Canada Finally Captures Gold at Home
Posted by Pete Canalichio on Wed, Feb 17, 2010 @ 06:54 PM
On Sunday evening Alex Bilodeau captured gold for Canada in the men's moguls. It was the first time a Canadian had won a gold medal in the country of Canada. When I had learned a couple months back that Canada had never won gold in Canada, it came as a bit of a shock to me. I couldn't imagine the USA having hosted its first two Olympics and not having won a gold medal. It seemed equally as unimaginable for Canada which has many fine athletes, especially in winter sports.
After watching Bilodeau win and then be interviewed with his family, I was moved by the significance of what had happened. I wanted to find out first-hand what Canadians felt about the win. As I was going to be walking throughout Vancouver most of Monday I decided I would poll people as I passed them by. I was immediately impressed that everyone knew about the win. If I asked a similar question in the States, I might find that more than half my audience didn't even know what I was referring to. A middle-aged guy named, Dave, expressed how proud he was of Canada and how he hoped the gold won by Bilodeau would not only take a bit of the pressure off his fellow teammates but also inspire them to overachieve. Jill, a woman in her early 40s, conveyed how much she loved the story of how Alex Bilodeau's brother, Frederic, who suffers from cerebral palsy, inspired him to be his best. I met Joanne at the Coke Pin Trading Center; she was in her 20s. Joanne told me she originally thought that Bilodeau's win was Canada's first gold of the Vancouver Games and how excited she was. When she learned that this was the first ever gold at home, she shared how her eyes had welled up from the significance of the achievement. Towards the evening I bumped into Tara, who was in her teens. When I asked her what the gold meant she retorted, "It's about time," as if she was a bit embarrassed that her country couldn't get the job done or was making her look bad.
When I sat down to dinner with my friend, Brad, and his family last night, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what the gold medal meant to Canada. Most were proud; many were pleased; a few were even relieved. Then I witnessed something truly enlightening. We were getting ready to order our dinner when the medals ceremony for the men's moguls came on the many TVs mounted throughout the restaurant. Immediately the entire crowd in the restaurant got quiet. This was remarkable by itself as Earl's is a large restaurant with a long rectangular bar and plenty of seating. There must have been close to one hundred people dining or drinking. As Bilodeau stepped onto the center of the medals platform to receive his gold medal the crowd cheered. Bilodeau was flanked to his right by Dale Begg-Smith of Australia who won the silver medal and by Bryon Wilson of the USA at his left who had taken the bronze. The Canadians politely cheered for both Begg-Smith and Wilson as the medals were draped over their heads. Then it was Bilodeau's turn. He pumped his fists and acknowledged the crowd standing before him. As the gold medal was placed over Bilodeau's head the entire restaurant erupted. What an incredible rush of emotion! Everyone got quiet as the Canadian national anthem began to play. It was then that I began to fully realize what this gold medal truly meant to the country of Canada. En mass the patrons in the restaurant got up and began to sing O Canada. Even Brad's daughters who are 18, 11 and 8 joined in. I could hear their small voices singing proudly. While the anthem played, I looked around at the faces in the crowd. They were so proud to be Canadian, so joyous in their triumph. I then realized, Canadians really couldn't tell me what this first gold medal at home meant to them, but they certainly could show me.