When Canadians watched freestyle halfpipe skier Cassie Sharpe soar to a gold medal victory during the Olympics, they were also witnessing a Squamish win.
Because for every great athlete, there’s a great coach behind the scenes.
In Sharpe’s case, that great coach was local resident Trennon Paynter, a former elite athlete who’s now helping others get on the podium.
“It is so big; it’s so rewarding — we could just not be more stoked on it,” said Paynter, who started working with Sharpe after the 2014 Olympics. “We are fired up, and I’m at a little loss for words still, to be honest.”
The head coach of Canada’s national halfpipe ski team said he was very confident that Sharpe had what it took, but he was still nervous about the competition, given his past experience with competition at this level.
“No matter how capable of winning a medal your team is; your athletes are; you start to realize how easy it would be to not get one,” said Paynter, who lives in the Garibaldi Highlands.
Just a little slip, or a slightly ‘off’ day could spell the end for athletes who’ve spent countless hours honing their abilities.
Paynter also said that in fact, he’s sometimes more anxious as a coach than he was as an athlete.
“It’s all powerless at that point to do anything but watch and cheer them on,” he reflected. “When you’re that invested in something and you don’t actually control it yourself, it’s a whole different kind of nerves.”
“When I was an athlete dropping in, I’d get nervous too,” he said. “But at least everything’s in your control.”
Given how much could go wrong, Paynter said he’s overjoyed that it all went right.
But even though Sharpe made everything look easy, the road to gold was filled with painstaking attention to detail.
When Paynter first started working with Sharpe, he saw raw talent — a ”fearless” athlete.
It was this courage on the slopes that allowed her to improve so quickly. Sharpe would tackle moves at a startling pace by skipping several steps in between.
This was an ability that Paynter admired, but also something that could be a stumbling block if not treated carefully.
The problem with such an approach, he said, was that some athletes who take this route may have shaky fundamentals.
As a result, Paynter banned many flashy moves from Sharpe’s repertoire and made her focus on minute details such as where exactly to land.
Sharpe’s willingness to go along with such a program showed her maturity, he said.
Indeed, it would be like asking a basketball player who can slam dunk to just focus on dribbling the ball.
“It’s kind of boring and almost tedious, but... she committed to it,” he said.
But once Sharpe mastered those details, Paynter allowed her to go back to her incendiary style.
“It was kind of a really exciting day when we finally got to the point where, ‘All right, you’ve done it — that foundation is so much stronger now; now you’re good to just turn it loose,’” he said, recalling what he told Sharpe.
“Let’s re-unleash your inner wild child now.”
That was an approach that became quite evident during Sharpe’s gold medal performance in PyeongChang.
Just before the her first run, those listening closely to the TV broadcast can hear Paynter roaring encouragement from the sidelines.
Moments after, Sharpe dives down the slopes, up the halfpipe and kicks up in the air.
“You can hear her coach Trennon Paynter at the top, firing her up as she drops in,” exclaims the announcer.
“First hit — Cassie Sharpe with a tweaked-out mute grab.”
