An Olympics of Depth And Grace

Edition #127 — February 28, 2010

In the last 2 weeks I've transformed myself into a temporary TV sports fan in watching the Canadian Winter Olympic Games unfold in Vancouver. Like anyone here, I was delighted that our country won the most gold medals ever in a Winter Olympics competition. Yet equally outstanding to the display of great sportsmanship was the roller coaster of emotions I experienced in watching dreams being realized, and others broken. No wonder sports can be so addictive when we can jump from sorrow and frustration to outright bliss just from watching someone testing their personal limits in public. I've never felt the urge to cheer passing joggers, but when someone is reaching for the excellence that gold represents, it becomes a goal that we can all relate to, whether as participants or spectators. This is the glue that has bonded us in these past two weeks, watching people be the best at what they love to do.

Winning has its obvious rewards and while personal victory mattered to each competitor, it seemed that vanity and arrogance were largely absent from all events. In fact it would have felt oddly out of place in these humble and friendly games. And when they did arise in some competitors, they appeared as an ugly spectre that tarnished the cordial, inclusive atmosphere that others embraced in this arguably friendliest of all nations. In previous competitions, egotism might have seemed a necessary aspect of the sport, yet here it was humility. What we saw was the emotional and spiritual depth of athletes, not merely their strength and skill. And as Michael J. Fox jokingly suggested, all visitors were now honorary Canadians. Even more than winning gold, I think that what we valued even more as a country was winning so many hearts.

I'd like to thank all of the athletes, organizers and volunteers, and all people, everywhere, for allowing me to feel warm and cozy as part of this Canadian tribe of mine. In a country where we cherish our freedom to be as we are and not given to being torn apart by manufactured fears and fundamentalism, we have shown without a doubt, an exceptional level of inspirational grace that I know is highly infectious.


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