Not too long ago the Biejing Olympics wrapped up with an impressive performance by the Canadian team. Though they started slow in the early events, they finished strong with my personal favourite moment being the Triathalon silver medal by Simon Whitfield. Maybe it was because of the drama of the race, or the fact that he is 3 days OLDER than me (thus enabling me to maintain some olympic delusions - look out London 2012!).
But now, as has become tradition since 1960, once the olympics end the paralympics begin. These are competitions for people with physical, mental & sensorial disabilities. I have to admit that I have never paid that much attention to the paralympics but with wikipedia at my finger tips I did a little research and was very impressed with what I found.
Did you know that at the 2000 summer paralympics in Sydney, the Canadian team had more gold medals than the United States? 38 to 36.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Summer_Paralympics
And in 2004 Canada repeated that accomplishment with 28 golds to the Americans 27. Canada also finished third in the overall medal standings at both of these events.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Summer_Paralympics
Now before I get too carried away with the “we rock, you suck” attitude, I must add that it is an amazing accomplishment for every single one of these athletes to make it so far with the hand they were dealt. What do most of us do when dealt a 7-2 off suit? We fold. But not these guys.
However, I think these results do say more about what it means to be a Canadian than the Olympics themselves. It shows that it matters to Canadians that the disabled have the same opportunities as everyone else. It also shows that we are a global leader in this area. And that is something that every Canadian can be proud of.
