Maëlle Ricker Another Great story of the 2010 Winter Olympics

What a tremendous role model!

What a fantastic athlete!

What a beautiful name!

If I had a daughter I would name her Maëlle.

“Turin was such a motivator for me,” said Ricker, a West Vancouver, B.C., native who grew up racing on Cypress Mountain.

“It just made me work that much harder and just go for it today.”

Two days after moguls racer Alex Bilodeau became the first Canadian to claim Olympic gold on home soil, Ricker became the first Canadian woman to achieve the feat.

“It’s crazy,” Ricker said. “Indescribable. I’m going to pinch myself.”