It’s coming down to the wire, but Canmorite Robby Balharry’s Olympic dream is still alive.
The Canmore slopestyle athlete has one more chance to meet Canadian Snowboard Association Olympic criteria at a world cup stop in Stoneham, Que. on Sunday (Jan. 19).
There are still two spots left on the men’s slopestyle team and Balharry is in the mix. He’s currently ranked 10th in the country, but has had strong results in Quebec in the past. He was sixth on the same hill last year at world championships, as Mark McMorris was the only Canadian athlete to finish ahead of him.
With an Olympic berth in his grasp, Balharry pulled out all the stops in his training to improve his physical and mental focus. That took him everywhere from surfing in Central America to hypnotism in Toronto, as he trained independently for much of the year.
“This year my training has been all over the place like usual. I spent more time in the gym than on snow this summer and took a surf trip to Nicaragua. It’s something I always like to do before the season. Paddling around the ocean and surfing all day really does get a guy in shape,” Balharry said. “I went to Toronto to visit with a world renowned sports psychologist/hypnotist, which was pretty cool. He got me thinking in the right way and got me to forget about any negative events from snowboarding in the past.”
Since the Olympics were the main focus, his plan was to spend more time on the world cup circuit, where he had the best shot to make criteria.
“My goals are to ride my best in each contest and grab one of the spots for the Olympics. All my focus is on that, but I’m still taking it day by day and making sure I enjoy my job,” Balharry said.
“If I ride to my potential, I feel like I would be in a good spot to head to Sochi. That being said, there is so much that can happen as we move closer to Sochi, that I am just taking it day by day. If I don’t make it, I will know I gave it my all and it won’t be the end of the world.
“If I were to get a spot, it would obviously be the biggest achievement of my life and I would go to the games with 110 per cent focus and give it my all to represent not only Canada, but our awesome little town of Canmore.”
This is the first year slopestyle will be a full event at the Olympic Winter Games.
The Stoneham Slopestyle final will be broadcast on CBC from 2-4 p.m.
