Hughes and Klassen 5000m, Gold and Bronze
Originally uploaded by Points North.
I've admired Clara Hughes for a long time since I first saw her win a bronze in cycling waaaay back in the summer Olympics. My admiration grew when she turned up in the winter Olympics to win a bronze in speed skating. She's always had such energy and enthusiasm that you can't help rooting for her, just like Chandra Crawford. And she's the one athlete I've seen who consistently gives it her all. She's like those male cross-country skiers who cross the line and plant their faces in the snow, although in her case today, it was the ice, and thankfully, unlike the male skiers, she doesn't have spit splattered all over her face.
I don't know how she times it, how she managed to grin coming into the last turn, and have precisely enough energy and pain tolerance to cross the line in first, and not one iota more. Finally today, her all got her the gold. She deserves it! All the Canadian women who've pulled through in this Olympics deserve our applause. And Cindy Klassen who achieved an amazing feat today, winning her sixth Olympic medal, an all-time high for a Canadian, a bronze, deserves a huge round of hip hip hoorays. She won every colour of medal at Torino 2006.
Hughes and Klassen, along with the short track speed skaters, brought our medal total to just under the 25 predicted: 24.
What a day! For them and for us.
Tags: Olympics, Winter Olympics, Torino, Canada
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