Canada's men's eight celebrate during the medals ceremony for the men's eight at the Shunyi Rowing and Canoeing Park in Beijing on August 17, 2008. (Fred Dufour/Getty Images)Fuelled by disappointment in Athens, and determination to succeed in Beijing, the Canadian men’s eight has come to the end of a four-year journey to the podium.
The reigning world champions had been living under the shadow of their crushing defeat four years ago, where the medal favourites finished in fifth place.
"I've been thinking about it ever since," said rower Kyle Hamilton.
Now, Hamilton and the rest of the men’s eight will have far fonder Olympic memories. On Sunday, the crew clinched the gold medal that eluded them four years ago.
Since their disaster in Athens, the crew has toiled under the single-minded focus of winning in Beijing.
Four hard winters
“Gold medals are awarded in the summer, but they’re earned in the winter. That was four years of hard winters,” said Hamilton.
The crew trained under head coach Mike Spracklen. “Mike Spracklen creates the most demanding training regime in the world,” wrote Adam Kreek in a blog for CBC Sports.
“He doesn’t just pressure his athletes with volume and intensity of work. He constantly presents opponents to compete against. Mother Nature is on the list.”
The crew trained each day in sun, rain, snow, hail, strong wind and high waves. Kreek recalls pea-sized chunks of hail hitting his ears while his frozen body struggled with every stroke.
“As aches throb through my body I embrace them. I focus on winning, and the good feelings that come with success,” Kreek wrote.
The experiences in the boat are varied – there are two first-time Olympians, two dads and 25-year-old Malcolm Howard, a Harvard graduate who still lives at home with his mom.
Despite the differences, the team seems to be tightly knit. “[In Beijing] we dominated, and that is such a testament to what a great crew this was,” said Jake Wetzel.
The men's team of Ben Rutledge of Cranbrook, B.C., Kevin Light of Sidney, B.C., Howard of Victoria, Andrew Byrnes of Toronto, Wetzel of Saskatoon, Dominic Seiterle of Victoria, Kreek of London, Ont., and Hamilton of Richmond, B.C., had not lost a race in two years.
Dominated opening heat
The crew dominated their opening heat at Shunyi Olympic rowing park on Monday. The Canadians opened up a full boat-length lead at the halfway mark of the 2,000-metre race before cruising to a seven-second victory.
They went into the final race on Sunday favoured to win, but they know better than anyone that at the Olympics, nothing is assured.
Head coach Mike Spracklen points to the pressure on the team four years ago as a contributing factor to the fifth place finish, pressure no rower in the Canadian boat had ever felt. All nine men were first-time Olympians in 2004.
But with seven experienced Olympians in the Canadian boat this time around, the coach expected nothing less than a win. The crew finished the job on Sunday, the culmination of four years of painful physical and mental training.
After the race, Rutledge stood smiling on the dock at Shunyi Olympic rowing park.
“A medal means what we’ve been doing for the past four years is right.”
