B Canada celebrated your win in many ways. Certainly the only medallist offered a pitcher of beer on the street.
J Well, as a good Manitoban boy when someone offers you a beer, you graciously accept it and show your appreciation by taking a sip. The crowd made me feel like family. When Canadians compete we don’t compete to conquer. We compete to achieve and celebrate something; that's what the Olympics meant here in Canada. These were truly Canada’s games. Canadians were invested; they watched on TV and were in Vancouver and Whistler with us. It was a collective experience from coast to coast. When our entire country got into the Olympic spirit, we were able to make it our own. I still get goose bumps thinking of how we were supported.

B So this huge buy-in motivated the athletes more?
J For sure. Any time somebody believes in what you’re doing it’s a motivator, not a detractor. We expected people to be excited because we were, so when they were, it reaffirmed that, yes, we have the right to be excited and to believe this is going to be great. When you’ve got that much positive energy around you, it’s very motivating. 

B Qualifying for the Olympic team is a big challenge. What was your strategy? 
J To make a steady progression and place my wins strategically. I did my homework and achieved the
results I was looking for in the races I pegged as
important. Placing fourth in the World Championships and then winning gold in Whistler last season was exactly what I wanted. A slow, steady progression – like the turtle (and points to his head).

B I’m glad you brought up the turtle on your helmet, another intriguing Canadiana story.
J Yes, a turtle and a thunderbird are painted on my helmet. A sports-shaman helped us discover our spirit guide at a retreat before the games. I thought it was a cool process because it embraced the beliefs of our aboriginal people, which were so prevalent throughout the games. Earlier that day my girlfriend Darla and I saved a turtle from imminent destruction on the highway and shooed it off into the ditch. That may be why the turtle popped into my mind that afternoon.

B Did it throw you off because a turtle is slow and your sport is very fast?
J At first it did. I wanted to envision something quick but I kept seeing the turtle. So, I decided to embrace
it and see how it was good for me instead of shooing it away. In fact, the turtle’s slow but steady movement forward mirrored my progression. I was one of the worst recruits, but with tenacity and hard work I
realized growth in the sport. I believe it was my slow, steady progress that got me to the top of the podium. 

B Other than jumping on your skeleton to go down the track, what other training do you do?
J At this time of the year training involves getting physically fit to give us a sound base for the sport-specific training that comes later in the summer. We call it ‘periodisation training’. We do everything from running stairs, to pushing boxes across gym floors; running bent over on high speed treadmills, to Olympic lifting and squats; and lots of running and sprinting drills. We also practice our starts on real ice at the ice house training facility in Calgary on the indoor push track during the summer.

B How do you motivate yourself daily?
J At this time it’s a conscious effort to stay motivated. I had a big goal that was a daily motivator. Now it wanes at times, wanting to do something other than training. When your life has been building towards – essentially 3 minutes 29.73 seconds for 8 years – you easily find the motivation when it’s leading to what’s important for you. At least for me it did.  

B That’s fast! 
J 146 kilometres an hour is what we got up to this time. 

B Does that scare you?
J No. There’s too much other stuff to concentrate on to be scared. 

B Does it scare your Mom? 
J I think it caused a bit of concern in the beginning. She realizes this is what we train for; this is what we do. There’s an element of risk in everything. I played hockey so she’s used to me in contact sports. In hockey you can get hit from behind or take a bad fall into the boards. We’re in a pretty controlled environment on the sled. We’re just going quick doing it. 

B Does it bother you that Darla (a skeletor too) goes down the track that fast?
J Oh, Lord no. I’d push her down myself! 

B Nice guy! Do you ever compete with one another?
J I certainly compete to the level that I don’t want her to beat my time. As long as I end up a 1/100 in front of her, my ego is safe, but if she starts beating me, I don’t know what will happen. I might start losing it!

B You’re going to have to practice 24/7 to make sure that doesn’t happen then.
J I know; that’s motivation in and of itself so my girlfriend doesn’t surpass me. (We have a good chuckle over this.)

B Do you feel this win has changed you in any way?
J I’d be naive to think that something this big doesn’t change little things, but certainly not the important things; not my moral traits, not anything I hold near and dear to my heart. Perhaps it changes your level of awareness of what’s going on around you and what you’re doing and how it impacts other people. That awareness has been elevated as a result of some level of notoriety now. 

B How do you want to use your notoriety? 
J I don’t think it can be used for much, other than aligning myself with charitable organizations to help raise money for their cause; that would be great. Perhaps starting a foundation of my own that deals with sport and youth.

B How important is it for youth to be involved in sports?
J It’s huge. I learned so much from sports. The foundations learned can be applied to other areas of life. It doesn’t have to be only for building tomorrow’s Olympians; learning to work with others to achieve common goals is major. You develop skills that will stick with you and ultimately shape your future. With team sports, you learn to work hard and set goals and shoot for something other people might question, but you believe in. 

B How old were you when you got the idea of being an Olympian? 
J Very young. I was always fascinated by the Olympics on TV and was aware of the key people to watch. I just wanted to be in the Olympics and thought it would be hockey because I played. And then I saw skeleton and enjoyed it immensely from the first time I tried it. I learned it was an Olympic sport and it seemed like a great fit. I thought, “I may never become an Olympic athlete in this sport but I’m going to put my best foot forward and see what I can make of it.” And it turned out all right.