Column: Bilodeau’s Valentine better than mine

Too often in this day and age we find ourselves looking for the negative while watching sports. For example, former University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow devotes hours of his time to charity and has tremendous faith in God, yet he gets criticized for his annoyingly pompous persona.

On Sunday night, however, the world witnessed an athletic feat so heartwarming that suddenly no one could make fun of Canada anymore.

Alexandre Bilodeau skied the race of his life to capture Canada’s first-ever Olympic gold medal earned on Canadian soil.

The setup for the evening was almost identical to Saturday night’s women’s moguls. Canadian Jenn Heil, the favorite, was the second-to-last competitor on Saturday.

She nailed her jumps and flew through the moguls to capture the lead. Yet American Hannah Kearney went bigger and faster to steal the gold from Heil. In the men’s event, France’s Guilbaut Colas — in his neon orange jumpsuit — was last to go, but his technique and jumps were not good enough to crack the podium.

The moments that ensued invoked the tremendous feeling that erupts in your gut after finally accomplishing your goal in an athletic competition. Bilodeau’s mouth wore a bright smile as he triumphantly thrust off his skis. NBC switched to snapshots of the roaring crowd. Red and white scarves, beanies, jackets, towels and flags were waving in the air. Bilodeau’s family shouted “Oh my God” several times, as they couldn’t control themselves.

After Canada failed to win a gold medal at the previous two Olympics that it hosted, the wait was finally over.

ESPN reported that Bilodeau’s coach said, “It’s so big for Canada. Since the beginning and for Jenn yesterday, these games are all about Canada. Now the first gold is won. The media won’t talk about it anymore. It’s done.”

My two favorite television shows, “How I Met Your Mother” and “South Park,” are consistently filled with numerous jokes making fun of Canadians. I also have a group of friends, as I think most guys do, who enjoy constantly finding something to make fun of. So we have often poked fun at Canada, like so many others in the comical world. There is never anything personal, just the usual ridicule of the Mounties, toothless hockey players, their desire for Internet money, their accents or their overly friendly way of life. Following the shockingly odd opening ceremonies, it seemed as if the Vancouver Olympics would be another source of Canadian jokes — and they still may be.

Yet on Valentine’s Day, Alexandre Bilodeau put an end to the long drought of Canada’s Olympic struggles. As Americans, it is easy to overlook one gold medal, since we tend to perform well at the Olympics in many sports. But the accomplishment becomes more meaningful when you add the failed attempt by Jenn Heil the previous night and the dominance of the United States in the North American rivalry.

Then, to top it all off, Bilodeau’s story was revealed, jabbing the final dagger into your heart. Bilodeau’s older brother, Frederick, has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair. The wheelchair could not hold him back from pumping his fist as hard as he possibly could for his brother. Alexandre said that his relationship with his brother pushes him to work harder because he knows his brother cannot.

“Even if it’s raining, I’ll take it, I’ll go train,” Bilodeau told ESPN. “He doesn’t have that chance, and he’s having a smile every morning he wakes up.”

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As my friends and I sat there in the moments after the celebration, one friend said, “It would have been awesome if the Canadians didn’t win an Olympic gold. Then it came down to the men’s hockey final and Ovechkin and the Russians beat the Canadians to snub them of the gold. Damn!”

We all laughed and continued to poke fun as we often do.

But as they replayed the triumphant mogul run, I focused in on a red-and-white towel raised in the crowd. The towel simply said “Believe” and had a Canadian maple leaf on it.

At that moment I truly understood how much this medal meant to the entire country of Canada.

It is a feeling that often occurs while watching the Olympics, more than any other athletic competition. These athletes devote years to training for one competition.

The anxiety and the pressure of the moment often come with stories of battles through injuries, difficult losses, struggling family lives and extreme training. This story and this medal certainly rank among the top of the list of Olympic stories.

Bilodeau’s victorious run on Sunday night will be a celebrated Canadian moment forever. As Bilodeau gave his post-ski interview, he couldn’t help but smile.

Then, after the interview was over, before the camera crew could turn things over to the studio, Bilodeau’s girlfriend jumped onto him to give him such a passionate kiss that I am positive she believed they were off the air.

I guess Bilodeau must have given her the best Valentine’s Day gift ever: a Canadian Olympic gold.