One Gold Medal and Two Heroes

It took only 23.17 seconds for Alex Bilodeau to become Canada's first "golden" boy of the Olympics. The world watched in great anticipation on Sunday night, as the Men's Moguls finales went by in a blur of stumbles and sprays of snow. A fantastic run; clean, fast and high difficulty on the jumps gave Alex a total score of 26.75, and Alex became the first Canadian EVER to win an Olympic gold medal on Canadian soil. Interview requests poured in from all over the world, for both Alex and his older brother Frederic.

That's right, there are two heroes in this Olympic story. One can fly over moguls at warp speed, and the other can barely walk. Frederic Bilodeau has cerebral palsy, and spends most of his time confined to his wheelchair. Yet, Frederic is Alex's inspiration - and was all Alex could talk about when he found he had won gold. "When he wakes up in the morning, he's got that big smile," said Alex, 22. "He goes to bed, and he's got that big smile...You look at him, and he's got all the right to complain. How many times do we complain in a day? I don't think I can even count mine."

Despite Frederic's physical limitations, his is by no-means "disabled" - he still skis from time to time, he knows everything about Roman history and he loves to oil paint."It's incredible what he can do," Serge Bilodeau said. "We have paintings of Alex doing a backflip and Beatrice in the moguls."

And seeing the TV images of the brothers joyfully embracing near the bottom of the moguls run was a magical moment for many with this condition that frequently doesn't receive as much attention as other disbalities. Joanne Hutchinson, a volunteer for the Halifax Regional Cerebral Palsy Association who was born with the condition points out that many people with cerebral palsy avoid going out in public, especially if they have a noticeable disability or uncontrolled muscle movements or spasms."They don't know much about us, they don't have an understanding and there's a lot of (public) misconceptions," added Hutchinson, who hopes the focus on Frederic Bilodeau's no-holds-barred support of his brother will help raise awareness of the condition they share."When you saw that embrace at the end, it was just two brothers sharing that moment. And you didn't see the disability."

Want to learn more or volunteer? Check out:

Cerebral Palsy Support Foundation of Canada, Ontario Federation for Cerebral Palsy, Cerebral Palsy Association of BC, Cerebral Palsy Association of Alberta, Cerebral Palsy Association of Quebec and Cerebral Palsy Foundation Saint John

Or give you support by donating used clothing or joining the Facebook Challegne: donate $26.75 (Alex’s winning score) to the Cerebral palsy Foundation through Canada Helps.

Articles: Always Smiling Brother... by Vicki Hall - the Vancouver Sun and Bilodeau's Esteem for Brother... by Sheryl Ubelacker - The Canadian Press