I thought I wasn’t going to be emotionally involved watching the Athens Olympics. Boy, was I wrong.
This past day see-sawed like a boat riding tsunami-sized waves. We started the day with Lori-Ann Muenzer winning Canada’s first gold medal in track cycling. It was unexpected and delightful, and it was good omen for the rest of the day.
But fate can be a bitch. Alexandre Despatie began the finals of the 3m springboard diving event in great shape, having been first in the prelims and semi-finals. His first two dives were excellent…and then he screwed up the entry on dive number three! My insides began to groan, as I felt another medal slipping away from us.
Suddenly, cut to Olympic Stadium, and the arrival of the women’s 100m hurdles finalists…including gold medal favourite, Perdita Felecien of Pickering. They were introduced, they took their marks on the starting blocks…and I was already on my feet, nervous as hell. I’d have started biting my nails…if I had any left to bite.
The gun fired, they started running….and Perdita crashed into the first hurdle, then into the lane of the Russian finalist, then to the ground. It was spectacular and ghastly…and it ended an Olympic dream — perhaps Canada’s only sure thing during these games — in heartbreaking fashion.
I was speechless as I watched the crash. My hands were over my mouth, my eyes were wide with disbelief…how could this have happened? My shock quickly turned to sympathy as I watched Perdita try to hold herself together: the rage, pain, and sorrow so obvious behind her warrior’s mask. Her tearful apology to the Canadian public on the CBC was heard all across Canada…but she had no reason to apologize. She had already done more than enough to put herself and Canada on the map. She had done more than enough to make us proud. In the most anguished moment of defeat, she remained a wounded yet radiant role model. She will be back in 2008.
But the damage was done. And I don’t even want to talk about my own blubbering as I watched Perdita’s mother, surrounded by reporters, barely holding her own emotions in check.
Back to the diving contest…and the materialization of a silver lining. Despatie nailed his final two dives, earning a silver medal. It is Canada’s first ever medal in Olympic diving, with the promise of another medal to come later in the week on the 10m platform — the event in which Despatie is world champion.
But the pendulum of emotion swung once more, leading us to the ball park, where Canada was up against Cuba in the baseball semi-finals. It was an exciting, nerve-wracking game — everything baseball at its finest bills itself to be — yet it ended with a Canadian loss, and bump down to the bronze medal game against Japan. A game where there is definitely no guarantee of success.
What can I say about this day? At home, at the gym, in car listening to the radio…I was glued to news reports, entranced by live coverage, and sucked up into a whirlwind of emotions. I haven’t been so affected by a day of Olympic events since…well, since forever! Real life provides drama on a scale no reality-television crap can ever hope to emulate. What does Survivor, Big Brother, or The Apprentice have that could possibly be better than what unfolded on our screens this past day?
It’s life…in all its glory, and all its pain. The ancient Greeks knew this long ago when they staged the original Olympics. I’m beginning to understand the legacy they have bequeathed to us…but if I have to go through another emotional ramjet ride like I did yesterday, I’m going to need a great deal of therapy!
