Marielle Thompson explains why defending gold is so tough

The 2014 Olympic champion in women’s ski cross is perfectly aware that defending gold is a much different beast than winning it the first time.

In order to learn more about the nuances of being a champion and what to expect psychologically in defending her crown in PyeongChang, Marielle Thompson looked to another Canadian Olympic hero who was recently in the same boat.

“Rosie MacLennan, who was in a similar position going into Rio, she said ‘try not to compare one (Olympics) to the other.’ So I’m going to go and I’m going to try to have my own PyeongChang experience and not really think about defending, but just going out and skiing and racing,” said Thompson.

MacLennan, the reigning Pan American and Olympic Games gold medalist in the individual trampoline, had the target on her back in Toronto in 2015 and Rio in 2016 and came through in both cases to repeat as champion.

Despite rupturing her ACL and MCL in an October training accident, Thompson will look to follow suit in PyeongChang where she will begin her quest to repeat gold on the slopes later this week.