"The strangest media request I had, hand’s down, was yesterday when I had a radio interview with two 9-year-olds, and you know what? They were really good!"
After claiming the Men’s Down Hill Ski World Championship title February 12th in Garmisch, Germany, 29-year-old Erik Guay has been the star of a 3-ring media circus that began in Europe as soon as he crossed the finish line, which was expected, but continued with a warm welcome in his home province of Quebec, Canada when he arrived Tuesday at Montreal’s International Airport to a swarm of reporters wanting to know everything about his win.
I understand that the media circus in Europe was extensive from the second you crossed the finish line all the way up to getting on the plane home, but what has it been like since landing in Montreal?
Yeah, since I landed it’s been just as busy. I expected that over in Europe because it’s their passion, skiing over there is like hockey in Canada. I expected it in Europe but didn’t expect when I got back here to Canada but it’s been just as busy in Montreal yesterday and now today in Toronto. I got off the plane 2 days ago, jumped in a limo and went straight to a Montreal Canadians hockey game where they presented me on the big screen during one of the intermissions which was awesome. I had a standing ovation from the crowd, which was a little embarrassing because you don’t expect it, your waving and the cameras are on you and you just don’t know what to do or how to react. It was a pretty cool moment but after that I was pretty tired with the jetlag and everything else. Yesterday my first interview was 6:30 in the morning and the last one was at 5:30 in the afternoon and then went straight to the airport to catch a flight to come straight here to Toronto and then this morning started at 6:30 this morning again with Canada AM and where are we now? 2 o’clock in the afternoon and I still have a couple left to do today. Tomorrow morning I fly out to Calgary and that is going to be the last stop on this media tour. Wait, that’s not true, on Sunday I’m going to the Heritage Classic hockey game with the Canadians versus the Flames, which I’m super excited about because I am a huge fan of the Habs.
Who would you say is your favorite media personality to interview with?
I don’t know…good question. I don’t know, I like new questions I guess, so it’s a lot of fun when your with someone that really knows their stuff and who’s passionate about the sport. I did an interview today with Scott Russell and he wrote a really good article on me on the first day I had won (the World Championship DH race) and he’s just so passionate about it and he knows all the ins and outs of the sport, so that was probably my favorite one.
What are the major differences around the world when it comes to media?
Typically the European media is almost crazy about it. They really pick things apart. I was reading some of the tabloids over there and they just make stuff up basically (laughing). They were comparing me to Bode Miller and how I party so hard and I am so far from that. I’ll have a good party when I win the Crystal Globe or when I win something huge but besides that it’s business as usual so I find that kind of strange and kind of weird where the Canadian media is just honest about everything and is trying to get to the bottom of things and get a good story. So basically that’s the big difference between media in Europe and Canada, they are just so passionate about it over there.
What’s been the strangest media request you’ve had?
The strangest media request I had, hand’s down, was yesterday when I had a radio interview with two 9-year-olds, and you know what? They were really good (laughing)! I was there with Sophie, who’s one of the PR people from Alpine Canada and it was just hilarious to watch them. One of them had so much expression with his hands and really got into it and I was answering seriously. I was trying to be really good about it, answering as best I could but it’s tough to do that to a 9-year-old (laughing), but that was probably the strangest moment.
"When you get a reaction like this, you can’t help but feel proud to be Canadian"
Do you see the media response to the World Championship title as an extension of the response from Canada as a whole?
Yeah, it’s pretty fun to see the reaction the way it is. I always call Canadians the closet patriots. They aren’t as outspoken as the Americans, they aren’t as loud, but when you get a reaction like this, you can’t help but feel proud to be Canadian and to be excited about how people have viewed this. I mean, I know what it means to me, I’ve been working my whole live at it, but it’s a lot of fun to have that sort of appreciation from people that are probably normally hockey fans.
How does the media affect you both positively and negatively?
Positively, as I said, it’s really fun to get that recognition for your hard work and years of dedication and injuries you had to go through. That would probably be the positive side. On the negative side you really don’t want to get lost in it and have it make your head big so that you lose your drive and determination that actually got you there in the first place. I think it’s important, for me anyway, to have my parents there to keep me grounded, if they see me getting out of line they’ll beat me back into place (laughing).
Follow Erik Guay @eguay and @redbullcanada on twitter.
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