For the second time, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to experience an Olympic event live. Last week was the pairs figure skating final, and last night was the absolutely breathtaking women's figure skating final. It was truly an international affair, as we saw many flags from many countries all over Pacific Coliseum. Aside from Canada, there were many Korean and Japanese flags, and even a row of Finnish fans as their country was well represented.
The performance of the gold medal winner, Yu-Na Kim was amazing. She won by such a wide margin and it was fully deserved. The silver medalist Mao Asada had a powerful skate which maybe lacked a bit of the grace of Ms. Kim.
But by far my most memorable moment of these Olympics, and one of the most memorable of my life, was watching someone tune out the most saddest moments of her life to deliver a truly inspiring four-minute performance. Joannie Rochette taught me a lot about courage. No matter how sad or angry or down you are, sometimes you need to tune it out and turn it off and go on with your life. I don't know if I could have done what she did, but the whole country (and most of the world) was with her. And she had a loving mother watching from the heavens and smiling. When Joannie blew a kiss to the rafters at the end of her skate tonight, well, that was (I'm speechless here).
Congratulations to my Korean friends on a well-deserved medal. But to the Rochette family, merci.
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