National pride on the podium

In winter Olympics the Canadian women’s hockey team have kept us on the edge of our seats every four years as they have gone up against the American women. This summer Canada’s women’s soccer team defeated the US team in the final minute of play with a single goal in a penalty kick. The win was a warm-up for the championship game between Canada and Sweden.

My wife was up by 6:30 in the morning to watch the game. Sweden led off with a single goal in the first half of play and then Canada tied it up in the second half and both teams played through the first 90 minutes and then through the 30-minute overtime. Neither team could score. We were on the edge of our chair as the shootout began.

Each team had five chances. Canada scored first. Then the Swedish players scored two goals. Canada’s goal- keeper, Stephanie Labbe kept the team in the shootout blocking the final shot by the Swedish team. Canada’s final kicker, Deanne Rose tied the shootout to force sudden death. Everything was tied up again. The tension in our house was strong.

We held our breath. Labbe on the first sudden death kick blocked the first Swedish kicker, setting up Julia Grosso to score giving Canada a 2-1 victory to capture the gold medal. We could relax as Canada’s team swarmed onto the field to hug Grosso and Labbe.

It was as exciting a win as possible.

The gold medal was not the only medal won by Canadian athletes on Friday. Mohammed Ahmed was the first Canadian ever to win a medal in the 5000 meters. His silver medal performance was unbelievable as was the bronze medal performance of Canada’s 4X100 men’s relay team.

Every day Canadian athletes have performed beyond expectations. Canada may not have the most medals of these games, but in swimming, track, canoeing, kayaking our teams have set new Canadian records and personal best times. We can’t ask more of our athletes.

On many of the world teams we are seeing a change of the guard as new young athletes as young as 12 or 13 have captured medals over their older rivals.

In Canada, we will see a new group of young people choose sports that they hope will take them to the Olympics in the next decade. Our Canadian Olympians are great ambassadors for their sports and role models for Canada.