“I wanted him to have dignity as he crossed the finish line” — 2014 Sochi Olympics Canadian Coach Justin Wadsworth Pays Forward Norwegian Bjornar Hakensmoen’s Kindness from the 2006 Torino Olympics — Cathal Kelly’s Toronto Star Story Tells It Best

11 February 2014

Citations — to the pertinent background stories

Cathal Kelly, Canadian coach’s act of kindness in cross country skiing at Sochi Olympics reflects all of us, Toronto Star (11 February 2014)

Mike Wise, Honorable Move Made in a Snap, Washington Post (26 February 2006)

Decency

Justin Wadsworth, head Canadian cross-country ski coach, came to Russian sprint semifinalist Anton Gafarov’s aid yesterday at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Gafarov had fallen, breaking his left ski and destroying his chances of finishing anything other than last. Yet, he was still trying to finish the race in accepted Olympic fashion. The broken, tangled ski made that humiliatingly difficult.

Wadsworth, standing in a group of coaches, saw Gafarov’s difficulties and stepped onto the course to give him one of Canada’s spare skis. The Canadian coach stooped to put it on for the exhausted Russian:

“I wanted him to have dignity as he crossed the finish line,” Wadsworth, a three-time Olympian, said.

This story says something about the power of kindness to beget the same through time

Cathal Kelly, writing about the incident in the Toronto Star, said something important in that connection:

The medals matter, but from the perspective of a whole nation, they are the dessert.

The way these Canadian athletes and coaches carry themselves is the real patriotic meal.

For two weeks, they are the only face we present to the whole world. If so, thank God for Justin Wadsworth. Russia will remember what he did here longer than they will remember any Canadian medalist, in the same way that we still remember Bjornar Hakensmoen.

Who is Bjornar Hakensmoen?

He was the Norwegian cross-country coach who gave Canadian competitor Sara Renner one of his ski poles, after she broke hers in the cross-country sprint relay race during the Torino Olympics in 2006. She went on to win silver. As a result of Hakensmoen’s generosity and Renner’s ability, the Norwegians were shut out from the podium.

Hakenmoen’s reasoning?

"Winning is not everything in sport," Hakensmoen said. "What win is that, if you achieve your goal but don't help somebody when you should have helped them?"

"I was just helping a girl who was in big trouble. If you saw her, you would do the same."

"How can you be proud of a medal if you win when someone else's equipment is not working?" he said. "You have to help."

The Norwegians finished fourth. Not one person in Norway has sent Hakensmoen an angry letter about costing his country a medal.

Obviously, Wadsworth’s gesture cost Canada nothing, but . . .

There is something compelling about kindness’ ability to see suffering and humiliation.

Watching Anton Gafarov limp along with his mangled ski was painful. Wadsworth put it exactly the way I felt:

No one was moving. Everyone just stared, including a group of Russian coaches.

“It was like watching an animal stuck in a trap. You can’t just sit there and do nothing about it,” Wadsworth said later.

Why was he alone in that recognition and willingness to aid?

The moral? — Decency shines

Especially in a world seemingly filled with self-serving narcissists and greedy power-brokers.

Let your heart be sunlight.

PeteFree.com

“I wanted him to have dignity as he crossed the finish line” — 2014 Sochi Olympics Canadian Coach Justin Wadsworth Pays Forward Norwegian Bjornar Hakensmoen’s Kindness from the 2006 Torino Olympics — Cathal Kelly’s Toronto Star Story Tells It Best