I’m in Olympic withdrawal. Seriously, it’s a thing. I’ve enjoyed watching the Olympics immensely for years. The earliest Games I can remember watching were the Sydney Olympics in 2000. I got really into them during the Beijing Olympics in 2008. I regret not living in Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics even though I couldn’t have helped it. So now, after 18 days of always having something to watch when I turned on the TV, I’m in withdrawal. I miss not seeing athletes’ faces on my screen 24/7. I know it’s only two years until the Games in Rio but I do have to admit, I prefer the Winter Olympics…and 2018 seems like eons from now.

This time around I felt like I had the maturity and awareness to realize what it is that people like so much about the Olympics. I’ve come to the conclusion that familiarity is responsible for that. All controversy aside, I think we can agree that by the time these Games ended, we were simply just proud to be Canadian.

I’m sure we all saw some of the tweets from various athletes preceding the Games – stories of bobsledders breaking through bathroom doors because they wouldn’t unlock and snowboarders confused over why the water in Sochi was unsafe to wash your face with. It seemed like there was something new everyday! This is the first batch of familiarity that I thought of. As serious as some of these concerns were, the athletes had a laugh about them, and I’m glad that social media is advanced enough that we can laugh along with them.

The hole American Bobsledder Johnny Quinn had to break in his bathroom door after it wouldn’t unlock.

Speaking of social media, I thought it was amazing to see athletes interact not only with each other during the Games, but with their fans too! I mentioned Canada’s speed skating Team Pursuit athletes in one of my tweets and two of them favorited and retweeted it! And yes, I’m still fangirling.

What I think counts the most for the familiarity that makes the Olympics so intriguing to watch is that fact that athletes are normal people. Many of us will never be elite athletes or even win a medal (heck, I’m still trying to win Roll Up The Rim). It can be easy to watch these athletes and feel completely unaccomplished…until you realize they’re just like us, just probably more fit:

• Canadian bobsledder Kaillie Humphries loves nothing more than to ride her motorcycle when she has the time. As she puts it, she “like[s] fast things.”
• Lucas Makowsky, a member of the Canadian speed skating team, just finished his degree in Chemical Engineering and Economics at the University of Calgary…all while competing at an elite level.
• Of course we can’t leave out Canada’s Golden Boy, freestyle skier Alexandre Bilodeau, and the heartwarming story of his brother, Frédéric, who has cerebral palsy. Alex has stated that his brother lives his dreams through him. To me, they both deserve many congratulations.

Our similarity to our athletes goes beyond the routine of daily life and our mutual abilities to survive in subzero climates. For 18 days every two years, we have the opportunity to go on an amazing journey with our Olympians. We are with them through their triumphs, their hardships, and every little thing that comes their way. And in the end, no matter how many medals we’ve won, we can all say the same thing: that we’re proud to be Canadian.

The Bilodeaus celebrating Alexandre’s win in Sochi.

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