Canadian Olympic Coach Spreads Skier Sarah Burke’s Ashes In Sochi Mountains

Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke died in 2012 from injuries she sustained while doing what she loved. On Thursday, Burke was honored in Sochi at the 2014 Winter Olympics during the women’s freeskiing halfpipe competition and she was there not just in spirit, but also physically.

Canadian halfpipe coach Trennon Paynter — who was friends with the 29-year-old Burke and her husband — spread Burke’s ashes in the village of Rosa Khutor, in the Olympic halfpipe and at the highest point in the Sochi mountains, according to the Toronto Star. Burke was a pioneer in women’s freeskiing, and was influential in promoting Thursday’s debut of the women’s halfpipe event in the Sochi Olympics.

“This event had Sarah at the core of it in so many ways,” Paynter said.

Burke died on Jan. 19, 2012 after a crash during a training run. Numerous athletes paid tribute to Burke during the Sochi Olympics; silver medalist Marie Martinod of France painted snowflakes on her finger nails in honor of Burke, who had a tattoo of one on her foot, and volunteers skied down the halfpipe in a heart-shaped formation Thursday.

Photo via Twitter/@XGames