Beijing behind the scenes: Meet the man who keeps Canada’s skaters sharp, both on the ice and off

By: Kerry Gillespie - Sports Reporter, Toronto Star Posted: 11:00 PM CST Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022 Last Modified: 11:01 PM CST Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022

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Canadians are making an impact at the Beijing Olympics, and not just the athletes. Behind the scenes are Canadians vital to the smooth running of the Games. Fourth in a series:

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Canadians are making an impact at the Beijing Olympics, and not just the athletes. Behind the scenes are Canadians vital to the smooth running of the Games. Fourth in a series:

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This article was published 09/02/2022 (1336 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canadians are making an impact at the Beijing Olympics, and not just the athletes. Behind the scenes are Canadians vital to the smooth running of the Games. Fourth in a series:

Laurent Daignault has been at the last eight Winter Olympics. In Albertville 1992, he was an athlete on the silver-medal winning 5,000-metre short track speedskating relay. At the Games since then, he’s been a short track coach and equipment technician. In Beijing he’s fully focused on the technical side, preparing the athletes’ boots and blades. There’s a lot to do and getting it just right helps athletes win medals. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What’s it like at the Games for you?

Dave Holland - Speed Skating Canada
Laurent Daignault has been at the last eight Winter Olympics, mostly recently as a short track coach and equipment technician. — Dave Holland - Speed Skating Canada Laurent Daignault has been at the last eight Winter Olympics, mostly recently as a short track coach and equipment technician.

I feel really lucky to be behind the scenes and really close to the action but sometimes in my role I won’t even see the race. There’s many races, many athletes performing so most of the time I have to stay in the changing room. When they finish the qualification round they come to the room to get ready for the next round and I have to check the equipment.

The skaters are sensitive about their blades, aren’t they?

For sure — unbelievable. We have a minimum of five pairs of blades for each athlete and for sure they have a preference. Some athletes name them, sometimes we rank them so they know which one is their best. But sometimes if the ice conditions change No. 1 could be No. 3. With all the equipment we have, we can reproduce exactly the same rocker, the same bend, but for sure some blades will be a little bit more flexible and that little change will make them prefer one to another.

Did COVID affect your Games preparation?

Oh for sure. The main thing was less competition, less chance to work on different aspects of equipment. To set up one set of blades takes about three hours and then we have to work the blades with the athletes for at least a week.

Is it tricky to get them just right?

It’s always tricky. (The ice) is always different, even day-to-day sometimes at the Games because they alternate short-track and figure skating competitions and figure skating wants different ice than us. So by the time they change it back, the conditions may not be the same as the previous day.

What’s your favourite equipment-related success story?

The last Olympic Games with Samuel Girard. A couple days before he won the gold he was not skating well, everything was off. He was not in the right zone with his equipment. I re-rocked them by hand to make sure that feeling he had changed so he could refocus on his technique. And it worked in an instant. The confidence came back and he raced super well.

Feel proud?

Well, it’s not me, it’s always the athletes’ performance. For sure we have to help them as much as we can and for sure when we make a good a call we’re super proud and happy. We share those moments when they win. That’s our satisfaction.

Do you bring a Canadian flair to the job?

We don’t know exactly what other countries do and sometimes we’re not sharing that much. We want to keep some secrets for ourselves. But we designed a new machine that is portable and we can copy the blades (at the Olympics if one breaks). It’s a machine we just invented last year, it’s the same principle as cutting a key.

If you could watch a sport in Beijing other short track what would it be?

I’m a big fan of skiing, the moguls are something to watch. But we race every two days and we have training so it’s basically impossible to go to another venue. I remember the Olympic Games in Torino 2006 I don’t think I ever went out of the Olympic bubble — the rink and the village.

So you’re ready for the closed-loop in Beijing?

That’s for sure, I’m used to that.

Kerry Gillespie is a Toronto-based sports reporter for the Star. Reach her via email: kgillespie@thestar.ca