The Post looks back at the 39 gold medals Canada has won in Winter Games history.
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When We Owned the Podium: Barbara Wagner and Bob Paul
- January 29, 2010 9:00 AM |
- By Noah Love
Story provided by
As Canada prepares to watch its athletes go for gold at the Olympics in Vancouver starting on Feb. 12, the National Post looks back at the 39 gold medals the nation has won in Winter Games history.
Name Barbara Wagner and Bob Paul
Olympics 1960 at Squaw Valley, Calif.
Event Figure skating, pairs
The setting Expectations were high that Wagner and Paul would bring home a medal considering Paul was Canada's flag-bearer at the Opening Ceremony.
On the day It seems everything that could go wrong for the pair did. Paul was still feeling the effects of having to carry the flag the night before through a foot of snow (a storm had blanketed the Opening Ceremony). Instead of getting a chance to sleep in, he and Wagner were forced to wake early because the pair's scheduled time slot was switched at the last minute from the afternoon to 10 a.m. to accommodate a hockey game.
Their streak of bad luck would continue during their performance. Halfway through the pair's routine, their song was cut short after the arena's record player skipped. The hiccup clearly affected Paul and Wagner's rhythm, and forced the two to start over. Rather than psyche them out, the unplanned warmup benefited Paul and Wagner, and the pair skated straight to Olympic gold.
Afterlife Paul and Wagner went on to win their fourth title at the world championships a week after the Winter Olympics. When they retired, Paul did some minor acting work, most famously appearing in the TV show Bewitched as -- go figure -- a skating coach. He also briefly trained figure skater Peggy Fleming, who went on to win gold for the United States at the 1968 Olympic Winter Games.
Wagner was more low key after retiring -- she married and had a son, eventually moving to Atlanta to live with her son and his family.
John Shmuel, National Post
About the Author
- Bruce Arthur Bruce Arthur is the National Post's national sports columnist. A Vancouver native, he has been with the Post since 2001, and a columnist since 2005. He is covering his second Olympics, after the 2008 Games in Beijing. He expects these Games to be slightly less propagandistic, and for China to win slightly fewer medals.
- Joe O'Connor Joe O'Connor is a roving sports feature writer with an open-ended beat. He joined the National Post in 2002, and has spent the past seven years bouncing from sport to sport, offering fresh perspectives and delivering unique stories wherever he goes. Whether it has been getting Don Cherry to open up about his love life; George Chuvalo to talk about heartbreaking loss; or racing down the side of a mountain with former Crazy Canuck, Dave Irwin, the veteran Postie chases a story wherever it leads. Before joining the newspaper he was a two-time silver medalist at the National Magazine Awards. Vancouver will be his first Olympics.
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