I Interview Canada's Bronze Medal Heroes: The 2012 Olympic Women's Soccer Team

As I am heading toward the Jane Roos Gallery on Berkley Street at 7:15 am last Friday morning, for a fundraiser for CANFUND with the Canadian Women's Soccer team, I am wondering what kind of experience I am in for. I'm a little nervous and I wonder if I am dressed OK.

As I arrive, I enter the gallery to see art on the wall created by Canada's Olympic athletes. "Very cool," I think to myself. As I move a little further into the space, I am greeted by one of Canada's 2012 Olympic heroes Diana Matheson. The woman who scored the bronze winning goal. She is standing just past the entry way, all five feet of her, with a gentle smile and holding her medal. As I walk up to her, she hands me the bronze medal and says "take a look."

It's heavy and fairly large, the diameter of a good sized orange. Internally I am freaking out.

"This is awesome!!" I say to myself. "I am touching a piece of Canadian sporting history"



As I stand there examining the medal she continues to make small talk with everyone around her. "This must get tiring after a while," I say. "Believe me," she replies with a big smile, "there are worse things."

Still recovering from the rush of holding the medal, I continue into the breakfast area which is a beautifully decorated outdoor terrace. People are dressed smartly but casually. There are quite a few children running around. I exhale.

Me, Melissa Tancredi and my awesome friend Darka, who
invited me to the event.

There, I meet Melissa Tancredi, one of Canada's leading goal scorers. She has a very relaxed vibe about her and when I speak to her she becomes very focused on our conversation. We talk about how cool it was for the team to have the opportunity to play at Old Trafford, the storied home of English football giants Manchester United. She tells me about hearing the noise of the crowd cheering for Canada as they came out through the tunnel and on to the pitch at Newcastle Stadium.

I get goosebumps.

I tell her that for three days in August her team was the focus of a nation and how, in that moment, women's soccer was actually bigger than hockey.

She gets goosebumps.

I ask her what it felt like to see the Canadian flag raised. Her eyes get big as she replies

"Oh my gosh, it was a dream come true to see it in Wembley Stadium, of all stadiums, go up. We were so proud and so happy to represent our country and to bring a medal home."

As I continue to mingle, I begin to realize something. These are all very talented individuals, but they are women who have worked incredibly hard to get where they are, they have struggled with psychological hurdles, they have felt the depths of insecurity and the extreme of possibility. Although elite athletes, they are people just like you and me, with incredible strength of character, who showed us on the world stage just what is possible if we role up our sleeves, push and surround ourselves with those who bring out our best.

As the formal portion of the morning commences Erin McLeod stands up and tells the story of the journey from the disappointing defeat at the hands of the US to the moment of victory in the bronze medal match. She describes, still with emotion in her voice, the scene in the dressing room after Canada had lost the opportunity to compete for gold.

"At the end of the game we were absolutely heartbroken...For anyone who has put their whole heart into something in life, it's really really hard to come back when you literally put everything out there...We were all all in tears and our captain [Christine Sinclair] turned to us and said "I love you guys, and I am so proud of everything you have done. We are not leaving this place without a medal."

The Globe and Mail dubbed the Women's medal the "bronze that shines like gold." Maybe it's because this was the first team medal won by Canada in the summer Olympics since 1936, but probably it was because the women showed us what it meant to fight hard mentally and physically for something that was important. Melissa Tancredi said "at the end of the [bronze medal] game, I don't know if it showed on our faces, but our bodies said there was nothing left in the tank." That desire to push to the fullest extent of our endurance is a spirit that embodies the idea of "never quit." It's a spirit that we all have deep within ourselves. What I believe makes this medal so special to us is that it symbolizes a spirit that on August 9, 2012 we got to proudly call Canadian.


Never quit,

Mary

Next time: I do the 60km Major Meander at the Rouge Park Tour de Greenbelt.

Me and goal scorer Diana Matheson

Darka and goalkeeper Erin McCleod