To be honest, this is a total last-minute thing and we’re so surprised to be here… Yeah, we got our wardrobe ready yesterday and everything has been last-minute so… we don’t know what to expect but we’re looking forward to it.

You know what? I love everything about Vancouver and I know this is a big event for the city and for fans here, so I think to be a part of it is really cool.

I feel great. I feel so relaxed and so happy with the results in Korea, and to come home to Canada and to feel the overwhelming support and just the constant support has been… I really felt it this time, more so than the last two Olympics.

Yeah, I really didn’t have a plan after Sochi, and I really didn’t have a thought about post-games, and I didn’t really want to make that same mistake because then I’m in a bit of a limbo. So I really wanted to have a clear idea of what I wanted to do. You never know, maybe I’ll come back in another sport or something, I keep everything open, options open, you never know what can happen, and… But I was just looking forward to coming back home to Canada after spending seven years in the U.S. training. I just… that’s the first step I wanted to take, was just to come home.

Yeah, that’s one part of it amongst many, many things and I’ve just recently go my coaching certification and just little things, and just keeping myself busy. None of it means anything or any sort of commitment to any career, but it’s way too soon to make that decision so for now I just want to broaden my mind and start becoming a sponge again and learning.

A little bit. I’m here in Toronto working with David Wilson my choreographer on a short program for Stars On Ice that will be going across Canada in May and it’s been nice to be back on the ice with a different type of mentality and a little more focus on just having fun and I’m going back to the roots of why I started skating.

It will be around 21 years of skating since the day I started.

Luckily it (the Olympics) is in four years, so I’ll hopefully be in a whole different mode and a whole different career at that point. It will always be tough, though. It will always be tough for me to be on the other side of it and watching the Olympics. We’re all so competitive as Olympic athletes and you want to be in that competitive environment, but I know I’ll be competitive in another world or another career and I’m looking forward to it.

They each have their own. They each have their moment. Sochi, I remember the experience of spending it with my teammates and having the inaugeral team event. But I have to say, after coming back from Sochi and then all of us making that collective agreement that we would come back in Korea and win the team event and beat the Russians and beat the Americans… that was an amazing feeling to come out on top and to have done it with such a beautiful group of people who are also not only teammates but friends. It’s a special, special moment and a first for Canada.

It was a wonderful experience. Really, the third time around, I was able to take the time to enjoy it and be a little more aware of my surroundings and aware of how I should take my time to look around and enjoy it.

The first two times were so… they went by so fast, and rushed through the experience and… this third time was wonderful and Korea did a great job hosting us.

So Sochi was the first Olympics that had the team event and we got a silver medal out of that event and after Sochi we all kind of decided collectively that if we came back for a third games, or some of us, our second, that we would commit and really commit to the fact that we wanted to win a gold medal in the team event, because we have such a strong team and a very, very successful team that was able to win.

It really did. And maybe because some of the NHL hockey players weren’t there, we drew a little more attention to the team event. And we have such a great group and great characters on the team and we made the best out of it and we really embraced the moment and embraced every performance that we shared together.

There’s a big challenge in figure skating is getting past the fear of making a mistake because all eyes are on us. There’s no one else on the ice, everybody’s watching us, and having that confidence and that drive to just go for it, it’s… I think it teaches you a lot to just push through the fear and sometimes you’re going to land, sometimes you’re going to fall, but that’s kind of part of the process of being successful in the end.

Interviewer: Is there such a thing as falling with grace?

Patrick: Yeah, figure skaters do it all the time!

Great question. This time around I’ve set a lot of opportunities up for after my career, my competitive career. I’ve been able to transition into my real life better than I did after Sochi, and I’ve had tremendous support from all my friends, my family, all the Canadian support throughout the years and… being with RBC since 2012 is so helpful to have the RBC Olympian program where we get to shadow in the workforce, and that type of program really helps us transition. Not just myself but other Olympians who are medalists. Some aren’t, but what a great program for us to help us transition into real life.

Patrick: Yeah, giving him some side eye.

You know, I’ve known Scott for so long and it’s not any different than normal. He’s always had so much energy, and it comes to hockey you just let him do his thing and he gets very passionate about it, but what a great time we had.

One thing that the Olympics have taught me is that… in this third time around is to not look that far ahead and plan that far, four years ahead, five years ahead. I just take it step by step. First was establishing myself in Vancouver, because I love that, what a beautiful place to live and second of all, just… okay, what’s the next step, what kind of… maybe going to school, maybe getting a degree, maybe working in the work force, somehow getting involved in that sort of thing and… If I like it, great, I’ll keep going that way. If I don’t, then I’ll just try and find something else, but all I know is that I’ll take it step by step and not get too far ahead of myself.

