As the 2022 Winter Olympic Games wrapped up in Beijing, China on Sunday, the medal standings showed Team Canada with 26 medals.
That number is always subject to increase or decrease based on results from performance enhancing drug tests-which unfortunately happens from time to time at these kind of events-but as of presstime it showed 26.
Evaluating Canada’s results is tough-the 26 medals they earned matches the same number of medals won on home soil during the Vancouver, B.C. games of 2010, though it’s a decrease from the 29 won in Pyeongchang, South Korea in 2018.
For the Beijing Games, Canada total number of medals won placed them in the top four (behind Norway (37), Russia (32) and Germany (27). Some critics are quick to point out however that of Canada’s total medal count ‘only’ four were gold. Compared to B.C., the home team captured 14 gold medals and then eight years later took home 11 gold from South Korea.
For what it’s worth, we think Canadians have plenty to be proud of from this Olympics.
Finding fault with the games has become somewhat of a pastime for some people and, admittedly, it’s not that hard to do. A few months ago this very column criticized the International Olympic Committee for selecting China as a host nation-and we still stand behind that criticism. As mentioned above the games are still marred by doping controversies-and the last two weeks saw its share of those. No fans in the stands can really dampen the mood and serve as a reminder the pandemic still isn’t over-although the fact that COVID-19’s country of origin was able to host an international event less than three years after the discovery of the virus is something. Whether or not that was a good idea is certainly up for debate.
But through it all the games do continue to carry on that tradition of seeing the best of the world compete on the biggest stage while celebrating sportsmanship. Even if scandals have taken some of the shine of the Olympics’ luster over the years, they still have a way of uniting a country as we come together to cheer on our athletes-something this country could certainly use given the last month.
The games always take on extra significance when one of our own is on the screen and we saw that this weekend with Yarker’s Jay Dearborn working the brakes for Taylor Austin’s four-man bobsleigh team. The crew would ultimately finished 22nd, leaving them out of the running for the final 20-team heat. Another way to look at it is this: this team finished 22nd against the world’s best and had a chance to compete as Olympic athletes, something less than one per cent of the world’s population will ever do. Looking at it from that angle, a medal would be just a nice cherry on top of an already extraordinary accomplishment. The sense of pride that Dearborn brought to the village can’t be measured. He may have even just inspired the next future Olympian to follow in his footsteps.
-Adam Prudhomme