Canada started slow at the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing, receiving not a single medal for the first 7 days. Canadian fans that seemed discouraged finally got their awakening when the Canadian men's rowing pair Scott Frandsen and Dave Calder won silver on Day 8. Canada's first gold was won later on that day by wrestler Carol Huynh. This got the ball rolling, and put Canada on the board.
Not necessarily the best performance for Canada at the Beijing Olympic games, however Canada managed to tally up 18 medals in total – three gold, nine silver, and six bronze. With past performances at Olympic games, this would rank as their third best performance among past Olympics. In 1996 in Atlanta Canada won 22 medals, and in 1984 in Los Angeles, Canada won 44 medals.
Some specific highlights from the games include: Adam van Koeverden's silver win in the K-1 500, after a disappointing performance the previous day in the 1000 metres. Adam had the lead for most of the race but was overtaken by Australian runner and former training partner Ken Wallace; Karine Sergerie's silver win in taekwondo; Alexandre Despatie's silver win in men's diving; and finally The Canadian Men's Rowing Team's gold win.
But, the most emotional win was for equestrian rider Eric Lamaze. Riding his horse Hickstead, Lamaze defeated Sweden's Rolf-Goran Bengtsson in a jump off to claim victory to Canada's 3rd gold medal. Lamaze had previously been exempt from both the 1996 and 2000 Olympic games due to positive drug testing. This time around he was clean, and thankful that he had been given another chance to perform.
Overall, Canada wasn't seen much in the Olympic highlights this year. China seemed to take the cake as far as winnings, and US remained a team on top of it all. But, most Canadians were happy with the results – even the Canadian athletes were seen glowing once they returned home. They gave it their all, and you really couldn't ask for a far better attitude than those of Canadian athletes.
