Aurora native and snowboarder Derek Livingston focuses on recovery as injury scraps Olympic plan

Canadian snowboarder Derek Livingston has worked tirelessly the last four years to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

A veteran in the halfpipe, the Aurora, Ontario native has been striving to better himself professionally throughout his career. But just days before he was set to leave for China with his teammates, he suffered a devastating injury.

“Getting to the Olympic games is a four-year process, you know. It resets every four years and you’ve got to start from scratch — build up your points, build up a run, build up new tricks, and you’re training year-round, it’s not just a part-time job,” he told CityNews, speaking from his home in Whistler, B.C.

“We kind of put our full effort into it and that’s been the hardest part. As we get closer to the games, the build up starts getting bigger and bigger and you’re putting all your focus into this. Whether you win or lose, you’re trying to get there. And I made it, I had done the qualification, I did all the events, I got the results I needed, I put in the work in the gym, put in the work on snow. Then two days right before we’re supposed to leave I had this accident.”

‘I was devastated’

Livingston, who was due to compete in the halfpipe event, was practicing tricks on an air bag in Calgary when he fell awkwardly. The incident left him with a break in his fibula — a bone in the leg.

The 31-year-old describes what happened as an “unfortunate accident.” But he admits the injury and its timing was “the hardest thing” he’s ever had to go through.

“It crushed me. I was crying, I was devastated,” Livingston said, recalling the moment he realized he would not be leaving with his teammates to Beijing.

In the days after his injury, which also left him with a sprained ankle and some bruising, Livingston would head back home to Whistler, where he is now recovering with the support of his wife and dog close by, and family and friends from afar. He says he’s doing a lot better now.

Beijing would have been Livingston’s third Olympics. He previously competed in the halfpipe event in Sochi and then again in PyeongChang, coming in 19th and 17th respectively.

He has also represented Canada at six straight FIS World Championships, starting in 2011.

“I feel like I maybe had a little bit more at stake going into this one. It’s weird, the very first Olympics I went to I almost missed out because I broke my collar bone two weeks before the last qualifying event. So I competed to get the last bit of points I needed with stitches still in my shoulder, and that one was hard to get to. But I made it through that and couple weeks later made it to the games,” Livingston explained of what it took to get to Sochi.

But as the years went by, he says the goal was to always better his last result.

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Livingston had set the bar high for himself for Beijing. He says he wanted to the finals and put together a run that “could really contend with the top riders out there.”

“I’ve made finals a bunch of times in the last couple years and have a few podiums under my belt more recently, so I felt like I could get there. That’s why I was pushing it a little bit in Calgary last week and just had an accident,” he recalled.

“I think going into this one I had more at stake, personally. I put a little bit more pressure on myself, so that was much harder. I’m not devastated that I didn’t make it to three, I’m devastated that I didn’t get to go and do my best and represent my country, and be there with everybody.”

Overcoming injury mentally, physically

Snowboarding has been a part of Livingston’s life ever since he was a child. He started at the age of eight along with his brother, his Olympic profile saying he was “driven to catch up to his brother’s ability level.”

Injuries are a part of life for many athletes. Despite his various incidents over the years, Livingston says pro snowboarding continues to be a special part of his life.

“I love snowboarding. I love competing. You just get this thrill when you’re in competition mode. You’re so focused and you’re doing everything you need to do. You can get the highs of highs when you do everything right, and we’re always striving for that,” he said. “Anything that feels good you want to do more of, and snowboarding feels great and competing feels great, so I want to keep doing that as much as I can and I want to get back to that feeling.”

But overcoming injury can be an arduous process — both physically and mentally. For Livingston, taking it day by day is key, setting little, realistic goals along the way.

“It’s hard,” he said. “Right now, my goal is to let everything heal, do as much rehabilitation as I can, as much physio to get strong again.”

Mentally, he says it can be tough. But Livingston notes it is possible.

“To get back from an injury, you have to really focus on your passions. If you really love the sport you’re doing and that is your passion, focus on what feels good about it and not focus on the trauma, the injury, because that is a reality of every sport,” he said. “You’ve just got to figure out where your priorities are and focus on that feeling, do it for yourself and fall in love with the sport again, and not worry about the result at the end of the road.”

Due to the nature of his injury, Livingston isn’t in a cast and has been told he won’t need surgery.

As he navigates his recovery, he says he’ll be cheering his teammates and friends on from Whistler, having already reached out to other pro athletes in the village.

Looking ahead, whether or not Livingston has his sights set on the next winter Olympics remains to be seen.

“It would be cool to go again for a third time, but four years away is a long time. I’m in my 30s now so we’ll have to see how the body feels and how everything plays out. I’m not saying one way or another.”

As with other parts of his life, he’ll take things step by step, “one year at a time, one season, one day at a time.”