CanWest Interview
As a regular feature, StarPhoenix sports reporter Cory Wolfe gets personal
with sports figures. Today, Olympic snowboarding gold medallist Ross
Rebagliati gets cornered. Rebagliati was stripped of his medal in 1998 after
a drug test revealed traces of marijuana in his system, but that decision
was soon overturned and the medal was reinstated.
The SP: Youıre planning a comeback for the 2010 Olympics at
Vancouver-Whistler. Youıll be 38. How will you respond to young punks who
ask, ³Whoıs the old guy?²
Rebagliati: Iıll be loud and proud out there. It wonıt bother me at all. I
remember in Nagano, I was like 26, and there were a couple of guys who were
my age now, 35 or whatever. Thereıs respect for those guys because they did
all of the footwork and got the sport growing. . . . Iım kind of hoping to
make a career out of it. Itıs fun snowboard racing.
The SP: When was the last time you did an interview when someone didnıt ask
you about marijuana?
Rebagliati: Ummm, honestly a couple of months ago, I got some questions from
a business magazine in Vancouver and they were talking about infrastructure
and what we see in the future as far as people versus space. (Not getting
asked about marijuana) does happen occasionally. (Laughs)
The SP: Name three famous people whose cell numbers you possess.
Rebagliati: I could call Brendan Fehr from CSI: Miami . . . Robyn Regehr . .
. Jason Priestley . . . Keanu Reeves . . .
The SP: Pick five adjectives to describe yourself.
Rebagliati: Light-hearted. Not-too-serious. Serious. Motivated. Busy.
The SP: What song would people be surprised to find in your iPod?
Rebagliati: Hmmm, I donıt know. Iıve got some Stevie Ray Vaughn, AC-DC,
Snoop Dogg, Bob Marley . . . I think youıd be surprised to find everything
except for maybe country. Itıs not that I donıt like country; I just donıt
have any. Iıve got some Ben Harper and Finley Quaye and maybe some weird
song from the Spin Doctors from when I was in high school and I keep it on
hand just for nostalgic reasons.
The SP: Whatıs your best party trick?
Rebagliati: Disappearing. (Laughs) Iıll show up somewhere for a while and
hang out and then Iıll just disappear.
The SP: How would your life be different if your gold medal had not been
reinstated?
Rebagliati: Oh, it would be tragic probably. (Laughs) It was pretty tragic
anyways and I got to keep it. It wasnıt my lifelong ambition to be
recognized for what most people recognize me for now. You get the good with
the bad, right?
The SP: Forget the international uproar that your positive test created. Did
you get in trouble with your mom?
Rebagliati: (Laughs) No, I didnıt. I didnıt get in trouble with anybody in
my family. I never really got in trouble with anybody. A couple of mean
letters in the mail . . . Maybe a death threat or two came from some real
psychos, but that was about it.
The SP: Would you give up your gold medal for world peace?
Rebagliati: Yeah, if I could somehow create world peace by giving up my gold
medal, then Iıd do that. Without hesitation. World peace? Thatıd be pretty
good. (Laughs)
The SP: Whatıs the most hurtful thing youıve ever read about yourself?
Rebagliati: Probably that I had a lucky day or something like that when I
won in Nagano. Anyone who has followed my racing career from the beginning
knows that it wasnıt the first time Iıd won against those guys.
The SP: Ever had a mullet?
Rebagliati: A mullet? I have one right now. (Laughs) Just because I havenıt
had a haircut in a while, but yeah. . . . Thereıs a reality show coming to
Whistler and they want to cut my hair. Right now itıs longer, but not for
long.
The SP: Whatıs the craziest thing youıve ever done besides throwing yourself
down a mountain on a plank?
Rebagliati: I have a 50-foot cliff in my backyard and we did a photo-shoot
on it (earlier this week), so I guess I canıt say that.
The SP: A 50-foot cliff in your backyard, huh?
Rebagliati: There are a couple of lines down you can take. You do get down
in a hurry, but itıs not like dropping the whole 50-foot cliff. There are a
couple of steep lines you can take into the backyard.
The SP: Have you mastered the run thatıs named after you at Whistler?
Rebagliati: Itıs the run that we raced and trained on for years and years.
They gave me the option of which one to take, so thatıs the reason why I
took that one. Itıs really steep and itıs got lots of breakovers, like
knolls on it, and itıs pretty long and pretty wide. When they set a Super G
on it, itıs awesome.
The SP: Explain why you want to compete in the Paris-Dakar rally on a
motorcycle.
Rebagliati: Ho-ly! Well, I ride dirtbikes and do some cross-country races. I
just love the whole idea of trying to do something that big. I like the
adventure of it and being on those big rally bikes. This year, it started in
Lisbon, Portugal, and ended up in Dakar, (Senegal). They do change the route
every year. That way it eliminates booby-traps.
The SP: Booby-traps?
Rebagliati: Yeah, some of the local people set traps.
The SP: Thatıs not very sporting.
Rebagliati: No, itıs not. (Laughs) They do that in Mexico, too, for the Baja
Races. But they try to sweep the course before anything like that does
happen. But Iıve always loved rally and racing, whether itıs against people
or the clock. Paris-Dakar, for people like me, itıs the biggest race you can
go in.
The SP: If reincarnation exists, in what form do you expect to return to
earth?
Rebagliati: Well, I always thought that youıd be reincarnated as a person
again.
The SP: And what kind of person will you return as?
Rebagliati: A better person. I think you just keep getting better. If youıre
good, you come back better. If youıre bad, you come back more screwed up
than before. You get a harder life each time you screw up. If youıre good,
hopefully you get a better life.
The SP: Howıs your karma?
Rebagliati: I think itıs rock-solid. I think Iım coming back with some
muscle cars and some bikes and everything. (Laughs)
The SP: Whatıs the best part about being Ross Rebagliati?
Rebagliati: I love my job and what I do, which is basically just being me.
Thatıs what I do for a living. Itıs hard to believe, but itıs true.
The SP: Worst thing?
Rebagliati: The worst thing is also the best thing. Youıre in the public eye
all of the time. People always say, ³I want to be rich and famous.² Thatıs
fine as long as youıre rich also, but being famous is a full-time job. When
you canıt pay your bills and everything is screwed up, youıve still got to
be nice to everybody.
cwolfe@sp.canwest.com