Athlete profile: Andy Capicik

Posted: Tue February 3, 1998 at 5:00 PM ET

Athlete notes

Having finally cracked into podium status at the 1997 World Championships in Iizuna Kogen, Capicik hopes to achieve a similar result on his next trip to the land of the Rising Sun..."That was huge," says Capicik of his third-place finish. "The two years before were my slump years and it was my first medal in two years. I had been playing the consistent game and I was getting tired of it"...consistent was the adjective that previously suited Capicik best...he placed no lower than 12th, but no higher than sixth in any World Cup season between 1993 and 1996, except for the 1995 season in which he suffered from a broken heel after the World Championships...he finished just short of the podium at both Lillehammer (fourth) and the '95 Worlds (fifth)...two years ago, still bothered by the after-effects of his heel injury, Capicik managed only a 12th-place finish in the overall World Cup standings..."I was jumping in the summer after my injury but it gave me the same problems the next season," he explains. "Plus, I really wasn't focused enough. Maybe I didn't take the extra steps I needed after I broke my heel"...now, on the heels of his best season yet, Capicik refuses to allow the Olympics to grab his attention completely..."A competition is a competition and I want to prepare for the whole season," says Capicik of his even-keeled approach. "When I got into the sport, I wasn't worried about the Olympics, I was just having fun and I didn't really realize what was going on. It's just another competition for me. It'll be ninth or 10th one that season so I'll have already done it eight or nine times"...he has added to his jumping portfolio to close the gap between himself and the two who finished above him last year at Nagano -- teammate Nicolas Fontaine and American Eric Bergoust..."I have two quad-twisting triple flips now," says Capicik. "One has a double-full on the first and one has a double-full on the second -- that's what Fontaine and Bergoust did to take one, two at Worlds"... Capicik feels he needs to improve his landings...as is the case for every Canadian aerialist, qualifying for the Games might be as difficult as winning a medal -- "We've got a real tough system and someone's going to be left out"...in the face of potential divisiveness, Capicik notes there is a strong sense of team unity among the Canadian aerialists -- in large part a result of the efforts of Canadian national development team coach Nick Bass..."Before, everyone stayed on their own and trained hard, but on their own," says Capicik. "Now, the team that we have is amazing. Nick Bass got the team working together in training, at the competition, and with nights out together. It's a big family. If I can't win, I want my brother to win, and if he can't, I want a Canadian to win," referring to older brother Dennis who is also a member of the national aerial squad and to whom Andy directs much praise..."Dennis and I are very close," says Andy. "He's like my full-time coach. I always ask him about my jumping -- he's really supportive and gives me the emotional support I need whereas I'm more technical"...Capicik, whose father is "a pretty big skier," began skiing before he was two and raced competitively for two seasons in a Southern Ontario youth division when he was 11 and 12 years old..."The first year went really well since I had already done so much skiing and I liked it," recalls Capicik. "The second year they moved me up to an older age group because I did so well the year before, with 15 and 16 year-olds, and I got whipped. I just hated it then"...he started freestyle when he was 13 after attending a camp at Mt. Hood run by Canadian national coach Peter Judge..."I didn't really know what freestyle was until I went there," says Capicik. "But I came back (to Ontario) and the next winter I was competing in aerials"...he joined the national development team in 1991 and the next year joined the World Cup circuit -- he finished ninth overall in his first season on the tour...both of his parents are from the former Czechoslovakia -- his mother is Czech while his father is Slovak...he says he can understand the blend of Czech and Slovak that his parents speak at home, but cannot speak either one individually -- "It's all one language to me"...his father, Miro, is a chef while his mother, Jarmila, works in a bank...Andy's girlfriend, Tami Bradley, is a moguls skier on the Canadian national team...he would like to either attend art or film school after he finishes his aerials career...