Olympic medal count no measure for national pride - Scott Haddow

I hope all Canadians and Sudburians feel the same way I do about our national athletes and their efforts at the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London, and that is nothing but pride.

Success will always be measured on results and not effort. This is the reality of high performance sport. You either like it or don’t. The standard for measuring success is the gold medal, and more prominently, how many.

If you based success solely on gold medals, you are probably a wee bit bitter right now.

This only happened once during the 2012 Games. Trampoline athlete Rosie MacLennan earned our country’s one and only gold medal.

I listened to many friends, family and acquaintances over the two-week period of the Olympics and it was easy to hear their disappointment in Canada’s medal haul. They wanted more and I can’t blame them one bit.

The athletes representing our country wanted more, so it is natural for all of us supporting those athletes to want more. Disappointment is fine. I can deal with that.

But any talk of letdowns and failures makes me sick. There is no need for it. This was no failure by our Canadian athletes. They poured out their hearts and souls to get Canada to finish in the Top 13 in the overall medal standings.

When it comes to the Olympics, yes winning a gold medal is the be all, end all of going to sport’s grandest international stage. Earning a silver or bronze medal is just as amazing in my books as well.

The medals aren’t the only thing Canadians should focus on when it comes to feeling good about what our athletes really accomplished at the London Games.

I believe the most important thing for us, the supporters, to focus on are the actual performances from a select few Canadian athletes who didn’t even come close to winning a medal and use that as our real source of national pride and genuine inspiration.

When I look back at the 2012 Olympics, yes, I am proud of the 18 medals our country earned. Putting everything together right at an event that comes around every four years, is contested by the absolute best in the world, and taking any colour of medal out of that scenario is downright mesmerizing.

It is something to stand up and holler your lungs out and wave that Canadian flag until your arms snap off.

But what really blew my mind and made my heart swell up with such national pride were performances by athletes Clara Hughes, Emily Batty and Paula Findlay.

These three athletes all represent what Canada is all about in my opinion. None of these three extraordinary athletes won a medal, but deserve to be treated just like gold medal-winning athletes for how they represented our country and showed the world what Canadians are really made of.

If there are any local athletes looking for elite athletes to look up to, I believe they couldn’t find any better than Hughes, Batty and Findlay.

Hughes, competing in probably her last Olympic games, didn’t go out on a personal high. Her best was placing fifth in the individual women’s time trial in cycling.

After the race, Hughes revealed she had been training and racing with a broken back for six weeks, the painful consequences of an earlier crash.

Hughes still wore our colours proud and pushed her battered body to the limit to place fifth. I know many people who wouldn’t even go to the bathroom by themselves if they had a broken back.

Batty competed in women’s mountain biking, and also competed hurt. She broke her collar bone, among other injuries, in a crash during the week leading up to her cross-country race in London.

She also sustained two bruised shoulders, busted up ribs and cuts on her hips, hands and legs.

In short, Batty had no business being on the course. Batty should have been on the sidelines for the race. She wasn’t. Batty was on the course pushing herself to go as hard as she could despite the poor condition of her body. Batty finished the race in 24th spot.

Findlay was the former No. 1 women’s triathlete in the world. She crossed the finish line in London in 52nd place, last overall. Findlay hadn’t competed in a full triathlon in nearly a year.

She only had six-weeks of serious training for the Olympics as she battled a nagging and debilitating hip injury.

When Findlay finished the race, she was in tears. She even apologized to all Canadians in an interview that will forever stick in my mind as the most powerful. Findlay wanted to quit the race. Her legs were finished and she had nothing left to give.

Somehow, someway, Findlay found enough spirit to persevere through the agony to cross the finish line. It was nothing short of remarkable.
These three athletes showed us all what Canadians can be made of: Grit, resolve, heart and determination.

When these elements are put together, it makes for an unstoppable and inspirational force.

I look to the Olympics for inspiration for my national pride. I look to the Canadian athletes for pure inspiration for what I do in every day life.

I believe it is easy to look at athletes such as Hughes, Batty and Findlay as the perfect role models and examples all Canadians should follow, not just Canadian athletes.

These three had a job to do and they did it to the best of their ability, despite injuries and pain. They rose up to the challenge and put forth their best, even though it killed them to do it.

They didn’t win medals, but at the end of the Olympics, they had won my heart for their valiant efforts to represent our country in the best way they knew how.

This is something we should all feel proud about. It’s an easy and awesome feeling to have.

Scott Haddow has been writing about sports in Greater Sudbury for the past 10 years.