September 30, 2008 (Canmore, AB) – Most of us have either brothers or sisters. There may be two or three in the family practicing the same sport: cross-country skiing. I would like to take advantage of this opportunity given to me to present you with my alter ego; without her, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. People who know me already know my twin sister Caroline.

People are often curious about our relationship being different because we are twins. At first, my answer was always no to these questions, but lately I have come to think about it and can say that our relationship is something unique that very few people get a chance to experience.

Now back to skiing. Having a twin sister that competes in the same sport as you has its advantages and disadvantages.

Let’s start with the positive side of the coin. We have the privilege of having a training partner every day; we understand exactly what the other feels because we are living the same experiences. We can train and study together, we are a team… When on a given day, motivation is low; there is always someone to bring up the enthusiasm. At competitions, we can formulate a strategy and really work together because we are at the same performance level, very few partnerships can achieve it the way we do. Furthermore, always having such a competitor around you is a great motivator that brings your performances to the highest level. It is during the team sprints that we can use our relationship to its fullest.

On the other end, there are also some inconveniences that we have to accept and learn to live with when you compete at the same level. One of us will be ahead of the other and friendship takes a back seat when racing. Once everything is over, you have to go back to normal life and put your results and feelings aside. Caroline and I have experienced these situations several times every year and we get use to these feelings. The worst is at selection races when there is no second chance, emotions are high, friendship is put on pause and we are on our own.

The final results at some competitions are sometimes very different for both of us. One has the race of her life while the other feels she is living a bad dream. It’s these occasions when it is very difficult to have a twin sister because your emotions are torn between happiness and sadness. You can’t celebrate because your sister has a bad race, so you have to remain low key and help your sister feel better.

Caroline is a very generous and enthusiastic person, always ready to help and on top of it, she is passionate about cross-country skiing. In a word, a sister that everyone would wish to have. I am very lucky to share these life experiences with someone like her.

There is always someone in our lives to motivate and help us achieve our goals, the challenge is to be able to recognize it and most of all, work hard to strengthen these privileged relationships that make us better athletes and people.

Stéphanie Drolet is a member of the 2008-09 Junior Team. She competed in the 2008 World Junior Championships in Italy.