Don’t measure success in medals alone

Debora Kelly.

I love how the Olympics remind us of how proud we are to be Canadian and how much we have in common.
Our hearts burst with collective pride when York Region’s own Rosie MacLennan stepped up on to the top podium to lay claim to our nation’s first gold medal of the London Games.
Fists pumped in unison when Olympic bronze medallist Derek Drouin claimed the title as our nation’s first high jump medallist since 1976.
I literally heard the shared jubilation as shouts echoed from homes across my neighbourhood every time our women’s soccer team took the lead in the neck-in-neck game against the United States team Monday. And the crushing silence when they lost their bid for gold in a heart-breaking overtime loss.
And we all bent our heads, first in consolation for dreams dashed, then lifted them high in admiration for Paula Findlay, who finished last in the women’s triathlon, battling the excruciating pain of a hip injury to cross the finish line.
In typical Canadian fashion, her first words in the face of her own agonizing disappointment were an apology: “I just want to apologize. I’m really sorry to everybody, to Canada.”
But in Canada, she is no less a hero than our athletes who have achieved the incredible feat of winning a medal that ranks them among the best athletes in the world.
She may even be more of an Olympic hero to some.
In Canada, where our heritage is steeped in the hewing of wood and drawing of water, where the winters are long, cold and hard — I think so, anyway — and the coffee is from Tim Hortons, it’s all about grit and hard-scrabble determination; about giving your all. It’s about greatness, not only in achieving but in spirit; in believing in a dream, then striving to make it a reality no matter the odds.
Those distracted by bright, shiny medals might say our Canadian Olympic spirit that values the competition — the act of trying your very best — more than the medals is simply sour grapes or a consolation prize for losers.
But most of us know medals are not what make a country great.
(The exception being Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois, who reacted to the fact the first four of Canada’s medals were won by athletes from Quebec by pointing out an independent Quebec would shine on a world stage.)
Sadly, there are those who think our international reputation — if not their own armchair podium validation — rests on our medal count. They like to write letters to the editors and post anonymous comments on websites every four years, when they jump on the opportunity to criticize our country because we don’t take our six-year-olds away from their families and banish them to gruelling athletic training camps until they are teenagers.
In Canada, bless our athletes’ hearts, it takes real sacrifice and true grit — and the support of generous family and sponsors — to even come close to following an Olympic dream.
In China, only gold medals are celebrated, which is sad.
It’s one of the things during these Olympic Games — two and three being Rosie MacLennan and Paula Findlay — that has made me feel proud to be a Canadian.
Although I don’t need the Olympics to make me a proud Canadian.
While winning medals is a phenomenal achievement we celebrate — and, yes, lots of medals makes the party even better — most of us are comfortable enough with who we are as a nation to simply enjoy the Olympics for their true spirit of competition and display of unparalleled athleticism. (Wow, Michael Phelps.)
Go, Canada, go — keep giving it your all.

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