Nakusp-bred snowboarder Alex Thorp is officially a competitor in the Canada Winter Games.
He will be flying to Halifax, Nova Scotia to represent B.C. in his snowboarding division.
With full confidence, Thorp told the Arrow Lakes News he wasn’t surprised he was chosen for the team give his track record.
“To be brutally honest, I didn’t feel too surprised,” he said. “It’s just that I went to the last Canada Winter Games. I’ve also been the junior national champ two years running.”
However, Thorp does recognize a couple speed-bumps he’s going to have to overcome to take home a medal at this year’s games.
First, he’s only had two races so far this season.
“I didn’t do a great showing at those two races,” he admits.
On the flip side, he said there is an advantage to knowing all of his competitors, since they’re a bit of a close community. It’s also in that sense he knows how far he has to push himself to come out on top.
And that’s the goal. With determination and skill, Thorp hopes to be taking home a medal at the end of the games.
But what about after that?
“Well, I’ll take it as far as I possibly can,” he said. “Hopefully at some point or another I start getting help from either sponsors or the government, because right now it’s getting quite difficult.”
Thorp is currently living in Vancouver, working full-time on top of keeping up with his snowboarding.
“I even managed to find a place with low rent, yet I’m still finding myself with a nearly nil bank account, because I’m getting zero [financial] help,” he said.
Thorp hopes soon he will start getting some aid as an athlete, but until then, he’s going to keep at it for as long as he can.
The Canada Winter Games run from Feb. 11–27 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Visit www.canadagames2011.ca to learn more.
