Joannie Rochette dedicates bronze to her mum and best friend

From James Toney, Sportsbeat, in Vancouver

JOANNIE Rochette blinked into the flurry of blazing flashbulbs and answered questions with such class and humour that it got her second ovation of the night.

COMFORT: Canada's Joannie Rochette and long-time coach Manon Perron after hearing the news she had won Olympic figure skating bronze (Getty Images)

If you thought her performance on the ice was impressive, you should have seen her press conference.

Reporters can be a pretty hard-bitten bunch but there were more than a few moist eyes as Rochette, as composed as she was in a memorable free skate, bravely spoke about four days of tragedy and triumph.

Tiger Woods could certainly learn a thing or ten from the 24-year old Canadian, as she dedicated her Olympic women's figure skating bronze to mother Thérèse, who died suddenly of a heart attack just four days ago, aged just 55.

He didn't have the courage to answer a single question about his own self-inflicted pain last week but Rochette patiently walked from camera to microphone for more than an hour, talking about her success and loss.

Rochette recalled how her mother had been inspirational in her early skating career, as she grew up in the small town of Île Dupas in Quebec.

She hailed her mum as her 'best friend and confidante' - and even joked she could be a 'pain in the arse'.

"I was an only child and my mum wanted me to meet other kids before I started school," she recalled.

"She put me into swimming classes but I wasn't very good and I soon stopped. I come from a small town where you skate or play ice hockey, so I tried ice skating because I was a bit too small for hockey.

"My mum would come to the rink with me and that's how I got started. I always remember the other kids' mums would leave when they dropped them off but my mum would always stay and watch me.