A. J. Groen
Olympic silver medallist Karen Cockburn returned home to a throng of media and well-wishers at Pearson International Airport Monday night. Cockburn was Canada’s flag bearer at the closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics Sunday.
Sports
August 28, 2008 08:45 PM
By: Mike Hayakawa
For Karen Cockburn, winning a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing in the women’s trampoline means more than just adding it to her prized collection,
After all, she has another silver she earned at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens and bronze in the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney.
Since the Canadian Olympic Committee elected to financially reward its medal winners from this year’s Olympics, the 27-year-old Stouffville resident said the $15,000 will come in quite handily.
Having recently moved with her husband and former Olympic trampolinist Mathieu Turgeon into a home in Stouffville, Cockburn said the money will be put toward their residential investment.
“For Canada to financially reward excellence, it’s a good step and it’s nice to receive thanks for what you’ve done,” Cockburn said. “I won’t do anything crazy with the money I will get. But since we bought a house we will probably paint the house, buy some new furniture and just make our house nicer and use some towards our mortgage.”
Returning to Stouffville Monday and trying to shake off the ill effects of a minor flu bug she picked up on the next-to-last day of the Olympics, Cockburn said her time in Beijing was an experience she won’t forget.
While each Olympics she’s been a part of had its own special quality, Beijing ranked right up there with Athens and Sydney.
“Beijing did a great job. It had that ‘wow’ factor. The opening ceremonies were over the top. The venues were amazing. The architecture of the facilities like the Bird’s Nest and Olympic Village was impressive and the volunteers there were always happy and helpful,” she said.
Reflecting on her silver-medal winning effort, Cockburn had mixed emotions as she felt a gold was within reach after finishing just .80 points behind He Wenna of China.
“I wasn’t happy with my routine because I knew I could have done better,” she said. “But the judging was harder in Beijing and at the same time, to perform under pressure and with the fans that were there, to do a decent routine and considering what I went through this year (to have surgery on her right knee in November) I was happy.”
While becoming just the fourth Canadian athlete to win an individual medal in three consecutive Summer Olympic Games represented a highlight in her trampolining career, Cockburn being asked to carry the Canadian flag during the closing ceremonies also ranked right up there.
“I was so shocked when they (Canadian Olympic Committee) called me to do it because there were so many great performances by other Canadian athletes at the Games. But it was a huge honour and a great way for me to end the Games,” she said.
Cockburn will have little time to dwell on her Beijing experiences.
She heads to Russia for the weekend of Sept. 19 to compete in the final World Cup event.
“After that I’ll take a bit of a break,” she said.
Maybe do some decorating?