Congratulations to the Alberta Winter Games organizing committee, volunteers, sponsors, coaches, athletes and friends and family of all those who attended our Bow Valley event.
Unlike with some current Olympians, there was no complaining about conditions or organization. In fact, at every venue Outlook staffers attended, there were smiles on faces all around. Mind you, thanks to Mother Nature throwing a cold snap into the proceedings, some faces had very rosy cheeks.
Still, a couple of thousand young athletes had a taste of what their future might hold in store, much like Canadian Olympians now doing us proud in Sochi, Russia.
They competed and mingled with athletes they didn’t know, from sports they weren’t part of. They dined together, were directed and took direction from officials, suffered the agony of defeat or the jubilation of victory – generally they competed on and enjoyed their sport on a much bigger stage than they normally would in the closed confines of individual sports.
For some, the 2014 Alberta Winter Games may be the nudge they need to set their sites on becoming the next Alex Bilodeau, or one of the Dufour-Lapointe sisters, or Denny Morrison.
And luckily, the Winter Games athletes wrapped things up here in the valley in time to have the opportunity to view some of the highs and lows now taking place at the Sochi Winter Olympics.
Like the rest of us, Alberta Games athletes are now no doubt following the Olympics and seeing the true spirit of amateur athletics displayed, along with the crass attitudes of those who feel the Games are their own little stage.
Among the highlights are Bilodeau’s (Mr. Olympics) second gold medal in moguls. The win was fantastic, but Bilodeau showed there is so much more to being an Olympian than medals. He credits his disabled brother with helping him strive to reach his goals and dreams; in an interview, he related that he took extra skis to Russia to donate to athletes in underfunded programs in Russia and Kazakhstan.
Then there is Canadian speed skater Gil Junio, who gave up his spot in Wednesday’s (Feb. 12) 1,000 metre long-track event to teammate Denny Morrison because he felt he had a better chance to medal. Morrison crashed during trials and didn’t earn a 1,000 m spot, but Junio made a sacrifice and Morrison did he and the rest of Canada proud by turning an unexpected opportunity into a silver medal.
Then, for Bow Valley Olympics viewers in particular, there was the déjŕ vu event where Canada’s cross-country ski coach Justin Wadsworth ran on course, bent down and fastened a spare ski onto the boot of Russia’s Anton Gafarov so he could continue his race in front of the hometown fans.
The event somewhat mirrored one in 2006 at the Olympics in Torino, Italy when Norwegian coach Bjornar Haakensmoen gave Canmore’s own Sara Renner a ski pole to replace one she broke on-course. Renner and teammate Beckie Scott then went on to win a silver medal – ahead of the Norwegian team in fourth.
Along with a medal count, it’s these kinds of stories that make the Olympic Games something special.
On the other hand, there is the whole controversy surrounding freestyle U.S. snowboarder Shaun White, who first pulled out of the slopestyle event to allegedly concentrate on the halfpipe, prompting barbs from Canadian competitors, then, according to CBS Sports, “lost” the gold medal in the halfpipe … As if U.S. gold was a foregone conclusion.
Odd, though, other media headlined the halfpipe event as a glorious victory for Switzerland’s iPod, Iouri Podlatdtchikov, along with Japanese sensation Ayumu Hirano, 15, who took silver and Japan’s Taku Hiraoka, with bronze.
One event, with two entirely different takes on it.
Go, Canada, Go
