Manitobans to cheer in London

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As numbers go, it's not a huge presence. The Manitoba contingent at the 2012 Olympic Games starting this week in London, England numbers in the single digits -- seven, in fact, when you count American Chelsea Stewart, born in The Pas. That's only one more body than this province sent to Vancouver in 2010, for speedskating alone.

Winter sports undoubtedly are this province's strong suit because of an obvious advantage: We probably have more winter, and more of its extremes, than most Canadians living along the 49th parallel where our country tends to congregate. So we make the most of it, so to speak.

But what this province may lack in number, it gains in sheer strength of character. Centre stage in the Manitoba contingent is Canada's greatest Olympian, Clara Hughes. Ms. Hughes is a multi-medallist in both Summer and Winter Games. Best-known for repeated medals in speedskating, she has returned to cycling and is vying for supremacy in the time trials and road race as she did in Atlanta, Ga. in 1996.

What many believed was her last Olympics in Vancouver two years ago was simply another turning point for this formidable athlete who epitomizes the Olympic spirit of leadership and ambassadorship, parlaying her profile to help disadvantaged children through the Right To Play organization. Recently, she has been telling Canadians of her struggles with depression in order to de-stigmatize mental illness and give others hope.

Ms. Hughes, now of Glen Sutton, Que., ties Winnipeg's Cindy Klassen for being the winningest Canadian, at six Olympic medals each. There are many female Olympians with many more medals, but Ms. Hughes is the only Olympian to have won multiple medals in both the Summer and Winter Games. When the competitions get underway on Saturday, she will have notched her sixth Olympics.

While seven athletes is comparatively small, it is a real improvement to Manitoba's team of two at the Beijing Games in 2008. Ask Janine Hanson. She was there and she will be there again in London, rowing in the Women's Eights. (Other Manitobans on the team are rowers Morgan Jarvis, Kevin Kowalyk, soccer player Desiree Scott and 1,500 metre runner Nicole Sifuentes.)

Ms. Hanson and Ms. Hughes are in elite company. Manitoba has few athletes who have made it to multiple summer Olympics, and for medalists one would have to throw back to the 1928 and 1932 when Dauphin's Jim Ball won multiple sprint events.

So this province has some history with superstar summer Olympians. Undeniably, most Canadians will have their sights set on the return to the diving tower of Quebec's Alexandre Despatie, recovering from a spectacular accident that sliced open his head. Sports fans will watch the Americans dominate the swimming lanes and hold their breath for about 10 seconds as the world falls in love all over again with Jamaica's 100-metre bullet Usain Bolt.

But there aren't many countries that can say they've watched their Olympians play in back-to-back Games. If Clara Hughes pulls off a seventh medal, it will be a long time before any athlete will match her feat, man or woman. And it would be a fine Canadian start in the two weeks of athletic supremacy playing out halfway around the world.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 23, 2012 A10