VANCOUVER, B.C. — Canada's Joannie Rochette carried a heavy heart Tuesday night when she hit the ice at the Vancouver Olympics.
Skating just two days after her mother's death, Rochette finished third in the short program as she fought back tears throughout her performance.
"I have no regrets," Rochette later said in a statement released by Skate Canada. "It was a very nice warm welcome — hard to handle, but I appreciate the support. I'll remember this forever."
"She had me in tears," added Skate Canada CEO William Thompson. "The level at which she skated was phenomenal. I watched her when she was getting ready to skate and she looked like she was struggling emotionally. Then she just pulled herself together and went out and put down a performance that was magical and so heroic."
Therese Rochette died Sunday from heart attack at age 55, just a few hours after she arrived in Vancouver to watch her daughter compete.
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