August 21, 2008 – In his first Olympic Games, Stefan Read led the Canadian ski jumping team at Torino 2006. As he trains this summer, his sights are fixed on Vancouver 2010. Vancouver2010.com recently caught up with Stefan to see how he’s inspired by the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

What Beijing 2008 sports are you watching?
Stefan Read: I only have basic cable so I tune in to what I can, but I watch the whitewater kayaking for sure. Our team sometimes kayaks on the Kananaskis River for a fun workout once in a while. It’s not easy! I also caught some swimming and I really look forward to watching the track and field. Our team watches a lot of track and field while travelling in Europe – it’s always on there.

Do you draw inspiration from any Olympians competing in Beijing?
SR: Definitely that Phelps guy. In every event he’s in, he just dominates. It’s amazing how good one person can really be for every race.

If you were to participate in a summer sport at the Olympic Games, what sport would you choose?SR: Probably the shooting event. It’s kind of like the takeoff in ski jumping because you have one split second to make sure your takeoff is right and the takeoff is 90 per cent of our jump. It’s like that one pull of the trigger and once it’s shot, it’s done.

If you were in Beijing, what would be the hot ticket for you?
SR: Track and field. There are so many events and so many different types of athletes in one place. It would be great to look one way and see the pole vaulting, and look the other way and see the long jumpers. That would be pretty cool. Actually, soccer as well, because I’m a big soccer fan . . . and those Canadian soccer girls are pretty good-looking too.

What sports did you play when you were growing up?
SR: Well, my uncle is Ken Read [Canadian Olympian in alpine skiing] so they had me on skis when I was about one; I could barely walk and I was already on skis. And then I did what any other Canadian kid does – I played soccer, hockey, baseball, but I didn’t stick with ski jumping until later.

Why ski jumping?
SR: Those alpine ski guys are over 6 feet and like 250 lbs, whereas I’m 5 feet, 10 inches and 140 lbs, so there’s a little bit of a difference. And I kind of knew I wasn’t going to go anywhere in alpine racing. I tried ski jumping at a multi-sport camp here (Calgary), where you try alpine, bobsleigh, luge, ski jumping, cross-country and pretty much everything you can. Eleven years later I’m still in it.

What’s your greatest accomplishment in ski jumping so far?
SR: Torino 2006 was a highlight. Then a month after the Torino Games, I was competing at a World Cup in Slovenia where I set a new Canadian record of 194 metres and became the first Canadian since Horst Bulau in 1991 to get world-ranking points.