hang out with the kids, and hopefully they gotta take away from having a mentor there as well.

Mayor Crompton:   6:52
So the results from the Youth Olympics: freestyle Whistler grad Steven Kepner took eighth place in half Pipe and a 26th place in slopestyle. Snowboard Juliette Pelchat took a 19th place finish in slopestyle. Ski Cross racer Jack Morro took 13th and was on a team with both Canadians and Argentineans that got 11th in the team ski and snowboard cross event. Freestyle skier Sky Clark qualified, but did not start the slopestyle and big air events due to illness. And finally, Caitlin Nash and Natalie Corless got a silver medal in the women's doubles race. Which, Mercedes you were there for. But they also competed in the team event. Tell us about that.

Mercedes Nicoll:   7:37
Yeah, so the team event was pretty cool. They mixed in with an Italian male luger, so they had the two girls–Caitlin and Natalie–and then they had the Italian guy, and then they had Caylee from Alberta, and they ended up placing fourth at those games. Which is very cool because they were the only team to have a girl's double. And they were so close to a podium! It was, it was a roller coaster of emotions at that one as well. Yeah.

Mayor Crompton:   8:07
I was up at the track–I guess two months ago– when they were the first women's doubles team to compete in a world event, which was also so exciting to do that at your home track. There's a lot of really neat stuff happening around those two girls and the work that they're doing.

Mercedes Nicoll:   8:26
Yeah, they're a great team, and they're so well spoken, They were amazing to have.

Mayor Crompton:   8:31
Yeah, it was impressive. The kids. I mean, obviously they're impressive as athletes, but they're also doing a great job in front of cameras.

Mercedes Nicoll:   8:38
Oh, yeah, and they're so young. It's like they've had media training their whole life. I'm very, very proud of them.

Mayor Crompton:   8:42
Um, okay, so the next piece of Whistler news is The Extended Moment: 50 years of Collecting Photography exhibit at the Audain Art Museum. It's a celebration of the art of photography from Canadian Photography Institute of the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. The exhibition explores the development of photography from the daguerre type photographs to digital images, monochrome,  to saturated color while exploring the production of photojournalism, vernacular photographs and portraiture. It features 70 images that range anywhere from the 1850's to today. Um, and it really looks at the technological advancement that's taken place in the art of photography. Excited about, it opens on Friday. Do you spend much time at The Audain Museum?

Mercedes Nicoll:   9:37
I try to get there when I can. I have a family membership.

Mayor Crompton:   9:40
You do? Okay.

Mercedes Nicoll:   9:41
it's an easy one.

Mayor Crompton:   9:42
As do we.  I always think it's a great place to go just to get away. It sounds funny, we live in the mountains. The place you want to go to get away is the mountains. But I just find it such a sanctuary...  

Mercedes Nicoll:   9:53
It's really peaceful.

Mayor Crompton:   9:53
...in the heart of our town. The Extended Moment exhibit is open until May 25. So get out and look at the history of Canadian photography. The Audain Art Museum is a gift to our town. And the fact that we get to see stuff like this come through is a big deal. So take advantage of it.

Narrarator:   10:14
You were listening to the Whistler Podcast. Candid conversations on current events, local government, and everything Whistler.

Mayor Crompton:   10:21
So we're talking about the 10 year anniversary of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. And I'm here with Mercedes Nicoll who competed in snowboard half pipe at those Games. When did you start snowboarding?

Mercedes Nicoll:   10:37
I think I started when I was about 12 or 13.

Mayor Crompton:   10:40
And how did you find snowboarding?

Mercedes Nicoll:   10:43
Um, well, so I I had skied everything on Whistler and Blackcomb and was like, 'I think I need a challenge and a change.' An saw it was the mid-nineties and picked it up and really never went back to skis.

Mayor Crompton:   10:56
Do you ski ever?

Mercedes Nicoll:   10:57
I do now, a little bit. Yeah.

Mayor Crompton:   11:00
Because it's called 'Ski With an Olympian', is it not?

Mercedes Nicoll:   11:02
Ski or ride.

Mayor Crompton:   11:03
Oh, is it?

Mercedes Nicoll:   11:04
Ski or ride with an Olympian.

Mayor Crompton:   11:07
Okay, so if I wanted to ski with you, could I?

