When Silver Is Golden

To the victor goes the spoils, or so that old saying goes.
But finishing second or third isn't necessarily a mere consolation prize. Just ask Cynthia Phaneuf and Amelie Lacoste, who savoured personal triumphs of their own that were good as gold on Saturday afternoon at the BMO Canadian figure skating championships.
For Phaneuf, the 21-year-old former national champ from Contrecoeur, Que., all that mattered this week was earning a spot on Canada's world team. That was assured when she secured the silver medal position during the women's free skate final at the Credit Union Centre.
Didn't matter a bit to Phaneuf that Joannie Rochette skated a free program for the ages right before her and posted a number (131.77 points) that would be impossible to match. She waded through the huge ovation for Rochette and the teddy bears that littered the ice, steeled her nerves and finished the job.
Only one number mattered to Phaneuf in the end — the '2' beside her name in the final standings, which ensured she'd be joining Rochette on the plane to Los Angeles for the 2009 world championships in March. She pumped her fists with glee and grinned widely it was confirmed.
"I know Joannie is at a (level) that I’m not at right now," said Phaneuf. "I just wanted to be second to go to worlds."
Phaneuf has overcome so much in the time since, as a 15-year-old in Edmonton in 2004, she shocked the Canadian skating world by winning the national title. A 20th place finish at her only previous worlds in 2005 in Moscow, a season wiped out by injury, a massive growth spurt ... all of it tossed obstacles in her way in the years that followed.
Today, Phaneuf finally feels like she is back where she wants to be.
"It means a lot to me because (worlds) is where it started going a little bit bad for me before I injured myself," she said. "For me, it’s a new beginning now and I’m very excited.
"After all that hard work, I just have my answer that I didn’t work for nothing. I have the payback now."
Lacoste, meanwhile, showed up in Saskatoon merely hoping for a top-five finish that would put her back on the national team for the first time since 2006. The former national junior champion heads home with so much more than that. No wonder Lacoste, who battled energy sapping anemia earlier this season, dissolved into tears when it was certain she would stand on the podium for the first time as a senior.
"I can’t believe it. I’m so happy," an emotional Lacoste, 20, of Delson, Que., said afterward. "- I didn’t know it could happen this year."
As she warmed up, she caught a glimpse of five bare-chested male fans who stripped to the waist to show their support for Diane Szmiett, the skater who preceded Lacoste in the competition and finished fourth. Even that wasn't enough to throw her off.
"I was funny, yes, but what could I do?" Lacoste said with a laugh. "I got my focus back."
In the end, she got so much more than she'd hoped.
A bronze medal? In Lacoste's eyes, it was nothing but pure gold.