O' Canada! Land of Olympians, the winter kind

By: Julian Lim

Posted: 3/5/10

O' Canada, home to free health care, Celine Dion, the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and now Winter Olympic gold medalists at home.
During the 17 days of the recent Olympic games, Canada showed the world that with strength and determination, their athletes could take home the most gold medals.
After Canada defeated the United States 3-2 in the final event of men's hockey on Sunday, Canada earned themselves a Winter Olympic record count of 14 gold medals.
Overall, the U.S. beat out the Canadians with the overall medal count of 37-26. During the medal ceremonies however, gold is going to weigh more than bronze or silver.
In the hockey events, Canada's men and women teams showed the world that the best hockey players in the world are born and bred in Canada, which in a way is true. Hockey's nationality lies in Canada. In 2002, the Society for International Hockey Research reported that the first official game of hockey was played in Montreal, Canada in March of 1875.
When the men's U.S. hockey team beat the Canadian team with a score of 5-3 to advance to the quarterfinals, it looked like the U.S. had a chance at beating the Canadians in the their own game, especially when it came down to the U.S. versus Canada for the gold in the finals.
But then going into the finals, Canada definitely pulled through and gave the Americans a fight. Canada was on top for most of the final match with a score of 2-1. Then with 30 seconds left in the third period, the U.S. tapped one in to tie. On the last day, in the last official game of the Olympics in Canada, in a sport that Canada invented, the game goes into sudden death overtime. It could not get more crucial than this for the Canadians.
About eight minutes into overtime, Canada's star hockey player, Sidney Crosby, gave the Canadian children a hero to look up to when he ended the game with a gold medal shot that was heard around the world. Though it was a bittersweet ending for the U.S. and their journey to the top, it was a hell of way to end the Winter Olympics.
Along with the Canadian men's hockey team, Canadian women's figure skater Joannie Rochette also had a memorable story Canadians will be talking about for years to come.
Two days before Rochette was set to compete, Rochette's mother died of a heart attack when she arrived at Vancouver to watch her daughter skate. When it came time for her to compete, Rochette still went out on the ice and skated with the heavy emotional strain few people can handle.
At the end of her routine, she walked off the ice with tears in her eyes and a standing ovation from her country. Though she had placed bronze in this event, she earned a gold medal in many people's hearts.
But the Canadians weren't all angels on the ice. In the Canadian women's hockey game, there was little chance for any other team going against them.
In the gold medal match, it was a 2-0 shutout when the Canadian women's hockey team defeated the American women's team. The Canadian team was so stoked on the win that they moved the locker room celebration to the ice with the gold medals, cigars and alcohol. Though the fans had left, the Olympic staff was still there. Immediately after the party, pictures of 18-year-old Canadian star hockey player, Marie Poulin, drinking beer with her teammates began to float around on the Internet. This was such a concern because the legal drinking age in Vancouver is 19. This almost caused the International Olympic Committee to ban the women's hockey team from the closing ceremony.
All scandals aside, Canada hosted a great Olympics. There were tears, jeers and something to cheer for. In the end, the home team kept a couple of priceless medals as souvenirs.
Now that the Winter Olympics are over, let's see how well Canada does in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London without the snow and ice Canada is used to.