Mercedes Nicoll:   0:00
Yes, definitely, I have clients that ski?

Mayor Crompton:   11:12
All right. And then you put on your skis? 

Mayor Crompton:   11:14
Um, oh, I snowboard with them.

Mayor Crompton:   11:16
You do? Okay. All right. You don't want to be seen on skis?

Mercedes Nicoll:   11:18
No, I do, it's just more fun for me.

Mayor Crompton:   11:21
Yeah, I can, I can tell. Um, so half pipe. Do we have–or when you were starting in the sport–did we have the kind of facilities prepped and ready to go so that you could train here year-round–not year round–but all winter season?

Mercedes Nicoll:   11:39
Um, no. So when I was heading into 2010 I had lived in Mammoth Lakes, California for about nine years so that I could get the early season half pipe and the late season half pipe. And then I would be in Mount Hood, um, coaching down there to get the summertime half pipe. And then I'd be traveling all winter at competitions.

Mayor Crompton:   11:59
So you really did not spend a ton of time in your hometown.

Mercedes Nicoll:   12:02
My constant was Christmas. That's my tradition. I'm home for Christmas.

Mayor Crompton:   12:06
I'll be home for Christmas.... and tell me about half pipe snowboarding. What's... it seems to me–and correct me if I'm wrong–that there's not a ton of facilities available to people that want to train for, uh, competitive half pipe. Is that true? Am I missing...is that just true for us in our town?

Mercedes Nicoll:   12:32
Times have changed. So in 2006 at my first game, the half pipe was smaller. And then, in 2010 the half pipe became a super, super pipe, which is 22 foot walls made of snow over 500 feet long on an 18 degree angle. So for any resort to have that they need a specific pipe dragon, which is a cat that has an arm on it that can make it up to 22 feet. And they also need a lot of snow and a lot of time and someone that will do it. And that's not always easy. So once the pipes became 22 feet, every resort kind of decided, 'Oh, that's too expensive. We're just not doing anything.' And even all the little half pipes, which are amazing for people to learn in which we have learned here at Whistler that people like the tiny half pipes to learn. Um, they all went away, too, because they just didn't think that they could keep up to the 22 foot pipes. Um, I hope to see a resurgence of the mini pipes. They're really fun. It's great for people to learn how to edge properly and you become an all around better rider.

Mayor Crompton:   13:37
Yeah, and, um so that would be a big change for you as an athlete competing on a smaller pipe. What was the size of the 2006 pipe?

Mercedes Nicoll:   13:44
It was 19 feet. 18 or 19 feet. It's not that big of a difference, but your speeds get faster because the walls are bigger. The transition is longer. Um, and it's a lot more patience going up that 22 foot wall.

Mayor Crompton:   13:58
So what's your first memory of thinking that you might be an Olympian one day?

Mercedes Nicoll:   14:03
Okay, Yeah. Great question. I never dreamt of it. I never thought I would go to the Olympics. It was not my jam. It was not my thing. Um, And then once I started competing in half by, I remember this. We were in Chile and it was a World Cup half pipe. Everyone was there, Travis Rice, like you name it. They were all trying to qualify for the Salt Lake 2002 games. And I was like,' Okay, everyone's trying to qualify for the Olympics like this is gonna be the big contest.' So that was the second time that snowboarding was in the Olympics. It was in 2002. The first ones were '98. And because they happen every four years that you've got a long time to wait. Um, at that moment in Chile, I was like, 'I want to go. I want to go to the Olympics because that's gonna be the contest that everyone's gonna be at.' And that's what I did. But because it takes a year to qualify, you need to get the points. And that was maybe, like, August or September leading up to in 2001. Ah, I was not gonna make the Salt Lake Games, but my goal was the 2006 Games.

Mayor Crompton:   15:06
And were you the highest-rated Canadian at that point, but you just didn't have enough points or?

Mercedes Nicoll:   15:10
No, I was fresh. I was new on the team, brand new on the national team, 16 years old, a fish out of water in a foreign country, just wanting to snowboard.

Mayor Crompton:   15:20
And did you go to Salt Lake?

Mercedes Nicoll:   15:22
I didn't, no. We had other competitions to go to at that time.

