By Tina Romito
Standing at the top of the hill, Jeff Bean sets into his “zone.” His eyes will be closed and his arms outstretched as he twists his body. He’ll be singing along to Motley Crüe as he slips on his ring. Then, he’ll throw himself 50 feet into the air and land on two feet.
Bean, a member of the Canadian Olympic aerial freestyle ski team, says the rush of flying through the air is unexplainable.
“It’s being 50 feet in the air, looking at the ground and being in complete control of your own destiny and exactly what you’re doing.”
Heading into the Salt Lake City Olympics, Bean, 25, and a resident of Gilmour Street in Centretown, is a strong medal contender. His accumulated World Cup points average this season is 344, ranking him fourth in the world, behind Eric Bergoust of the U.S., who leads with 392 points.
Bean isn’t an Olympic rookie. Having competed in the 1998 Nagano Games, he’s going to Salt Lake City with more
experience and focus this time.
He says he’s ready for the Olympics, more so than in 1998, when he says the whole event passed-by in a blur.
“It was just one of those things that seems like I wasn’t even there sometimes,” says Bean. “I walked down the hall and there was Wayne Gretzky and Eric Lindros sitting there, and you say ‘hi’ and have a conversation.
“I didn’t even know what I was getting myself into.”
Since the Nagano Games, Bean has come a long way.
John Pomeroy was Bean’s first coach when he began training at Camp Fortune in 1990.
He says that in the face of death and depression, Bean has been able refocus and rediscover his passion for the sport.
In August 1997, while training for Nagano, Bean’s mother died.
Lindsay Mullaly, Bean’s fiancée, says the death made the Games very difficult.
“His focus then was to land his jumps and to do it for his mom, as much as it was for himself,” says Mullaly. “He made it to the semi-finals, and I think that just shows his determination and focus.”
Bean ended up finishing in 11th place in Nagano.
After the Olympics, Bean
returned to Ottawa. He says life began to return to a routine, but as the reality of his mother’s death set-in, he fell into a
depression. He continued to jump, but only because it was what he had always done.
At the first World Cup
Competition of the 1999-2000 season, he broke his leg and sat the entire winter out.
“It was the greatest thing that could have happened to me,” says Bean. “I just watched and got hungry again and re-motivated.”
Bean says once he realized he wanted to be at the 2002 Olympics, all his energy went into training.
It wasn’t until early January, however, that Bean finally clinched an Olympic spot when he placed second at the World Cup competition at Mont-Tremblant, achieving a personal best of 247.86 points.
“It was almost a feeling of just relief,” says Bean about Mont-Tremblant. “I’ve worked so hard for this and it’s finally come true.”
Bean calls himself a focused athlete and before a competition he needs to get into a “zone.” He wakes up early, goes walking, visualizes every twist and turn of his jumps and always puts on the silver ring his fiancée gave him when they were 16. “I put it on every time I jump, whether it’s in training or competition.”
While he’s getting into his “zone,” the pounding deaf
metal chords of Motley Crüe echo in his ears. “I’m not sure if I want to admit to that. It’s a little
embarrassing, but the day of competition, that’s what comes out,” laughs Bean. “It gets me going a little bit.”
The Olympic team hasn’t
always been a goal for Bean.
Training in aerials since he was 13, he says it wasn’t until five years ago that he thought he might have the talent to go to the Nagano Olympics.
Pomeroy, now the sport development manager at the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association, says strong parental support and determination are what helped Bean reach the Olympics.
“From the time [Bean] first saw guys doing really big tricks off jumps, he said ‘that’s where I want to be,’ and he’s maintained that focus,” Pomeroy says.
This time around, Bean says he is planning on just enjoying his second Olympic Games.
“It’s been really special because I’ve had to work really hard for it.”
Although he now stands in a position to climb the podium, Bean says he isn’t going to Salt Lake City with high hopes for a medal.
“I have expectations to jump well, that’s all I can expect,” says Bean.”