Name  Jean-Luc Brassard 

Olympics  1994 Lillehammer, Norway 

Event  Men's moguls

The setting  This was the official Olympic debut for the moguls event. It had first appeared at the 1992 Albertville Olympic Winter Games as a presentation sport -- Brassard had competed then and placed 7th. 

 

On the day  Brassard was up against a tough slate in his sport's official Olympic debut, including defending champion Edgar Grospiron of France, whom many favoured to win the event. Although Brassard had won the 1993 world championship, he had an otherwise poor season between that event and the lead up to the Olympics. That slump raised doubts about his ability to bring home a medal for Canada. What Brassard did have going for him was buzz about his outfit. The freestyle skier wore bright yellow patches on his knees, a choice he believed would help accentuate his technique for the judges.

When it came down to it, Brassard's main competitor wasn't France's Grospiron. It turned out to be Russia's Sergey Shupletsov, whom Brassard managed to edge out by a mere 0.34 points. The score was enough to secure Canada's first gold in freestyle skiing.

Afterlife  Brassard went on to capture the Canadian title for freestyle skiing in 1995 and the World Cup in 1996, and then again in 1997. He was the flag carrier for Canada at the 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano, but failed to win a medal that year. Brassard finished fourth in the 1998-99 World Cup standings. That marked the first time in nine years that he did not finish in the top three.

Brassard suffered a serious knee injury during the 2000 World Cup finals, forcing him to sit out during the 2000-01 season. He did make a comeback at the 2002 Games -- although it was dampened by his 21st-place finish in the men's moguls event.

In 2004, Brassard announced his retirement. He is now involved extensively in charity work, including taking part in an annual tour with "Enfants du Soleil," the French division of the Children's Miracle Network.