Mayor Crompton:   15:25
Okay, so that started this drive for you. Someone who wasn't dreaming of the Olympics as a young kid who ends up competing in four different Olympic games. Torino in 2006, Vancouver in 2010, Sochi and 2014 and PyeongChang in 2018. Tell us about Torino, you first Olympics.

Mercedes Nicoll:   15:50
So long story short. At those games, I was a definite hopeful to make it to the finals. The format was a little different, so you had your first run. Top nine went on–top six went on and I was ninth, so I wasn't far away. Second run, it was all or nothing. Your 1st run didn't count for anything. It wasn't best of two. It was game on and I ended up crashing in my second run, and those games were over. And at that moment I was like 'okay, really four more years?' I got to go again! Like there's no doubt in my mind it was this fire in my belly. I was like 'redemption–I need redemption.' Because that was ridiculous. I just fell on a trick that's like one of the easiest tricks.

Mayor Crompton:   16:31
What was the trick?

Mercedes Nicoll:   16:31
Frontside 540.

Mayor Crompton:   16:34
That's a very easy trick for me. Um, okay. And so fire in the belly, and then you start I mean all not just redemption, I would think. But also Vancouver's next, right? competing at home? Was that...it was redemption. It wasn't competing at home?

Mercedes Nicoll:   16:53
I hadn't thought...the only time that I'd thought about Vancouver being a thing is when I was like, 'yes, I gotta go.' Cause I almost changed countries. My parents are English. Snowboarding got a little political for me, wasn't going well. And I almost changed countries to compete for England...

Mayor Crompton:   17:12
After?

Mercedes Nicoll:   17:12
After 2006. Yes, and when I found out the games were in Canada, I was like, 'you can't do that.' Yeah, you can't do that.

Mayor Crompton:   17:22
Thank you for not doing that. We're all grateful that you didn't do that. Um, okay, so you're targeting Vancouver. Um, was it pretty self-evident that you would qualify for 2010?  

Mercedes Nicoll:   17:36
No.

Mayor Crompton:   17:36
It wasn't? Okay, tell us about qualifying for 2010.

Mercedes Nicoll:   17:38
So again, it's...I honestly say two years out of the floor is enough time to forget how hard it is to qualify for an Olympics. Because there that is the most stressful time of your life is just trying to get to the Olympics. Because you could, you could be on a roll or you could be down and out and just barely scraping by to get the points to go. And I was barely scraping by. I was counting every contest. And you just have this pressure on you at every contest leading up to the games. Um, I was underdog going in. It was not gonna go well, like from what everyone perceived and what everyone saw, they're like, 'no, you're the underdog, we're not do any interviews with you' like 'you're not the thing'. All the boys were supposed to do super well, they were Own the Podium funded. I literally couch surfed my way to the 2010 Olympics. Wow, it was really...it's very different from me to the boys on the team. Um and I ended up qualifying and super grateful. But at the same time, we have had a whole camera crew following us around leading up to those games for a reality show called Over the Bolts and my teammate Dominique Vallee had just gone through horrific times with her mom having pancreatic cancer. So the road to those Olympics was an emotional roller coaster, but trying to stay focused on the task at hand. And Dominique Vallee unfortunately, didn't qualify for those games. And she also lost her mother. So there's a lot to life that goes on other than just trying to get to the Games.

Mayor Crompton:   19:14
Yeah, yeah. And were you competing–the underdog nature of it–is it getting enough points or is there other Canadians that are after that spot?

Mercedes Nicoll:   19:23
You're going. Only four Canadian girls can go and you have to be in the top...you had to be in the top 28 or something like that in the world to go. Um, so it's not it's...I wish it was easy, but it's the Olympics for a reason. So, yeah, you're traveling with your teammates, and sometimes you're even sharing a bedroom with them and you're trying to beat them.

Mayor Crompton:   19:43
Yeah, it's interesting point that, you know, in the midst of these high achievements and people see you on TV as Mercedes Nicoll, who has competed in four Olympics and and and you're doing an interview and you're talking about how great everything is. Uh, the rest of what went into making that moment happened it disappears for the rest of the world. And for you, it's very real. And you you live with it day to day, and you're working really hard, and you're dealing with life. Um, I imagine it's a challenge. So you are–what's the term for the work you do with Bell?

Mercedes Nicoll:   20:27
Um, I guess I'm not an ambassador for Bell, but I openly speak about mental health issues because after 2014, I had a monumental crush at those games. And I speak openly about my struggles with mental health and depression.

