As 2012 comes to an end, it's time to reflect on the sports moments that had an impact on me this year. This is not a list of THE "best" moments, you can read the major newspapers and watch sports stations for those. This is a list of moments that brought tears to my eyes and goosebumps on my skin.
I'll start on a sad note with those who left the sports world in their prime.
Much more than a sports reporter to Canada's amateur athletes, Randy Starkman was the fan's looking glass into the athletes' world of training and competition. Husband, father, colleague and writer, he will be missed for years to come. He was remembered this past week in the Toronto Star. You can read the article here.
Canada also lost two Olympic hopefuls in 2012.
Sarah Burke was a pioneer of ski halfpipe. She was the best at her sport and successfully fought for ski halfpipe to be added to the 2014 Olympics. Winning the first gold medal for Canada was almost a sure thing, until she died doing what she loved to do. Click here to read the article that Randy Starkman wrote after her death.
Nic Zoricic died while racing in a ski-cross race in Switzerland. Since leaving alpine skiing to join ski-cross in 2009, he was climbing up the rankings with two World Cup podiums. Click here to read the article that Randy Starkman wrote after his death.
On a cheerier note, here are the moments that had me cheering, gave me goosebumps and brought tears to my eyes:
2012 Olympics
Choosing favourite Olympic moments is so difficult because I was thrilled with each and every medal that Canada won. Above and beyond that, I loved seeing the personal bests whether that meant a medal, making a final or semi-final or going faster, farther or higher. I was also proud of the Olympians who came home disappointed that the best they had to offer that day wasn't the best they had hoped for whether that meant finishing a triathlon in tears or on the pavement, flopping on a last dive, stepping on a line, running out of steam or finding the conditions or pressure too tough to handle.
I am proud of all our Olympians but here's an attempt at some of my favourite moments:
Leading the Team
One of my favourite Olympians, Simon Whitfield led Canada into the Olympic Opening Ceremony. Watching Canada walk in is always one of my highlights and recognizing so many of our athletes walking into the stadium in 2012 was amazing.
The Sprinters
Brent Hayden 100m freestyle bronze and Mark de Jonge 200m kayak bronze
Short distances are exciting because everything has to be perfect. There's no time to come back from a poor start. It's all out for the full distance and we won bronze in the water and on the water.
The Long Distance Swimmers
Ryan Cochrane 1500m freestyle silver and Richard Weinberger 10k bronze
The beauty of the long distance swimmer (cyclist, runner, skater or skier) is that a surprise is harder to come by. If you're one of the best, you have a lesser chance of not winning a medal. So although Ryan and Richard didn't surprise me with their medal wins, it's amazing to see them maintain their positions as some of the best in the world.
Meeting Silver Expectations On The Water
Adam van Koeverden, Men's Eight Rowing and Women's Eight Rowing
Winning a medal wasn't a sure thing as anything can happen in sport as we saw many of our favourites stumble so it was wonderful to see our successful rowing tradition continue along with Adam winning his fourth Olympic medal.
Overcoming adversity
THE call during the Women's soccer team's semi-final was a pivotal play that sometimes overshadowed Christine Sinclair's amazing hat-trick against the United States. Overcoming the letdown of their dream being crushed by a referee's call put them in our hearts. They could have also lost that bronze medal match, but they didn't. They kept fighting to the last whistle and came home heroes with a last minute goal by Diana Matheson. Christine Sinclair would be named flagbearer for the Closing Ceremony.
Our First Gold
Rosie MacLennan won our first and what would be our only gold medal at the Olympics becoming our golden girl for 2012.
Give Your Everything
Clara Hughes didn't win her 7th Olympic medal, but she was the epitome of Give Your Everything when she led the road race in the first half of the race and then finished a wonderful 5th in the time trial. Clara's Olympic career will be remembered for her medals but also for her smile as well as her grit and determination.
Thrill of Victory and Agony of Defeat
4x100m relay - even if we didn't get to keep the bronze, the moment when I realized Justyn Warner was going from 5th, to 4th and finally to 3rd down the final straight of the relay had me jumping up and down with excitement. Watching Gavin Smellie, Seyi Smith, Jared Connaughton and Justyn Warner celebrate was an amazing moment that I will not forget. Click here for a blog post I wrote about the race and their journey. Click here to see an early celebratory reaction.
The Reactions
There are moments that stick in your mind for the athletes' reactions. My favourites were:
Mark Oldershaw's shocked hand on his mouth look when he realized that he won the bronze medal in the 1000m canoe. Click here.
Christine Girard coming off the stage after missing her last lift thinking she was not on the podium to reading her lips say "J'ai une médaille?" and her reaction afterwards. (translated as "I have a medal?" I am going by memory of what she said since I can't find a video of that moment)
Antoine Valois-Fortier's tearful celebration when he won the bronze medal in Judo. Click here.
Diana Matheson scoring the winning goal giving them the bronze medal and the celebration happening in front of my husband's parents and uncle and aunt. Click here for a photo that includes his uncle (in white shirt and Tilley hat) and aunt and mother partially blocked by Christine Sinclair. Great seats!
Brittany MacLean hugging her sister Heather at the Canadian Olympic trials when Heather qualified in her last race and would join Brittany at the London Olympics who had qualified earlier.
2012 Paralympics
The television coverage for the Paralympics was disappointing but the team's performance wasn't as the competition at the Paralympics gets tougher and tougher.
Although the major networks made it difficult to catch the action, there were still some amazing moments for our Canadian Paralympians.
Leading the Team
As mentioned above, nothing gets the tears in my eyes like watching Canada enter the Opening Ceremony. Garett Hickling, a five-time Paralympian in wheelchair rugby led the team in 2012. His team would go on to win the silver medal.
Veteran and Rookie Success in the Pool
Benoit Huot won a gold, a silver and a bronze medal in 2012 with three personal bests and a world record. The three medals increased his overall total to 19 Paralympic medals including 9 golds for his four Paralympic Games.
At her first Paralympic Games, Summer Mortimer won two gold, one silver and one bronze. What will her total count be when she has competed at her fourth Paralympics?
Basketball Gold
Winning gold at basketball isn't something Canada does at the Olympics, but at the Paralympics, Canada won gold in 2000, 2004 and now 2012.
Milestones
I have a special place in my heart for the Olympics, but 2012 saw Canadians achieve some amazing milestones and firsts. Here are some of them:
Ryder Hesjedal (cycling)
1st Canadian to win a Grand Tour when he won the Giro d'Italia. Click here and here to read my posts. He also won Male Athlete of the Year.
Jean-Philippe Le Guellec (biathlon)
1st Male Canadian to win a biathlon World Cup. Watch the race here.
Eugenie Bouchard (tennis)
First Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles championships when she won the Junior Wimbledon Championships.
Filip Peliwo (tennis)
First Canadian to win Junior Wimbledon and U.S. Open. He was finalist at Australian Open and French Open ending the year ranked #1, a first for a Canadian singles player. The future for Tennis Canada is very bright.
Kaillie Humphries (bobsleigh)
Streak of 8 wins, including the World Championships, started at the end of the 2011-2012 season with Jennifer Ciochetti and continued with new partner Chelsea Valois.
I can't imagine 2013 being as wonderful as an Olympic year, but I look forward to seeing the Winter Olympians gear up for the 2014 Games as well as following the summer athletes' journey for the next three and a half years.
Happy New Year!
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