Victories Without Medals

Good sportsmanship we hail, we sing,
    It's always pleasant when you spot it,
There's only one unhappy thing:
    You have to lose to prove you've got it. 
- Richard Armour (1958) Nights with Armour: Lighthearted Light Verse

As the Canadian medal count rises, it is easy to get caught up in the thrill of being on the top of the Olympic medal board for the first time in history, even if it only lasted for eighteen hours.  Canadian athletes have hit the snow and ice with fire.  In just five days, we've had multiple opportunities to hear our national anthem played, our hearts swelling with pride.  But there are a couple of other victories that we've been treated to that don't come with medals or anthems. They are triumphs of spirit, of friendship, of comraderie.  And in many ways, they are the sweetest victories.

Russian cross-country skiier, Anton Gafarov was favored to win a medal in competition yesterday.  Gafarov crashed twice and broke his ski.  He continued to try and drag himself to the finish line though his medal hopes were dashed.  Canadian coach, Justin Wade saw Gafarov struggling to make the last couple hundred metres.  He ran onto the course and without exhanging words, gave Gafarov a replacement ski, even fitting it onto his boot.  Gafarov was able to finish the race with dignity, in front of his countrymen.  When asked about the gesture afterwards, Wade seemed a bit bewildered.  He didn't think it was a big deal, but rather what any coach would have done.  Amazingly, Wade was standing among many coaches.  No one did a thing except him.

Then there is the case of Gilmore Junio.  Junio qualified to compete in two speed skating events in these Olympics - the 500m and 1,000m events.  Junio skated the 500m finishing 10th.  Before the 1,000m event took place, Junio decided to withdraw from the event, thus allowing Canadian skater Denny Morrison to take his place.  It couldn't have been easy for Junio to give up his only other chance to reach the podium at these games.  And he did qualify fair and square, beating Morrison out for the chance.  But somehow, he decided, Canada would have a better chance with Morrison who had already won two world championship silver medals in the event.  Today Denny Morrison added Olympic silver to his medal collection.

It is only day five of the Olympics and we've already had the chance to witness two acts of generosity.  I can hardly wait to see what the next eleven days bring.