After completing a near-perfect run at the Sochi Olympics, gold medalist Canadian freestyle skier Alex Bilodeau only wanted to celebrate with one person – Frederic, his disabled brother.

When Alex made his final stop at the end of the course on Monday night, the first thing the gold medalist did was run over to Frederic and pull him over the security barrier so the two could revel in the moment together.

The 26-year-old Olympic skier has mentioned endless times that he has a very special, close relationship with his brother, who has cerebral palsy. Diagnosed at a young age, Frederic was told he wouldn’t walk past the age of twelve. Frederic proved that Alex isn’t the only one with limitless perseverance – over 15 years later, he is still walking!

Alex says:

“Just like you or I, he has dreams and most of them are not realizable to him but he does dream about it, he talks about it and he never complains that it’s not realistic to him. Every day I feel very lucky to be a normal person that has the chance to go after his dreams, and he doesn’t have that chance. So out of respect to him, I need to go after that and with his motivation he would be four-time Olympic champion. It’s crazy the motivation that he takes and every step is very hard for him. In life, I have an easy path and I need to go out there and do the best I can just out of respect to him. He lives his dreams through me. (Two gold medals) is the least I can do, he’s my every day inspiration.” [source]

Frederic slipped for a second, but Alex was right there to lift him up and support him.

Speaking about his frequent competitor Mikael Kingsbury, who came in second place in the competition, Alex reveals how he stays inspired on and off the course:

“When I’m on the hill (Kingsbury) is in my mind and he’s pushing me to be a better skier, but outside of the hill, whether I’m in university or training or whatever I do in life, my brother is my every day inspiration.”[source]

I think the feeling is mutual!

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