Mayor Crompton:   20:44
And that's a result of a head injury during the 2014 Games. Or was it leading in?

Mercedes Nicoll:   20:49
Yeah, it was in practice. I went to do my last run–a backside 900–which is two full rotations...

Mayor Crompton:   20:54
Also an easy trick for me, yeah.

Mercedes Nicoll:   20:56
Um, and ended up again having a monumental crash. Uh, I got up and I did end up competing, not knowing I was concussed. Very long story short, um, and two weeks later, when I got home, I couldn't walk properly, couldn't talk properly and I couldn't even write my own name. And with that, I had gone from an elite athlete, to, someone that couldn't even walk and that came with the depression that I didn't know I was in and just kind of overcoming that and wanting to get back–to get sport back in my life– became the number one thing. Didn't matter about anything else. I just wanted to be able to do sports again. Um, and now I look back and I realized that I wasn't–that wasn't–the only time I suffered from depression and I suffer from it daily. Um, and I have to have goals, to set little goals every day so that I have something to do, to work towards.

Mayor Crompton:   21:54
Mhm.

Mercedes Nicoll:   21:54
Also try and stay as active as I can, because I know that helps me, and it's figuring out what helps you to become a better person and be able to live and deal with these these issues that I don't even think are issues. Everyone that I talked to that I opened up to about there like 'oh yeah, I feel the same way' and ya, it's depression is just a word to use–excuse my language...

Mayor Crompton:   22:19
No, no, no–go...it's the right word.

Mercedes Nicoll:   22:20
It's, it's a tough word that comes with something that everyone struggles with. And once people realize that they're struggling with this, their eyes are open and everyone knows that they're not alone.

Mayor Crompton:   22:32
It's amazing how bringing this to the surface has allowed our culture to access care. You know, even 10 years ago, it was something that you would hide and the leadership that's been been provided by people to talk about what's real has really changed the way we–and there's more work to do–but it's so important that we have, um, a movement of people talking about this very thing so that other people feel comfortable to access care and talk about it themselves.

Mercedes Nicoll:   23:07
Yeah, it's interesting, because when I did this video, you can find it on my wbsite. It's the Bell, Let's Talk video. Um, we did that leading up to the last Olympics for Bell Let's Talk Day, and I didn't think anything of it. I'm an open book. I'm happy to share any story with anyone: the good, the bad, the ugly. And when ah, another athlete shared his story about bipolar disorder that he had, I called him up right away, and I was like, I am so proud of you. I am so proud of you for sharing this story. It's unbelievable. And then he threw it back on me. He's like 'you too.' And I was like, 'oh, but I don't really think anything of it.' And so I think that's what we need to do is that you share your stories and you don't think anything of it. It's not a big deal. It's life.

Mayor Crompton:   23:49
Yeah, yeah, you talk about a broken leg fairly easily, and then you feel free to go get care. But for some reason mental health. We have hidden it for a long time, and that makes it more difficult to get care. So thank you. Thank you for doing that. Pyeong Chang–how much of your desire to go there was recovery-related. And how much is just that you love the games or it's something else?

Mercedes Nicoll:   24:15
Yeah. Pyeong Chang was an interesting one for me. Um, again, I didn't know four years prior if I would ever snowboard again.  

Mayor Crompton:   24:22
Yeah.  

Mercedes Nicoll:   24:22
And all I wanted was sport back in my life. And I fought two years to get that back in my life. And I took myself out to Calgary where are Olympic half pipe is, and it was either gonna be 'You're gonna be able to snowboard and compete again or you're done.' And that was me sitting at the top of the half pipe, really, just mentally taking that in and muscle memory–I can't tell you enough–is an amazing thing. Um, it took me about a week to start airing out and doing tricks above the lip, um, which is two stories high and overcoming those things and PyeongChang kind of for me, I went after that training and went to my first World Cu, was top Canadian after being out of the game for two years. So I was like, All right. And I think that we're on the road to the next games, and after 2010 I always said I thought 2010 would be my last games, and I was like, Then you have these mentors that are like, oh, 'don't you think you'd do better at the next ones?' You're just like you, 'ah, give me a second' and at those games, I said, 'okay, you could take it.' Contest by contest, if you still love snowboarding, you keep doing it. And that led me to two more Games and people ask me–and I'm sure you're gonna ask me this–what my favorite games are. And normally I would say 2010. Those were the ones that I placed sixth at. And it was an amazing experience. And if I hadn't gone to PyeongChang, those would be the Games. By, like, amazing time. Um, but now it's it's PyeongChang. Because I overcame so much and I ended up landing the trick that took me out four years prior. And it wasn't a gold medal for me, but that was a personal feat and a gold medal moment for myself. 

