TURIN -- Enza Sandhu made a last-minute decision to come to the Olympics to surprise and support her son.
Canadian figure skater Emanuel Sandhu didn't expect his mother to be in the stands at the Palavela arena, watching him compete in the men's short program last night.
But even his mama's presence couldn't help Sandhu on the ice. He finished seventh with 69.75 points.
Enza Sandhu didn't even know if she would have the opportunity to talk to her son after his competition.
"I hope I can see him after," she said.
Sitting in section 215, row 5, seat 3, she said she wasn't planning on coming to the Olympics.
"It was too expensive," the Vancouver woman said.
But she just had to watch her son compete at the biggest competition of his life, especially after the disappointment of 2002, she said.
"He wasn't at Salt Lake City. He was injured," Enza Sandhu said of 2002.
The 26-year-old, three-time national champion had a knee injury that forced him to withdraw from those Games.
In 1998, he finished second at the national championship, after spending most of that season competing as a junior.
The Canadian Olympic Association did not let him attend the 1998 Nagano Olympics because of his lack of senior experience.
Enza Sandhu, a blond, petite woman -- a contrast to her tall, dark son -- spoke softly and smiled shyly as she talked about being at these Games.
She said she was excited and proud to be a part of her son's Olympic experience and also happy to be in Italy.
It was a homecoming for Enza, who was born in Rome. She taught her son to speak Italian, but she said he struggles with the language now.
"You know what it's like when you don't practise," she said.
