Olympics

From February 6th to February 22nd, the Olympic Winter Games are taking place in Milano Cortino, Italy. The Olympics are steeped in history, beginning in Athens in 77 BCE. The revival of the modern Olympics took place in Athens in 1896. The revival was aimed to promote international peace and understanding through sports. There were 280 athletes from 12 nations competing in 43 sports. Since the revival the winter Olympics were introduced in 1924. They have alternated between summer and winter games every 2 years since 1994.

This year Canada sent 207 athletes: 108 women and 99 men. This is the first time in history that Canada has sent more women than men. They will compete in 14 sports and 16 disciplines.  

The opening ceremonies are spectacular, and this year was no different. When the athletes start to come in all dressed the same, representing their countries, you can sense the excitement. Canada arrives early in the parade of athletes, and I am always excited to see them. I look forward to the vivid red uniforms with the maple leaf displayed on it. The announcer said, "there they are" and in that moment I was thinking, "this can't be Canada". I couldn't believe what our athletes had to wear to the opening ceremonies. As I sat in dismay, I realized that the jackets were a mystery to me. They looked like they were carrying a sleeping bag around their necks. Everything appeared to be many sizes too big. When did we ever become a country that wears brown and red, not even a nice red, I might add. Some are describing the jackets as looking like an oven mitt or a Tim Horton uniform. Lulu Lemon designed all of the uniforms for performance, warmth and visibility for all conditions. The athletes must have been very warm in those suckers by the time the ceremonies were over. The athletes were having a great time, and they didn't seem to care what they had on, just so proud to be there.  

Getting up every morning and watching the recap of the Olympics starts my day. That Ron Maclean just keeps going. He will be 65 this year, although I have to admit I thought he was older. The man is a legend; he has the ability to speak on any sport although most of us are familiar with him in hockey. 

I watched an interview with Piper, an ice-skating dancer. Her and her partner won bronze in their beautiful ice dance performance. On her birthday January 16, 2023, Piper was diagnosed with Stage 1 ovarian cancer. She underwent successful surgery and treatment. She is married to the love of her life and has decided this is her "Yes" year. A "yes year" is a not about doing everything, but about saying yes to things that promote growth and joy, rather than saying "no" out of fear or routine. 

Hockey and curling are two of our strong sports and are always medal hopefuls for us. The NHL players are allowed back into the Olympics. Sidney Crosby in my mind is an icon for hockey. He is acting like the big brother to his team and is leading them on and off the ice. The Ladies hockey team got off to a rough start when Poulin, the team Captain, was injured in the first game. It is nice to see her back; the team responds so differently when she is playing. 

Curling has turned interesting with so much controversy. Marc Kennedy has made his mark at the Olympics. It is said, "the only thing that upsets a Canadian is accusing them of cheating". Marc clearly, stood behind that statement and used his very colorful language to make his point. Now there are extra officials at the hog line to watch for double touching. Rachel just received her first ever double touch violation, and her rock was removed from the game. The game of curling has been referred to as a "Gentlemen's Sport". There are more courtesies of the game than actual rules. The games start and finish with handshakes. At the beginning of a game everyone wishes each other "good curling". Curling has always been a great sport to watch because of that.   

Saskatchewan is well represented at the Olympics with 3 athletes from Regina and 4 from Saskatoon participating. It makes sense that there would be curlers such as Ben Hebert and the 3 hockey players. Mark McMorris from Regina has been at the Olympics before and is there again competing in Snowboarding. He was injured in practice but has been cleared to compete again. He is a wild man on that board. There is also a man from Regina in the biathlon. What I found interesting is the mogul's competitor Maia Schwinghammer from Saskatoon. She is following in her father's footsteps and trains on Black Strap Mountain. Black Strap is man made and was built in 1971 for the Canada Winter Games. Maia placed fifth in her event. Pretty darn good for a province that only has one mountain. 

It seems Canada is never a country that gets lots of medals. Instead, we are often the grateful fourth place winners. Currently, Canada is in 11th place for medals with 9 in total. We got our first gold on the 9th day in moguls. We have 3 silver and 5 bronze to add to the collection. 

A gold medal was formerly worth $1000, but with the value of gold going up it is worth $2400 in 2026. Canadian athletics get bonuses for winning a medal. They will receive $20,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze. Unlike other countries our athletes get little funding.   

The thing I sit in absolute "awe" is the training that is required to get to the Olympics. For some their sport is only a few seconds or minutes long. If something happens in that time, their Olympic dream is over. They are back to more grueling training with the hopes of doing better in 4 years. I often hear the announcer say, "they are young, and what a good experience, they will be back in four years". 

Representing Canada at the Olympics, has to be an incredible experience. Of course, a medal is the ultimate goal, but clearly just having the opportunity to compete is what it is all about. The athletes are so proud to represent Canada, and I hope they know how proud Canada is of their representation of our wonderful country.