Golden Moment for Canada

Posted by Cynical Sarah on February 14, 2010

Canadians have been waiting a long time to have an Olympic gold medal that was one on home soil. The nation has hosted the Olympic games twice before – Calgary in 1988 and Montreal in 1976 – but was unable to pull out a gold medal win at either of those.

It took two days of competition here in Vancouver for Canadians to finally get that taste of gold at home. Alexandre Bilodeau found his place at the top of the medal stands in the Freestyle Skiing: Men’s Moguls this evening.

Even though I’m just a permanent resident of Canada and not a citizen, it was still an amazing moment to get to be a part of here. I was watching it on TV at home, but I could tell the crowd must have been deafening after Bilodeau finished his run and was waiting for the score that would put him in first place.

I couldn’t help but clap and cheer along from the comfort of my couch as his score was announced, and I held my breath with the rest of the audience as one last skier made his run before Bilodeau could officially be the gold medal winner.

The moment was made even more poignant by Bilodeau’s emotion in the moment. He was ecstatic at the end of his run, celebrating having performed under pressure and done the absolute best he could have. That only increased with the announcement of his first-place rank when the scores finally came down, and when it was all over and he still had that rank, his face radiated joy.

He was beaming when he stepped onto the podium at the venue for the flower ceremony and nearly in tears in an interview after that.

It’s that emotion that makes watching the Olympic Games worthwhile. Even when it’s not my own country’s athlete at the top of the rankings, I still can’t help being happy for the person who did win. It’s obvious how proud they are and how happy they are in that moment to have represented their sport and their nation so well.

And usually it’s not just the gold medal athletes that show that joy. Most of the athletes who make any position on the podium seem happy to have made it there in any standing. Jen Heil was a favorite to get the first gold for Canada on Saturday, and though she ended up in second, she looked just as happy about silver as Bilodeau did with gold today.

It was the same with the bronze medal winner in the Freestyle Skiing: Men’s Mogul event today too. Bryon Wilson, a nearly unknown American, came out of nowhere in the event to take third place. He wasn’t favored to win anything, and he wasn’t even considered the best man on the U.S. team, and for all his face said bronze was just as good as gold.

Perhaps if you aren’t happy to have at least made the podium, you’re in your sport for the wrong reasons or at least at the Olympics for the wrong reasons.

Dale Begg-Smith may be the best example of that. He was the favorite to take the gold instead of Bilodeau, so you can expect him to be a little disappointed having to settle for silver. But, shouldn’t he still be happy to be bringing any medal back to Australia and representing his country well?

You wouldn’t guess that he felt anything at all as he stood stone-faced on the flower podium. Maybe he’ll look the part of a happy Australian later when they have the actual medal ceremony, but for now I’d say he was a poor loser.

Then again, he didn’t even look like he cared that much when he was in first place during the event. Maybe he didn’t actually care that much either way how it worked out. Of course, that’s another reason not to be a part of the Olympic Games then. Why come and compete if you don’t care?

In my book that makes Bilodeau’s win even sweeter over Begg-Smith. The win was even sweeter for many other Canadians as well since Begg-Smith was actually born here in B.C. and “defected” to ski for Australia.

Australia had a more flexible training program that would give him more time to work on his Internet business. Since making his move, Begg-Smith has become a multimillionaire with his online business as well as the top ranked man in his sport. Sure he’s been a success, but has his heart really been in competing? Does he really have a passion for the sport and representing his adopted country?

Judging by his reaction tonight, I’d say it’s a relationship of convenience not love. And during the Olympic Games, I like to feel the love.

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