SOCHI (REUTERS) - It was Maxime Dufour-Lapointe's 25th birthday on Sunday and she spent it the way she had always dreamed of - sharing the stage with her two little sisters at the Sochi Olympics.

Their parents, Yves Lapointe and Johane Dufour, were there too, ushered onto the rostrum like celebrities to answer questions from the world's sporting media about their family's amazing success.

The previous night, the Dufour-Lapointe family achieved a rare Olympic feat when Justine won the gold medal in the women's moguls and Chloe took the silver.

But there was no medal for Maxime, the oldest of the three Canadian sisters. She made the final as well but finished 12th in what was a bitter-sweet moment.

"I'm so proud of my sisters," she said. "But for me, there's a little bit of mixed emotion.

"Not everything went smoothly for me. I didn't have the best run."

Maxime might have seemed like the odd one out, but not to her tight-knit family.

"I'm so proud of all my three daughters," said her father Yves. "Today is the climax of a long road that we travelled together. The medals are a great prize to all of us."

As the oldest, Maxime paved the way for her younger siblings to take up skiing. The family's first love was sailing but the slopes soon became their favourite playground as they looked for something else to do during the long Canadian winters.