Olympic Gold

Why do countries want to host the Olympic Games?

Even before a city is awarded the Games there is considerable cost associated with marketing, travel and the endless effort - for what? Permission to host a sporting extravaganza for a few weeks.

The lead up to the Games involves massive investment in infrastructure - creating an athletes village, building new sports facilities and upgrading existing ones - all costing billions of dollars that many feel could be better spent on other things. Who pays - you do, I do, we all do.

When the Winter Games comes in Vancouver and Whistler in 2010 our communities will be crowded. There will be traffic chaos and security will be tight. Forget making a dinner reservation at your favourite restaurant or going for a solitary stroll along the waterfront. Hassles or not, it begs the question - why?

Everyone has a view on whether the Olympics are a good thing or not. Personally, I believe its the best thing that could possibly happen for our community and indeed our country. It is about being part of history. Who would have heard of places like Lake Placid, Lillehammer, Nagano or Albertville before the winter Olympics came to town.

Since Athens hosted the first modern summer Olympics in 1896 almost every two years the world has come together for this extraordinary event.Today the Olympics are a celebration of more than 200 countries, providing an opportunity for mankind to learn from one another. The Olympics are a conduit for excellence, fairness and mutual respect. They bring us together as citizens of the world, giving us a window through which to witness not only the victories and the close calls but also to celebrate every athlete and their personal road toward the Olympic dream.

Remember the 1960 summer Olympics in Rome. Here a 19 year old Cassius Clay danced like a butterfly but stung like a bee to take Olympic gold and shoot to stardom. Sprinter Wilma Rudolph took three gold medals and what an incredible inspiration she was. One of 22 children she couldn't even walk without braces until she was nine years old. Rome also showcased other stars like barefooted Ethiopian marathoner Abebe Bikila.

Olga Korbut stunned us all in Munich in 1972 with a sensational routine on the uneven parallel bars. Back home in Belarus she received so much fan mail that the post office had to assign a special clerk to sort it out. Four years later at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal a fourteen year old Romanian Nadia Comaneci dazzled everyone on the balance beam performing pirouettes and back flips on a piece of equipment that measured four inches across. She achieved a perfect ten from the judges, becoming the first gymnast in history to know what it was like to be judged a perfect 10.

Sarajevo in 1984 when British ice dancers Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean captivated everyone with a sensual interpretation of Bolero (Ravel) - it was breathtaking to watch.

What about Canada's first Winter Olympics in Calgary in 1988 - dubbed the Friendly Games? There were certainly some characters there with an Olympic dream - like the Jamaican bobsled team. And who could forget Eddie Edwards, the inept British ski jumper who earned the nickname Eddie the Eagle. He finished dead last in his events but won the hearts of everyone for his spirit. At the closing ceremony the IOC President said of Calgary's Olympics people set new goals, created new world records and some even flew like an eagle.

In 2002 in Salt Lake City Canada's men's and women's hockey teams became Olympians, wowing us with their performance and filling us with National pride. I will bet that not one NHL hockey player would have traded his gold medal for a Stanley Cup ring.

How much time, commitment and effort does it take for an athlete to reach the peak of their sport to be ready for the challenge when the Olympic starting pistol fires or whistle blows. To have participated at all is the thing. Few have the opportunity to stand atop the podium while their National anthem plays.

While the overall good of the Olympic spirit cannot be denied, there is also a dark side - cheating, biased judging and political interference. Who can forget when Ben Johnson won the 100 meters in a stunning 9.79 seconds at the Seoul Olympics. Three days later, stripped of his gold medal he was on his way home in disgrace after testing positive for anabolic steroids, putting a black mark on the sport and on Canada.

There have been many other dark moments in Olympic history like the Munich terrorist attack on the Israeli team.

At the 1936 Olympics awarded to Berlin before Hitler came to power, it provided the perfect opportunity to showcase Nazi Germany. Germany's athletic superstar of the day was Lutz Lang, a brilliant long jumper. But African American, Jesse Owens caused the upset, winning four track and field gold medals, breaking 11 records and defeating Lang in a very close long jump final. Hitler refused to hang the medals around Owens neck.

There has also been poor behaviour from those appointed to oversee fairness - like the French judge in Salt Lake City in 2002 who temporarily denied Canadians David Pelletier and Jamie Sale their golden moment.

We were in Sydney, Australia a year after their summer Games. During a tour of the Sydney Opera House our guide talked about how Australians had embraced the Olympic Games. He said that, like the Opera House, there had been loud opposition because of the cost as well as opposition from environmental groups. But he added with a smile that when the traditional relay of runners bearing the Olympic torch approached Sydney’s outer limits it was as though a blanket of universal acceptance cloaked the country, growing into wild enthusiasm.

So my question to you is - where will you be on 12 February 2010 when the host country's team enters the Olympic stadium at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia.

I am confident that wherever you are, you will never forget that moment.

Olympic Gold was written in June 2005 as material for a Toastmaster Speech the purpose of which was to inspire the audience