Where were you that Sunday afternoon when Sidney Crosby shot the puck that declared Canada the Olympic Hockey champions of 2010? Did you see how Canadians from coast to coast jumped with excitement and joy? Did you join in the screaming and the singing of the national anthem “O Canada”?
It did not matter whether you were in that hockey rink in Vancouver or at Dundas Square in Toronto, or in your bedroom sharing the moment on television. The glorious moment brought all the people of Canada together and made each feel being Canadian. It did not matter what we call ourselves or where we came from. What is important is how we felt. We all became part of one community under that red maple leaf that swayed up in the air. We felt good, proud and fortunate that we are a part of this great country, Canada.
That moment was the culmination of two weeks of expectations, frustrations, ecstasy and agony. It started with gloom and fear of a bad omen when that Georgian athlete died while rehearsing at the luge track. Then the Canadian spirit was buoyed by the first gold medal won by Alexandre Bilodeau. This was followed by ups and downs, a medal here, a medal there, clashes on the slopes by our Alpine skiers whom we had put our greatest hopes for gold. The first week was a time of anxieties. Some people started to laugh at our hopes of “Owning the podium: But the Canadians still believed. The song “I Believe” continued to be on the air through our victories and defeats.
And that faith triumphed! By the end of the first week, our hopes were really up. Gold medals started to be won, most of them by our women athletes. We had the adorable Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir remind the world of the Canada goose in their ice dancing performance that reaped gold. The first gold medal in Whistler was brought by Jon Montgomery in the skeleton race. Spectators held their breaths as Christine Nesbitt won her gold by two one-hundredths of a second over the World Cup champion from the Netherlands. Canadians waited every night for the award ceremony to see the maple leaf flying high to the tune of “O Canada”.
These happened 14 times, one more than any country ever won in an Olympic competition. At the end, Canada indeed owned the podium by the number of gold medals it won. (And won them on Canadian soil!).
Canadians partied till morning on the last day of the Olympics, not only in Vancouver but all over the country. Toronto saw its biggest gathering at Dundas Square. The merrymaking continued during the week after the closing of the games as the athletes flew home and were welcome by family, friends and the public in general. The cleaning up had started and the dismantling of booths and temporary shelters had become the primary preoccupation.
There is hardly any mention of the Olympics in the media these days. What have been left of the two weeks of mad celebrations, tears and frustrations, crashed hopes and dreams realized? Are there some lasting memories we can look back to in this event that took years to prepare and billions of dollars spent.
There is no doubt that the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics was a resounding success. Congratulations should be extended to those who managed it and to the thousands of volunteers who came from all parts of Canada to graciously serve without remunerations. A fervent thank you is deserved by those corporations that sponsored families of athlete to be able to attend the event. Appreciation should be extended to the extreme security provided in this age of terrorism. And of course, high fives to the media and the modern technology that brought the proceedings all over the world.
The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics had also been a vehicle for a better understanding of Canada and its people. It is the second largest country in the world, with a population of about 33 million, only a tenth of the population of our neighbour in the South. It is a land wherein more than a hundred languages are spoken and yet its people live peacefully together in a mosaic of harmony. Tourists from here and abroad may have tasted for the first time a Canadian treat: beaver tails. (No, they do no come from beavers). It is a kind of pastry shaped like a beaver tail, sprinkled with sugar. Those who attend the CNE in Toronto in summer or some country fairs may be familiar with the delicacy. And poutine! Some guests in the Olympics tasted it for the first time. It is actually French fries with gravy and cheese.
This event also showed many things about Canada that newcomers and guests from other countries may not know. There is definitely more to this country than just hockey and snow or as one American comedian said “just the Stanley cup and moods.” IT is a vast land of fantastic and awesome beauty peopled by proud and generous human beings, of different backgrounds. It is a country that looks back and respects its past, as shown by the participation of the First Nations in these Olympics. It honours and respects its citizens who have contributed to its development as shown by the people who carried the Olympic flag and the Olympic torch. It is a land where athletes from all parts of the world can compete fairly and with security.
It is a place where athletes can work incessantly and bring a dream to reality through the assistance of the community. It is a nation that brought the power of a dream into a reality through hard work, perseverance and faith. It is a land of peace.
Three years ago, I attended a conference in the United States, wherein the US national anthem was sung by the Americans with a fervor that held me in awe. I had not heard “O Canada” sung with that pride and spontaneity until these Olympics. This time I heard it with people waving the Canadian flag in the awarding ceremonies, on the hills of Whistler and Cypress Mountain, in the open streets of Vancouver, in the halls of towns in the country, in the bar of the cities and among Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. IT was sung by smiles on their lips and tears in their eyes by Canadians of all colours, ages, sexes, religions and social groups.
O Canada, our home and native land
True patriot love, in all thy sons command
Wait, some singers paused. Does our anthem sort of discriminate? I was not born in Canada. This is not my native land. And I am not a son; I am a daughter. Can we not have it revised like this?
O Canada, our home and cherished land
True patriot love Thou Dost in us command,
This issue was brought out the day after the closing of the Olympics. But the momentum was extinguished by the traditionalists; “Leave the national anthem as it is.”
Which of the legacies will then remain in the hearts of all Canadians and the world?