Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette stood on the podium Thursday night, with a bronze medal around her neck and a crowd of 11,000 of her countrymen showering her with cheers. Yet, for Rochette, the moment she’d dreamt of since childhood was thoroughly bittersweet.

Four days earlier, Rochette’s mother, Therese, died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 55. Therese had made the trip to Vancouver from Quebec to see her daughter skate in her first Winter Olympic Games — a dream they’d shared since Joannie was five.

“It was six in the morning when I heard the news,” the 24-year-old Rochette told The Associated Press. “I couldn’t really believe it. They took me to the hospital to see mom’s body. I was able to say my goodbyes.”

Despite Therese’s untimely passing, Rochette decided to compete in the Olympics, and dedicate her efforts to her mother.

Two days later, Rochette delivered a courageous, heart-wrenching performance in the short program, earning a score of 71.36 — good for third place. Rochette held back tears as she executed her jumps and spins, before finally letting go as she skated off the ice.

She followed that up with a similarly strong performance in the free skate on Thursday, making just one noticeable error — a stumble on the landing of one of her jumps — to cement a bravely earned bronze medal. It was Canada’s first figure skating prize since Liz Manley won bronze in 1988.

Although Rochette’s skating efforts were overshadowed by the brilliance of South Korea’s Kim Yu-Na, her determination and strength were unmatched.

“There were moments when I said to myself, ‘I really don’t want to do this. I want to take the first plane, go home, see my grandparents, my family.’” Rochette admitted. “But I said to myself that in 10 years time, when I would think about all of this and when my mourning would be over, I would probably have wished that I had skated here.”

“I tried to be as cold as ice as possible. I know it’s going to sound weird, but I couldn’t be out there and be just a person, I had to be Joannie the athlete. I really tried to be strong to make my mother proud and my father who was in the stands.”

Rochette concluded her free skate by blowing a kiss toward the heavens.

“This is for my mom,” Rochette later said, holding the medal that would have made Therese immensely proud.

Apolo Ohno was disqualified for pushing a skater after appearing to win the silver medal in the Olympic 500 meter short track speedskating race. Ohno appeared to push Francois-Louis Tremblay of Canada on the final turn, causing Tremblay and South Korean skater Sung Si-Bak to fall. Ohno crossed the finish line second behind Canada’s Charles Hamelin, whose momentum spun him into the middle of the ice as the race ended.

The crash involving the finalists in the last lap of the 500-metre men’s short track cast the outcome in doubt. But after minutes of deliberation it was  decided that Ohno caused the crash and was disqualified.

Charles Hamelin of Canada, who set an Olympic record in his quarterfinal heat with a time of 40.770, won the gold, Sung the silver, Tremblay the bronze. Ohno has one more chance to win a medal later Friday night in the men’s 5,000-meter relay.

Park Jaebum is the Leadja of South Korean boyband 2PM who left the group 5 months ago, 4 days after his MySpace scandal surfaced. 2PM fans (known as HOTTEST) want him to know they’re still not tired of waiting and believe he will come back.