14 Golds

So many incredible results, so many inspirational moments, so much success, and EVERY reason to maintain this incredible trajectory and add to the momentum that this Canadian Olympic Team has kick started. Our hero Joannie Rochette is carrying our flag at the Closing Ceremonies, Charles Hamelin won 2 Golds for Canada, Alex Bilodeau won the first ever gold at home with the incredible Olympian grace, class and poise, blueberry farmer and team veteran Jasey-Jay Anderson caps off his career with an incredible come from behind victory in snowboarding (above).

There are only two sports events on the last day of the Winter Olympics. The Men's Hockey (GOLD!!!) and the marathon of the Winter Games, the men's 50km classic cross country ski race. For a country covered in snow, with so many amazing places to ski, Canadians are strangely dispassionate when it comes to ski racing. Easily my second favourite sport to do, cross country skiing is beautiful, it allows us to witness the beauty of our true north strong and free, and it's the best way to date that humans have figured out how to, 1. move yourself across snow without dogs or gasoline, and 2. exercise.

We've got a lot of Gold to celebrate, Team Canada has very simply, owned the podium. Possibly the only downside to winning so much, is that some of Team Canada's most amazing achievements over the past 17 days which didn't add to the medal count, won't get the airplay that they deserve. Devon Kershaw just finished 5th in the 50k classic, we had 4 guys in the top 16 in the 30k pursuit (Ivan Babikov 5, George Grey 8, Alex Harvey 9, Devon Kershaw 16), Alex and Devon placed 4th in the sprint relay, and they were 7th in the 4x10km relay. Jean-Philippe Le Guellec (6th in 10k Biathlon) and his team of biathletes folowed suit with really remarkable results in both individual and team events. Far and above these guys are Canada's best ever cross country skiers, and if you want to get into it with me, I'll say they're the best team of endurance athletes Canada has ever fielded at the Olympics, too.

Own the Podium is a program which provides our National Sport Organizations with the means to achieve excellence. We can argue about the name if you want, wax on about heightened expectations and pressure and an un-Canadian attitude of being brash about wanting to win something other than hockey. But the fact remains, the program has succeeded, not only in increasing our total medal count, but also in closing a seeminlgly insurmountable distance to the podium for some of our athletes in sports where we haven't traditionally won medals.

I'm super inspired. When I walk, run, ride and paddle through Vancouver I can tell that I'm not alone, either. The energy in this city is totally bananas, everytime we win a medal horns are honking, red-painted people are screaming, flags are waving, everyone is loving it. I wish we could bottle this stuff. I don't think there's anything else that unites us like this.

What I'm most proud of as a Canadian Olympian is that we seem to be embracing a winning culture in sports. Our athletes have always had it, but now it's permeating through our society and everyone wants a piece.

Well, everyone GETS a piece! These are Canada's Olympics, and Canada won the most Gold Medals of any nation, ever. 14 Golds is more than any country has ever won, and we're hosting the thing! Our Gold in Hockey tops off an incredible achievement. We are truly an awesome sporting nation!!

From where I'm sitting, amateur sport seems pretty powerful. Randy Starkman from the star has been blowing that horn ad nauseum for decades, thanks to Randy for that, and for ludicrously suggesting that I may have had the "tweet of the games" with my little jab at Harper and Lunn...

The BEST part of our last and 14th Gold is the first 13 which Canadians won in order to get there, it's our record now. What an epic Olympic Games. Go CANADA Go!!

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Comments

[David Vandorpe]

Tremendous effort at Vichy! Great to see you get the silver in the 500 m, which is your best race. Its a shame it is being dropped from the Olympic program. I guess the 1000 m field will get tougher, with guys specializing in it for 2012.