Mac Marcoux 'rolling with the punches' during pandemic

Obstacles and delays are nothing new for Paralympic Alpine skier Mac Marcoux.

COVID-19 is one more challenge for the visually impaired, multiple gold-medal winning star of the slopes to overcome.

“It definitely threw a wrench into our season,” he said from his training base in Whistler B.C. “We had a whole other World Cup series planned for Norway and Sweden. I had just gotten to Norway and we had to turn around and come back home because they were starting to shut stuff down.”

Prior to arriving in Norway, Marcoux had competed at a World Cup event in Slovenia and Switzerland.

It was another successful competition for the boy from Haviland Bay.

Marcoux, along with guide Tristin Rodgers, won a sixth straight World Cup race in the men’s visually impaired category in Slovenia.

The win gave Marcoux a 50th career World Cup title. He has been on the Canadian team since 2013. The win was especially impressive because Marcoux spent the 2018-19 season recovering from a back injury.

Fifty is a special number, but Marcoux is not one to sit on his laurels.

“I’ve never really been one to count results, but it is a really cool milestone. I am excited to keep pushing and hopefully land on the box a little more in future races,” he said in an interview after claiming the championship in Slovenia.

As with so many athletes these days, the future is on hold.

Marcoux takes it all in stride. “There’s so much still up in the air,” he said 

The Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo were postponed until 2021 and the Winter Games are still scheduled for Beijing in 2022.

Marcoux says delays and uncertainty become a mental challenge, but it’s not unusual for a skier.

It’s also not unusual for someone who became legally blind as a young teenager.

There are so many variables that go into making sure a ski race goes off, said Marcoux. Cancellation because of weather and injuries are two variables Marcoux mentioned, though he said it’s nowhere near to what the pandemic has done.

“You get pretty good at rolling with the punches,” he said.

With social distancing and more attention paid to cleaning, Marcoux and his fellow athletes are still able to train in the gym which has been opened for the last two months. Currently, only 12 athletes are allowed in the gym at once. That’s about the whole team and it makes for a good bonding experience.

The time off also helped Marcoux recover from nagging injuries.

“They’re planning on being on snow here shortly, they are just working on logistics to see how everything will work out,” said Marcoux.

Marcoux said he has been back home to Haviland Bay very briefly for a visit and his next big ski event will likely be the resumption of the World Cup series in Sweden… maybe.

“Hopefully there will be a full World Cup schedule," he said. 

At the moment, it’s a waiting game.