The Greatest Loss Of All

Another Canadian medal prospect blows up within sight of the podium but somehow, it just doesn't seem quite so important today.
The game that matters most of all to us is about to take centre stage tonight but on this evening, the excitement just escapes me.
For someone for whom the Olympics have been a life-long passion, none of this sounds normal. But normal takes a back seat when someone you know so well is going through unimaginable heartbreak.
Joannie Rochette, you no doubt have heard, suffered the most tragic of losses today. Her mother, Therese, died of an apparent heart attack just hours after she had arrived in Vancouver to watch her daughter skate in the biggest event of her life. Instead, Rochette's father, Normand — who first put her on skates in tiny Ile-Dupas, Que. — had to deliver the most terrible of news to their only child early this morning.
The story has rocked the Canadian Olympic team and Rochette's many friends, who have been filling her Facebook page all day with an endless stream of condolences. She has no doubt felt the embrace of the fellow skaters who are in Vancouver with her and are shaken by her sadness.
It was with a heavy heart that the 24-year-old Rochette took to the ice for a scheduled practice at Pacific Coliseum today. She has vowed to compete in her mother's honour starting Tuesday, when the women's short program is held at Vancouver 2010. To anyone who knows her, Rochette's response to this horrible tragedy is anything but a surprise.
I still remember the amazing courage she showed four years ago at the 2006 world figure skating championships in Calgary. A training partner and friend had died in a car accident a few weeks before the event, which upset her greatly, but Rochette not only showed up to compete at the Saddledome, she did so with her usual steely focus.
As difficult as that was, Rochette is dealing with something much greater right now. This is her mother, one of the most important people in her life. Someone she was always thrilled to have in the stands watching her skate. And now she isn't there anymore.
We have crossed paths at many events over the past decade or so and it was a question — are your parents here? — that I asked frequently, because I always knew how much it meant to her to have them there. And Rochette positively beamed whenever the answer was yes.
It will never be the easiest question to ask anymore.
She will lean more than ever on coach Manon Perron, the coach who Rochette has said "is like a second mother to me." Perron has been a guiding light who has watched her protege grow so wonderfully from a shy young girl who barely spoke English to the confident reigning world silver medallist (and six-time Canadian champion) that she is today.
But to see the pained look on Perron's face as she watched her star pupil practise today is to know that Rochette is hurting badly right now, more than we can ever know. Come Tuesday night, though, she will glide to centre ice at Pacific Coliseum, take the deepest of breaths, and live the dream that a loving and caring mother always wanted for her.
For every second she is on the ice, Therese Rochette will be with Joannie in spirit, looking over her the way she always has. And no doubt bursting with pride about the child she raised so well.
Rest in peace, Therese Rochette.
Your little girl has done so very well. And she'll keep making you proud.