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Update: Richmond Olympian makes last day dash to enter city council race

Alexa Loo expecting her first child five days after election

Richmonds former Olympic snowboarder Alexa Loo was a shock last-minute entry into the city council election.

Two-time Olympian Loo the first Canadian woman to compete at the Winter Games in the parallel giant slalom event and who missed out on a semi-final spot at Vancouver 2010 by 0.01 of a second filed her nomination papers on Fridays deadline day.

Loo, who retired from professional snowboarding after the 2010 Games and who just turned 39, was seconded in her official nomination documents by council incumbent and veteran Bill McNulty.

Its going to be tough with so many hard-working and experienced people already there, said Loo about her chances of winning a seat on council.

But Im also very hard working and I want to give back to my community, which helped me so much in my career. My hope is that (voters) see that.

For me, this will be a huge opportunity to connect with the people of Richmond and help grow the community. Im pretty excited and really passionate about Richmond.

Loo was speaking to the News on Friday afternoon, moments after stepping off a plane in Calgary with husband Ari Goosen, en route to a former teammates wedding in Alberta.

A few hours earlier, the chartered accountant and former pro snowboarder was in city hall on No. 3 Road, filing the candidate nomination papers she only decided to fill in at the beginning of the week.

Ive been wanting to get involved for a long time now. I really want to be part of the process that makes Richmond a great place to live. Id like to make it an even greater place to live, she said.

Ive been thinking about it a lot since I retired. Sometimes I see things in Richmond and think if I was mayor. Not that Im going for mayor, of course, I think we have pretty good leadership. Maybe a few years down the road.

I actually only decided a few days ago. We kind of sat down and discussed it, and we thought that I should really go for it.

However, Richmondite Loo, who has set up home once again in her native city with the man she married in May 2010, revealed that next month is going to be a big one for more reasons than the Nov. 19 election.

We are expecting our first child on Nov. 24, Loo said.

Everything is going really well with the pregnancy and Im looking forward to it all, its going to be a very busy time.

As for long-time incumbent city councillor McNulty - a member if the Richmond First slate - putting his seal of approval on her nomination form, Loo said shes known him for many years after he helped her secure sponsorship ahead of the Olympics when government funding dried up.

(Bill) said I wouldve been welcome on the Richmond First slate, but I was a little late in getting myself organized, she said.

Its going to be harder as an independent, but I guess I dont have to follow anyone elses beliefs.

If she were to get the bigger seal of approval from the Richmond people, Loo said shed like the city to take a closer look at its zoning policy.

The city is getting really full and were not creating communities anymore, people are rarely interacting with each other, Loo added.

Id like to see more neighbourhoods created. Id like to see more programs aimed at getting people out and interacting.

When I was a kid, we knew all our neighbours. Now Im not sure I know any and theres a real disconnect with each other. Id like to make Richmond an even better place to raise our kids.