Canadian Olympians

Canada went 15 summer and winter games without winning more than six medals. Then there was a faint light when Canada hosted its first Olympics in Montreal in 1976. The Canadians did not win any gold but managed five silver and five bronze. Canada then went on to another eight years of relative mediocrity. Canada finally broke out of its drought in Los Angeles in 1984. Canadians won nine gold medals, seventeen silver medals and sixt

In the opening ceremonies of the 2002 games, Catriona was our flag bearer. This was just the beginning of an outstanding year for Catriona. For the first time ever, a Canadian had their gold when Le May Doan won the 500m. While defending the gold, Catriona set a new Olympic record of 37.30 seconds. Catriona’s great accomplishments earned her the 2002 Lou Marsh Award as Canada’s Athlete of the Year. Le May Doan also received an Honorary Degree from the University of Calgary for her skating as well as her motivational speaking. Catriona is encouraged by letters that she gets from kids. “You realize that for some kids, at least, you have become a role model. For me, that’s the gold” (Le May Doan, 2002, p. 174). Catriona will continue to make all Canadians proud and will inspire countless more kids to fulfill their dreams.

Jean-Luc Brassard was born in Grand-Ile, Quebec. He has been described as charming, kind, generous and courageous. One day while watching TV when he was young, he saw freestyle skiers, Yves and Dom LaRoche, and knew right away that he wanted to do that. So he started by tying a ladder to the eavestrough and put boards and blankets between the rungs. He then hosed down the whole thing with water and made a snow ramp at the bottom. This makeshift hill quickly gave way to an Olympic hill. Brassard competed at the 1992 Olympics and finished a disappointing 7th:

Williams attended the 1928 Olympic trials in Hamilton and shocked everyone by not only winning the race, but also tying the 100m Olympic record of 10.6 seconds. He also won the 200m race. Percy Williams was headed for the 1928 summer Olympics which were being held in Amsterdam. The Olympic program however wouldn’t pay for coaches’ travel expenses so Granger traveled to Amsterdam on a cattle boat. Once in Amsterdam, Granger moved Williams into a different hotel so he could get away from all the noise and be relaxed. Granger also had Williams practice his poor starts in the hotel room by having him take two strides and run into a mattress placed against the wall. All of Williams’ practice paid off. He won gold in the 100m and 200m sprints. He instantly became Canada’s first Olympic superstar. Huge crowds came to greet him in every city on the return trip to Vancouver. He was most certainly a Canadian hero.

There are many heroes in our society. Some are rescuing us from fire, others are battling crime and some are on the other side of the world fighting for our freedom. Some of our heroes are doing simple thing like running or skating and showing us how much it means to them by practicing for thousands of hours, without any guarantee of fame or fortune. They do it to bring pride and honor to the country they love. In turn their country is proud of them.

Some topics in this essay:
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