WOW!

Wow! There isn’t many other ways to describe the Winter Olympics which were hosted by Canada at Vancouver and Whistler and which concluded in storybook fashion last Sunday with Canada winning a gold medal in hockey against the Americans in overtime.

Not only was this Canada’s best ever Winter Olympic games in terms of the total number of medals that were won, it was also a record for the most gold medals won at any Winter Olympic games ever!

The Olympics are unique in the sense that they capture the attention of people who rarely watch sports at any other time. I experienced this personally watching my mother being captivated by the men’s and women’s quest for gold in hockey. The excitement culminated across the country this past Sunday as it seemed that the entire nation was in front of television sets watching the men’s hockey gold medal game between Canada and the United States. That victory set off a national celebration that closed streets in many of Canada’s largest cities.

While the hockey gold medal may have touched off the euphoria, it was really a celebration of what had been an extraordinary two. While the games began with tragedy, with the accidental death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, the balance of the games were a demonstration of resilience and determination. From the thrilling gold medal won by Manitoba’s own Jon Montgomery in skeleton to the emotional bronze medal won by Joannie Rochette after the sudden death of her mother, the games produced almost every emotion a person could feel.

Most remarkably, the Olympics resulted in a display of national pride rarely seen in Canada. This wasn’t isolated to the actual site of the events but happened right across the country as we usually reserved Canadians wore Olympic gloves, had flags on our vehicles, cheered every Canadian performance and sang the anthem loudly after every victory. Perhaps we should have seen this coming in the days leading up to the Olympics while the Olympic flame was being enthusiastically greeted in local communities as it made its way to Vancouver.

Some of this show of national pride may be as a result of technology which allowed Canadians unprecedented access to the games and social networking mechanisms like Facebook and Twitter which provided real-time response from Canadians across the country. But it may have been something more than that. It might, as some commentators have speculated, been a sign that Canada is maturing and growing as a nation and more prone to stepping out and showing its national pride.

Whatever the reason or the long-term effect, the Vancouver Winter Olympics provided Canadians with a tremendous opportunity to celebrate all of our athletes regardless of their individual outcomes. And it also served as a timely reminder for each of us how fortunate we are to live in Canada and, despite our humble nature, that it’s ok to display our patriotism from time to time.