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It's minutes away from the jump-off and someone points out to Eric Lamaze that a slick patch of slobber has been deposited on the right breast of his dapper black riding jacket by his prized mount, Hickstead.
The Olympic show jumping champion takes an awkward and ineffective swipe at it, but is unperturbed. Lamaze is in his element this night at the Royal Horse Show. Nothing will distract him, not even when Hickstead hits a railing in the warm-up just before showtime.
It's been that way for Lamaze ever since he won gold in the individual and helped Canada to silver in the team show jumping event at the Beijing Games – everything he touches in the competitive ring turns to gold, including his dominant performance Wednesday in the CN World Cup Grand Prix.
It's been more of a struggle away from the sporting arena as he wrestles with being the sport's new poster boy. It seems a designation he neither wants nor is comfortable with. He approaches interviews with the same dread as a root canal.
Asked if he feels a responsibility to be an ambassador for the sport, Lamaze deflects the question.
"Well ... I think Ian Millar's done such a great job of doing that throughout his career and he keeps doing that," Lamaze said. "I'm just part of it. I think what we did in Hong Kong just changed the life of our sport. I think we've inspired a lot of people."
Lamaze's story is the stuff of inspiration, as he has said on occasion himself: A hardscrabble kid who grew up with a drug-addicted mother climbs the ranks of the show jumping world through skill, guts and sheer hard work and comes back after two positive drug tests to become a two-time Olympic champion.
Few sporting biographies have had more compelling elements, but it's a story Lamaze does not wish to keep retelling. Part of his reluctance to become more of a spokesman for the sport seems to stem from people asking him about his past.
"When you think of other people who have had some difficulties in their past and if they choose to embrace it as a cause, then they'll stand right up there and talk about it and they'll tell the story and they'll say what went wrong, how they addressed it and how they achieved the person that they are today," said Millar.
"But it would not appear to be his way to do it that way. I guess I can understand, because my perception of it when it's brought up, it's brought up more in a salacious way than `it's a remarkable thing what you have done and you are an inspiration and would you talk to us about it?' I don't find he's approached that way."
But Jayne Huddleston, a well-known figure in the Canadian equestrian world who worked as Lamaze's publicist through the Beijing Games, believes it's important for Lamaze to come to terms with people's interest in his past.
"He's a very sensitive person and does feel people want to know too much about his past, but it is a great comeback story that can inspire a lot of people," she said.
"His past is part of who he is at this point. He has to become comfortable opening up about that, because that's what people know about him other than the gold medal and they're very interested in a positive way."
Huddleston said they parted ways after the Olympics because of his reluctance to do interviews and the fact he was a no-show on several occasions after agreeing to do them.
"My job was to enhance his visibility and he doesn't want to be in the public eye," said Huddleston. "It's sad for the sport because this is something that happens every 40 years in our sport and these opportunities were lost. It trickles down in the horse industry."
The equestrian publicists who currently deal with Lamaze seem to tread carefully, trying to suss out from reporters the angle of their story in advance and turning away those from newspapers with whom he has a beef.
The Star's request for a one-on-one interview this week was rejected because Lamaze is still upset about a story in September in which he was criticized for not competing in a local event.
Lamaze has long talked of writing a book about his life and mentioned he would probably proceed with one if he got on the podium in Beijing. But as someone who prefers to remain a closed book, he seems to have shelved the idea completely right now.
When it was mentioned to him on Wednesday, he couldn't dismiss the idea fast enough.
"I'm showing. I'm competing. That's my goal," said Lamaze. "My horse is in form. I'm in form. I'm enjoying life as a rider, as a professional rider, that's where I leave it for now."
