After the closing of the games, and before returning to our typical daily routines, we should take a moment to reflect on why these Olympics were so great for Canada. We accomplished a lot in Vancouver and it’s hard to narrow it done to the top 5, but here’s my take on the top 5 successes of the ‘Vancouver 2010 Olympic games’:
1. 14 Gold Medals
Simply put, “We Owned the Podium.” Winning 14 gold medals means we won 14 events, the most of any country. Germany, in second place, could only muster 10 and the US could only manage 9.
However, the system is flawed. It counts all medals (gold, silver and bronze) equally, which to me, is bogus. And with this, Canada finished 3rd overall.
The Canadian national anthem was heard at medal ceremonies 14 times (4 more than Germany) meaning that we won the most amount of events, thus taking the games.
Where else in life can you finish 2nd or 3rd and still be considered equal to 1st place? Nowhere... because it doesn’t compute. Here’s a few examples:
- On radio stations, the 1st caller wins the contest... not the 2nd or 3rd
- In a draw, the 1st name pulled wins the prize...not the 2nd or 3rd
- In the office, the 1st person in line for a promotion gets the promotion... not the 2nd or 3rd
Finishing 2nd, 3rd, or worse means you didn’t come in first and therefore, didn’t win. It’s simple; Canada won most events, meaning we won the ‘Vancouver 2010 Olympic games.’
2. CTV and its Consortium Coverage
I interned at CBC Sports for a few months in university and was so impressed with how they covered events but the CTV/TSN coverage of the games blew me away. These guys and gals worked incredibly hard to bring us thoughtful, engaging, entertaining and flawless coverage of the events. The events were well broadcasted, the athlete profiles were engaging, the on-the-fly montages were energetic and the voice-over monologues were touching and inspiring. Brian Williams, Jennifer Hedger and James Duthie in particular were incredible. Heck, everyone at CTV and TSN was incredible and they all deserve gold medals.
But perhaps the best part of the CTV/TSN coverage was that it allowed Canadians to focus on our athletes all the time. Thank god we didn’t have to watch NBC coverage of the events with their ‘larger than life narratives’ and ‘zero to hero stories’ surrounding their American athletes. They take patriotism to a sick, uncomfortable, over-the-top, no wonder nobody likes you level.
3. Making us fans of previously unpopular sports
I’ve never watched curling before the 2010 games. But due to great coverage of Cheryl Bernard, I became a big fan. Enough said.
She’s purty. She looks better in Silver than any Swede looks in Gold. period.
Also, Jon Montgomery was the coolest person at the Olympics and any Canadian would be lucky to drink a beer with him. Skeleton was put on the map because of this charismatic Gold medal winner.
4. Stephen Harper
Our Prime Minister was at EVERY event, seriously. Finally, Canada got to see a ‘human’ side to our previously ‘machine-like’ leader. Obama is a person, and now Harper is too.
No wonder he wanted to prorogue parliament for a few weeks... he wanted to watch the games in peace. I can’t blame the man for that. Good for you Stevie.
5. Canada wins men’s and women’s hockey gold
By far, the best part of these Olympics is the fact that we won gold in both men’s and women’s hockey. We proved to the world and especially the cocky Americans that Hockey is our game. Hands-down. No questions asked. Essentially, our men and women said to the Americans “bullshit, stop it.” Congrats men and women... and girls don’t ever feel bad for having an on-ice brew after the gold medal game, you deserve it.
Best part was, I called it after the men lost to the Americans in round-robin play... check my blog.
Canada was brought together by these games, let’s keep up the patriotism.
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