If it had gone on for any length of time, most Canadians, or at least the media covering the Olympics, would have had a national conniption fit.
As it is, one young man from Quebec’s moment of glory on Sunday means we no longer have to listen to a constant lament drilled home every few minutes on the TV during these Winter Olympic Games.
You know the lament — ‘Canada has never won an Olympic gold medal at home. Who will be the first?’
Of course, the quiet thought many Canadians were probably having was, what if we don’t win any, period.
That would have been a national disaster.
Twenty-two years ago in Calgary, there was realistic hope that figure skater Brian Orser could win a gold, which he did not. After that, there was no other realistic shot and we weren’t really worried about it.
As Canada has improved in recent Olympics, the expectations have gone sky high. While Calgary’s lack of gold was a disappointment, if that had happened in Vancouver, that might have been enough to send our national inferiority complex into the stratosphere.
Instead, Alexandre Bilodeau skied the run of his life Sunday during the men’s freestyle moguls. His exuberance at being declared winner was matched only by that of this entire nation.
Now, it’s time to settle in and not worry about the first gold.