Mayor Crompton:   26:07
Are you going to 2022?

Mercedes Nicoll:   26:10
Maybe as a mentor, but not competing. So many people ask me that. No. I have one para friend who's like 'try for five.'

Mayor Crompton:   26:20
Okay, so let's go back to 2010. Um, Whistler is your hometown now. And as you said to us earlier, you'd spend a lot of time away. But your parents live here. Um, and how old were you when you moved here?  

Mercedes Nicoll:   26:38
12 years.  

Mayor Crompton:   26:38
12 years old, you said that to me already. So what was it like to compete at home? I mean, I was speaking to Britt Janyk about it. She said, 'I heard voices of people that I knew,' which I think is an interesting point. What was it like to compete?

Mercedes Nicoll:   26:56
So technically, I wasn't at home.

Mayor Crompton:   26:59
Well, your Vancouver.

Mercedes Nicoll:   27:00
So it was my extended backyard. And for that, I was grateful not to be in Whistler because it would be super weird for me to be in my own bed at home in, like, my own town and then competing at the Olympics. So I was like, 'yes, we're in Vancouver. We're staying at the Vancouver Village. This is awesome. 'Um, and the other Olympics we were were usually in a satellite village, and we were finally, in the like, main village with the hockey players and like the skaters, which you never really get to hang out with. Um and it was all time. We had beds specially made for us, we had a hometown advantage, in that sense. We had, we were staying in these like glorified waterfront rooms, where everything was boarded up, like all  the taps and the bathtubs and everything. But it was, uh it was so cool to be in Vancouver, let alone Canada for the Olympics.

Mayor Crompton:   28:00
And how many people are in an Olympic Village. Is it like 5000 athletes? And do they move through it quickly? Are you in and out of the Olympic Village and others move in and out? Or are you there the whole time?

Mercedes Nicoll:   28:09
So Team Canada is amazing like that. I don't know. This is gonna change in future Games, but Team Canada, if you are there for the games, you're allowed to stay throughout the duration, which is so cool because you get to cheer on your teammates, you make friends with Team Canada. It's so different than any other competition. So if I was at a snowboard World World Cup, I'd be hanging out with snowboarders from every country.

Mayor Crompton:   28:30
Yep.

Mercedes Nicoll:   28:31
The Olympics, you just hang out with Team Canada. And that's what makes it so special to be sitting in the athletes lounge, where new coaches or no staff are allowed–which is a great–and I'll be sitting next to someone watching speed skating, being like I don't even know what's happening in this sport. How many more laps do they have to go and a speed skater is literally sitting next to me, being like, 'there's five more laps to go.' 'Okay, cool. I'm a snowboarder.' Or like the hockey players, you see the hockey players and they're just 'like what you do is crazy' and, like, 'you don't have any teeth pal.'

Mayor Crompton:   29:00
Did the hockey team stay in Olympic Village?

Mercedes Nicoll:   29:03
Yeah in Vancouver? Yeah. 

Mayor Crompton:   29:05
So like Sidney Crosby was hanging around?

Mayor Crompton:   29:07
Yes. Funny story about him, actually, Um, so I'm in the elevator with my teammate, Sarah Conrad and she she's a quiet person anyways, and someone else gets an elevator with us, and she's just, like, kind of freaking out. But being really quiet, only what's going on? And then this person leaves elevator. She's like, You have no idea who that was do? Not a clue. And she's like 'that with Sidney Crosby'. I was like, well, he seemed nice.'

Mayor Crompton:   29:34
When was the half pipe event?

Mercedes Nicoll:   29:36
It was early on? So I think it was unlike the 13 or 14 of February.

Mayor Crompton:   29:40
So as an athlete, can you walk into events and other events and watch events?

Mercedes Nicoll:   29:45
Certain events. Some events you need tickets but outdoor events. I could go see anything.

