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Published: August 17th 2016
We really had an amazing Day 11 here in Rio.
It can be heart-wrenching the the roller coaster of emotions that you can experience at such a huge sporting event such as the Olympic Games. With so many events taking place simultaneously, you can go from the highest of highs, to the lowest of lows and then back again in the blink of an eye. We were fortunate enough to have tickets to go and watch three of the four Women's Basketball quaterfinals today. With the exception of the USA vs. Japan game, all of the quarters were crazy close. Australia lost to Serbia by 2 points, Spain won over Turkey on a buzzer beater to win by 2 points and our Canadian women lost by only 5. Our day in the basketball arena meant we spent the majority of the day watching basketball while keeping tabs on the rest of our Canadian athletes on our Rio 2016 iPhone app. So many ups and downs today and it is easy to feel disappointed, until you put things back in perspective. Would we have loved to see our Canadian Soccer team play for Gold? Absolutely, but to defend bronze is a
pretty incredible accomplishment in itself and not something many would have guessed 10 years ago for Canadian Soccer. Would we have loved to see our Canadian Women's Basketball Team play for a medal? Absolutely, but if you'd asked folks at Canada Basketball if they thought their women's team would win Pan Am Gold, qualify for the Olympics and compete through to a quarterfinal all in a year, we're pretty certain they wouldn't have predicted it either!
The last time Canada had more than 3 gold medals at a Summer Games was all the way back in Barcelona (1992). Thanks to a dominating performance by Canadian high-jumper Derek Drouin we are another step closer to breaking that barrier here in Rio. While the first half of the games belonged to our women, so far the second half has been our men stepping up to add to the medal count.
Getting to cheer for our Canadian Women's Basketball Team tonight was very special. Their home base is in Edmonton and we personally know members of the team and coaching staff. We've watched how hard they work at training camps and we know what an incredibly kind, humble, hard-working and talented
group of women they are. We were nervous to the point of being sick for them all day and throughout the game. The 'basketball Gods' work in mysterious ways and although tonight wasn't our night, we predict big things for our Women's Basketball program in the next four years and leading up to Tokyo. We have no doubt our opportunity to cheer them on in a medal game isn't a matter of it, just when! It was an incredible experience joining so many other Canadians from across our huge country to cheer for our team tonight -- signing 'Oh Canada' with a group of Canadians prior to a sporting event never gets old, especially when you're a few thousand miles from home.
We were lucky enough to snag tickets to watch our Canadian Men's Indoor Volleyball Team battle Russia tomorrow morning in their first quarterfinal match since 1984. We need to be up in less than 3 hours so it is time to sleep.
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Kim
non-member comment
:)
I couldn't agree more about the ups and downs and ALL the emotions:) :( Do agree with you when it is all put into perspective. Watched our Canadian girls Basketball team play. Exhausted after the game and I didn't play lol. Watched our Equestrian team in a jump off for bronze this morning. Jumped every jump with them but it didn't help. They can be proud as the availability of this quality of horse for the Canadian Team is very limited in contrast to other top teams. Well done Fingers crossed for individual event. Go Olympians xo