Tragedies struck, conflicts arose, and rain fell, but like a determined athlete battling adversity, the Vancouver Olympic Games met all challenges head on and rose high above them. And here we are, at the end of two weeks, with our highest medal tally ever, and the most gold medals ever won at a Winter Games. Winning, does it make such a difference to our country? Taking a stroll down Granville Street on Saturday night might have left you deaf from all the Canadian chants. Spontaneous outbursts of "Oh Canada" would echo in your ears. Canada's athletes, to a man, said that they were competing for us. The medal winners won for us, and we graciously accepted and stood next to them on the podiums. When Alexandre Bilodeau's grin stretched from ear to ear, couch-prone Canadians across the country smiled with him. As Kevin Martin finally achieved redemption after eight long years of waiting, Canada itself felt redeemed. And when Joannie Rochette showed us the true meaning of courage, continuing to compete after losing her mother halfway through the games, we watched over her, lifting her onto the podium with all our thoughts and prayers. For two weeks, our nation has been united. For two weeks, we've all been pulling the rope in the same direction. There is nothing else that can unite such a massive, diverse group in celebration. Nothing but sports has the power, and nothing but the Olympic Games has the breadth. "I Believe," CTV's Olympic slogan could not have been better chosen. We have become a country of believers. Our heros have inspired and united everyone, from the young to the old, and our country is a happier place than before. What a difference two weeks can make. 
I think I speak for all Canadians when I say no one saw this coming. In the lead up to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, who could have ever predicted the two weeks we've had? The world has seen a side of our wonderful country that rarely shows its head, and what a triumph it has been: a celebration of sports, a celebration of athletes and individuals, and a celebration of a proud, joyous nation.
"The sport took a step backward. Brian Boitano did the same thing, technically, in 1988. There are junior skaters who can skate that same program," he stated in his column on Yahoo.com. Perhaps he has a point. Imagine if the scoring system in the Snowboarding halfpipe gave more points for five 360's than a double mctwist 1260 (Shaun White's signature move)? Boarders like Shaun would realize that trying to pull of risky moves that sap tons of energy are hardly worth it, and would go for more variety. According to Stojko, a similar thing is happening in skating, and the athletes are not being encouraged to push the envelope. If you want to read his angry tirade against the current scoring system put in place by the ISU, click here. He closes by saying "I am going to watch hockey, where athletes are allowed to push the envelope. A real sport." No argument from me there, Elvis! 
One day after Even Lysacek beat Evgeni Plushenko for the gold medal in men's figure skating, Elvis Stojko had harsh words for the current state of figure skating. He was incensed with the fact that Plushenko landed two quad jumps in his two programs and still lost to a skater whose program had a lower degree of difficulty.
Manny if you win, here are some ideas for your victory celebration: If anyone has any more ideas for Manny, feel free to add them below! GO MANNY GO!
Manuel Osborne-Paradis is my newest follower on twitter, so I'm dedicating this post to him. Racing in the Men's Downhill on Saturday morning, he will aim to become the first Canadian to win a gold medal on home snow, and our entire nation is behind him.
The 2010 Olympics are taking place in hockey mad Canada, only a short 1 hour flight away from Calgary. One would think that any NHL player would jump at the chance of representing his country in the tournament, in any capacity, but that’s not the case for Flames’ goaltender Mikka Kiprusoff. He doesn’t want to come unless he is assured to be the number 1 goalie for Finland.
Considering he is most likely their best option, with Minnesota’s Niklas Backstrom being the only true competition, his comment, “If I'm not going to start for sure, I think I'm going to take that time off and rest," reported in the Calgary Herald, is completely uncalled for. The only thing accomplished is that he shows selfishness and a lack of support for the Finnish hockey program.
So what happens if he is selected to represent his country, starts the first game and plays a stinker? If he is asked to sit the next game out, will he pout? What if he is outplayed in the round robin portion? Is the team obligated to play him in the elimination rounds, just because they promised him the number 1 position? Will he hop on the first flight back to Calgary if he is asked to sit?
Finland hockey should think this through before pushing Kipper into attending. Do they really want such a self-serving, individualistic player on their roster? Come to think of it, do the Calgary Flames even want a player with his attitude? Kiprusoff is obviously not a team player and this mind-set cannot help any team he plays for.
To read CTV's report on this story, click here.
In previous Vancouver 2010 Olympics preview posts, I wrote about Canada’s medal hopes figure skating. Today the focus is on our Short Track Speed Skating team.
Over course of my life, one issue Canada has had to deal with over and over again, is the province of Quebec’s desire to separate from our country. The idea has always invoked a feeling of sadness within me, a feeling of doom and desolation deep within. I would really miss our French province, though not for the poutine or smoked meat. The true detriment to our country would be to our sports. Consider this: without the French Canadians, who would have backstopped our national hockey teams without Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur or Roberto Luongo available to us over the years?
In the upcoming Olympics, no Canadian team would be more affected by the absence of Quebec than the short track speed skaters. Of the 10 person team, only one is not from Quebec and that is Edmonton’s Jessica Gregg. All others are French Canadians, and come February, they will make us proud as they bring home a bunch of medals.
