In the Spirit of Fairness

10 In the Spirit of Fairness Do you think that the Olympics are all about winning? Not always. Here's something that happened during the 2006 Winter Games. It shows the true Olympic spirit. In the middle of a huge race, the Norwegian cross-country skiing coach did something really fantastic. And it had nothing to do with helping his team win a medal. It was the two-person women's relay race. The Canadians and the Norwegians were among the favourites to win. Which team would take home the Gold? The race was going well for both the Canadians and the women from Norway. Somewhere near the middle of the race, one of the Canadians broke one of her ski poles. There was no way to win now. You could see the look of despair on the young Canadian skier's face. She was watching her lifelong dream disappear before her eyes.

Suddenly, the coach from Norway came running from the sidelines. He had a ski pole in his hand and passed it to the Canadian skier. She looked at him, confused for a second, and then grabbed the new pole and raced away as fast as she could. In the end, the Canadian girls came second, finishing ahead of the Norwegians. In Norway, some people were angry with their coach. They felt he was a traitor to his own team. Then, people started to understand what the coach had really done. He could have stood there watching as the Canadians lost. But he decided to help. To him, it was the right thing to do. In a television interview, he said that winning the race because the other team had an equipment failure would not be fair. Of course, he wanted his girls to win- but not at any cost. Later, the coach was treated like a hero. People understood that his actions were those of a true sportsman. He put the spirit of fairness ahead of the desire to win at all costs. That's the Olympic spirit.