Mayor Crompton:   29:49
And did you?

Mercedes Nicoll:   29:50
Um, unfortunately, I ended up having pancreatitis the day of my contest. And so I was competing in a lot of pain, which I thought was butterflies. And a couple nights later I ended up being admitted into the hospital. 

Mayor Crompton:   30:04
And you came sixth with pancreatitis?   

Mercedes Nicoll:   30:06
Yes.  

Mayor Crompton:   30:07
Wow. So tell us about your event day. What was...

Mercedes Nicoll:   30:10
It was a grueling long, long day. So normally we have qualifiers and semi's in one day and then finals on another day. But at the Olympics, it's all women one day, all men the other day and you have qualifiers, semis and finals. So I don't think I ate anything all day because I made it through qualifiers into semi's and then into finals. And one of my most favorite stories is when I'm about to drop in, there's a little tent at the top and Torah Bright comes up to me and she's like, 'I love it when you drop in. 'I was like, 'what do you mean, what you talking about?' She's like 'I love it.' I was like 'I don't know what you're talking about'. She's like 'the crowd goes wild.' I'm just, like, not really, they do that for everyone. And then everyone in finals in the tent looks at me and stares at me and is like, 'no, only for you.' And I was so in the zone and so, like, into it that I had I didn't hear the crowd. I had, like, my music playing. I didn't know what was going on.

Mayor Crompton:   31:09
Yeah. Um, is it I mean, obviously it's different to compete in a Canadian Olympic than it is to compete in other Olympics. Did anything stick out to you about what was different about being in Canada?

Mercedes Nicoll:   31:23
I think what my biggest memory was was, um, really seeing Canada come together. I don't think we've ever really seen Canada come together quite like that as they did at those games. And I think they have done it since cheering for athletes throughout the years since then. Like, 10 years, we've been like one team Canada.

Mayor Crompton:   31:45
Was it clear up there like could you see Vancouver on your event day? 

Mercedes Nicoll:   31:48
My day was a beautiful day. It was a bluebird day. I think everyone got burnt and had a couple too many beers and then the sun went down and we had a night finals and everyone was freezing and probably wanting more beer.

Mayor Crompton:   31:59
So you did night finals in Vancouver. Wow, that is, I mean, it's just it's a magical story. Your your time with the Canadian team is so inspiring, and thank you for carrying that forward and passing it on to our kids. I know I have thanked you for it in the past, but you've inspired my daughter, and that's a huge deal for me. And, um, and I think it's a big deal that you continue to engage with the next generation of kids that want to sort of follow in your footsteps and that you're making sure they put on their toque before they leave for their event,

Mercedes Nicoll:   32:40
Properly wearing it the right way around.

Mayor Crompton:   32:44
So thank you for that. I want to ask one last question about 2010. Is there one defining memory that you have of the Games? A story that will forever be with you?

Mercedes Nicoll:   32:56
I think, is just how much fun my family had. That's always the the bittersweet moment. I'm in my most stressful time, and they're having the time of their lives, but they're probably stressed, too. So, um, yeah, seeing my family there and having everyone there was, um, a huge impact on what kept me going.

Mayor Crompton:   33:16
And then spending a couple days in the hospital with your family as well.

Mercedes Nicoll:   33:20
Yeah, well, they couldn't even get in. There was a secret pass code to get in, and they didn't know how to get in. It's pretty serious with the Olympics.

Mayor Crompton:   33:26
Oh, so you're not at V G. H? You're actually in a...

Mercedes Nicoll:   33:29
No, I was. But there was, like, a secret code to get in, huh? That anyone could come see me. Not even my parents.  

Mercedes Nicoll:   33:36
Wow. All right. Well, thank you. Thank you for chatting with me. Thank you for spending your time telling stories. Thank you for your work with, ah, the Olympic movement. Um, and I look forward to seeing you out at some of the events that we're going to be hosting over the next month as we celebrate, uh, the 10 year anniversary of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Uh, come back again soon to the Whistler Podcast, because we will be talking more 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Thank you to Mountain FM for hosting us in their studio. I'm Jack Crompton. See you next time.

Narrarator:   34:23
You've been listening to the Whistler Podcast. Candid conversations about everything Whistler. To find out more about the Whistler Podcast visit whistler.ca/WhistlerPodcast.