I was finishing my plate of vegetable medley in the volunteer cafeteria at the Old Day Lodge at Cypress when the men's moguls final was nearing its end. Alex Bilodeau from Quebec was about to go down on his final run of the day. We got dressed quickly and headed out to see if he could write a new chapter in this country's sports history books...
3, 2, 1... Go! He flew off from the gate and zipped down those moguls to a crowd of close to 10 000 cheering fans. First jump: completed... Second mogul stretch... he's as steady as ever. Second jump: perfect. Just a few more seconds... and he crosses the line. The crowd is clapping and the next 30 or 40 seconds feel like an eternity. The moment the score came on, the crowd went crazy! Not just the spectators, but so did the sercurity workforce, bus drivers, volunteers, and anyone really who was able to see Alexandre do it: write that new chapter in Canadian Olympic history. The first gold medal on home soil and the first gold for Canada at these Winter Games.
It is really the main highlight of the day. The fact that it was warm and sunny, that the spectator and bus flow went smoother than last night, that the volunteers and leaders were better prepared today... it's all secondary details. We all went home tonight feeling proud. Tired and cold, too... but mostly proud. And those smiles that VANOC kept asking us to always have on, well, they came naturally.
Let's be inspired by this great day.
Go, Canada, go!
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