Yeah, I had three weeks to have it sink in and it’s been a wonderful ride. I mean, the support, I mean the medal’s great but coming home to Canada hearing the support from pedestrians and anyone, everyday come running into people and the support across Canada has been wonderful, and it really makes me so proud to be Canadian.

Normally, it would but this time around, I’ve really been able to let go, and I really made that next step to moving on and really remembering all the opportunities and the experiences I’ve had in figure skating and I’ve won my fair share of world championships so missing one isn’t going to hurt me, so I’m just looking forward to be home and to enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Well, it’s a great cast. The whole Team Canada cast that won the team event will be there and we’re looking forward to skating on Canadian ice once again with this gold medal around all of our necks and… Tessa and Scott off of an amazing career, and we have just a wonderful cast and it’s going to be once again choreographed by Jeff Buttle and we’re very much looking forward to that and it’s nice to be home and to share, kind of riding off that high of the Olympics and kind of sharing it with everyone else.

That’s right, yes, so please send all your videos. All it takes is five seconds, super casual, nothing serious. We just want to get the audience involved. We want to be able to connect with you guys and… it’s all thanks to you. You guys played a big role in all of our careers, so we’re just trying to include everyone.

It’s a possibility, coach or choreographer – I just got my certification to finally be able to coach and I’m very much looking forward to that. I’ve been lucky enough to have RBC to help me and they’re going to be able to help me move on, and they’ve helped many, many Olympians get into the workforce in the financial sector and maybe even get into the real estate side of it, but really, my options are open and that’s the beauty of it all, is that I can now pick and choose and experiment, and once again absorb and be a sponge and learn.

Yes, I’d love that. I would give you a 15-minute lesson.

It’s definitely a retirement from the Olympics in figure skating and I’ve always told myself, especially this year, I’ve learned to not plan things too far ahead because you really never know what can happen. Maybe I’ll turn around and become another Olympic athlete in another sport, so I always keep the doors open and I love sports, I love what it’s done for me and my life, where it’s given me so many opportunities, so I’m just excited to explore other chances and other opportunities.

For me this time around in Korea, walking out in the opening ceremonies in the front line with… behind Tessa and Scott and being with other legendary Olympians that have been in the Olympics for many, many times and to be considered as one of the veterans is quite an achievement in of itself. I love the spirit, I love going to the athletes’ lounge and running into other Olympians that have been to multiple Oylmpics with me, and just feeling like at home. The first two Olympics felt foreign to me. This third one just felt comfortable. It felt like putting on a comfortable shoe.

Leading into these Olympic I had a feeling and I needed to have an idea of what I was going to do after these games. I didn’t have that plan going into Sochi and that’s why it was a bit up in the air after the Olympics in Sochi, not knowing if I wanted to continue or not. So going into Pyeongchang I really wanted to have at least an idea of a certain type of plan going kind of set in place post-Pyeongchang. I’m just executing it now, taking my time doing that and going along with medal around my neck and having fun and sharing my experiences with the rest of Canada.

Great question. A few things, I mean I’ve got my coaching certification which was a good first step. Being a figure skater, I should have that in order to have that tool to share to other generations if they want, and I have that capability now. I have also support from great sponsors like RBC. They’ve been helpful, of course, in my competitive career, but beyond that, I think that’s the beauty of RBC. They’ve just been able to open so many doors for me. I want to visit going to finance, the finance world, going to the real estate world, experience everything, just take it in as a sponge, just like I did when I was a kid learning skating and learning about Olympic sports. I’m just absorbing everything and I love doing that so I’m just going to be doing that outside of the athletic world.

Omigosh, thank you so much for every minute of your support and I’ve never felt this overwhelming support ever in my career. But coming back from Pyeongchang, hearing people come up to me on the street or at the grocery store, it’s honestly a beautiful thing and it makes me so proud to be Canadian. I’ve had such a wonderful time being a Canadian athlete and being supported by Canadians across Canada.

It was special to finally get the gold medal. It’s… to equate all that hard work into one piece of metal is ridiculous but it’s also amazing, it’s such an experience. It was a blast to have won it with the team. I’ve always dreamed to win or participate in a team event because in figure skating it’s just you, so I wanted to go to my hockey roots and win as a team, and I think we did.