With the 2009-10 World Cup Season beginning two weeks ago in China, we are starting to see the results we may hope for at the Olympics.
Here are the names to know:
MEN
Francois Louis Tremblay
The only male Canadian who won an individual medal in Turin – he won silver in the 500m. He has only just returned from a high ankle sprain sustained last spring, but is quickly rounding into form.
Charles Hamelin
Making a statement to begin the 2009-10 World Cup Season, he won gold in the 500m in China. A week later, he followed it up in Korea by defending his gold medal in the 500m and adding a silver in the 1000m.
Francois Hamelin
Francois is not far behind his brother, with his best individual finish this season being a fourth placing in the 1000m race in China.
The men’s relay team consisting of Charles Hamelin, Francois Hamelin, Olivier Jean, Gillaume Bastille, and Francois Louis Tremblay won bronze in the 5000m team relay in China and improved the next week to take the silver medal in the same event in Korea.
WOMEN
Kalyna Roberge
Best known for winning the silver medal in the 3000m race in Turin, she recently won bronze in the 500m at Korea.
Jessica Gregg
The Edmontonian won silver in the 500m in China.
Marianne St-Gelais
Completed a silver-bronze sweep by Canada, taking third place in the 500m in China.
The Women’s relay team consisting of Tania Vicent, Marianne St-Gelais, Jessica Gregg, and Valerie Maltais won bronze in the 3000m team relay in China and followed it up by defending third place in the same race the following week.
In a previous Vancouver 2010 Olympics preview post, I wrote about Canada’s best medal hope in men’s figure skating. Today the focus is on our medal contender in female figure skating.
Joannie Rochette is a relative late bloomer in terms of how long it
took her to contend for world titles, but at the age of 23, she is pushing her name into the list of the world’s elite skaters. Her past results have been nothing to scoff at, with the most impressive being a 5th place finish at the 2006 Turin Olympics and a 5th at the 2008 World Championships in Sweden, but with the Olympics coming up in her home country, lately she has been setting her sights even higher.To set the tone for her 2009 season, she dominated the Canadian Figure Skating Championships in January, winning by a margin of 25 and capturing her fifth consecutive title as the country’s champion. Using that as a springboard into world competition, she won a silver medal at the Four Continents Championship in February, losing to Korea’s Kim Yu-Na. Indeed, Kim may be Rochette’s toughest competition on the world scene, as she showed again in March at the World Figure Skating Championships where Rochette achieved the best result of her career, winning a silver medal, and once again finishing second to the Korean.
With the next major world competition being the Olympics, Rochette aims to add a few elements to her routines to increase the her potential maximum score, the toughest being a triple-triple combination in her short program. If she manages to pull these jumps off by the time the Olympics come around, she may very well be standing atop the podium in Vancouver come February.
With the Vancouver 2010 Olympics looming, I am going to devote some time to preparing for what’s to come. I will focus on the sports that Canada will be competitive in and attempt to introduce our medal contenders. We should know the athletes who will be wearing the maple leaf, so that we can put our full support behind them. To kick this off, we focus on figure skating.
Patrick Chan:
Patrick Chan provides us with a reason to believe that the future of Canadian figure skating is very promising. At just 18 years of age, we might have expected to wait a few more years for his work to bear fruition, but since he has been Canadian champion 2 years running, then winning the silver medal at the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships in Los Angeles, we can sense that the future is upon us.
The fact that he has already achieved so much in such a young career is indicative of Chan’s determination. In an article by Lori Ewing on the ctvolympics.ca website, Canadian figure skating legend, Kurt Browning, recalls a very motivated, younger Patrick Chan, declaring, “I want to be part of what keeps figure skating in this country great.”
This resolve is what pushes Chan to always be working. As Ewing writes, “When he's not on the ice, he's doing pilates and yoga, and taking care of his aching limbs in the whirlpool and ice bath.” Indeed, work ethic and ambition make up a large part of any professional athlete’s successes, but just as important are an individual’s built in talents.
In this regard, Chan has no shortage of praise being thrown his way. On his abilities, choreographer, Lori Nichol, says, “He has such mastery of his blades and of all the things blades can do, but he's also incredibly strong and so he can take it to all sorts of levels.”
Retired Canadian skater, Jeffrey Buttle, bronze medalist at the 2006 Turin Olympics, agrees, “"He skates like he's 10 years older than he actually is. In terms of maturity, he has skating skills and edges and posture that are head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the competition.''
The other ingredient to his accomplishments is perhaps just as rare and also essential: a lack of anxiety. Browning, a competitor who has felt the pressure of skating in front of millions at the Olympics, is notably impressed by the youngster, "You're used to seeing skaters go to the competition and the level drops because it's competition. You're nervous. It didn't with him, and I'm starting to get used to it now. He just has a way of going out there under different and difficult situations and being able to lay down a really high percentage of his planned content. . . it's rare, really rare.''
What’s rare is seeing so much admiration and respect pouring from past champions to such a young man. A greater endorsement is hard to imagine, and if they deem him worthy of such acclaim, there’s no reason we shouldn’t believe.
Come back on Monday to read about our female medal hopeful – Joannie Rochette
