Lamaze Class Of The Olympic Rings

Some stories almost seem too far-fetched to even fathom. Too far removed from reality to possibly consider.
If you're familiar with the story of Eric Lamaze, you had to think what transpired this morning in Hong Kong was one of those moments you'd never see. But there was the Canadian equestrian, wiping tears from his eyes on the top of the medal podium after winning the individual show jumping title at the Beijing Olympics.
Only Michel Vaillancourt, in 1976 in Montreal (the equestrian events were held in nearby Bromont that year), had brought Canada an individual medal (a silver) in the event in previous Olympic history. Until Lamaze, though, the colour had never been gold.
There was a time, not so long ago, when this seemed to be the most unlikely of possibilities. Lamaze was booted from both the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Games for doping infractions. As he told CBC's Tom Harrington in a revealing pre-game feature, he contemplated suicide at one point as his life spiralled downward.
The Canadian Olympic Committee wouldn't let Lamaze compete at the Athens 2004 Games, even though a lifetime ban had been overturned. His Olympic dreams seemed as far away as ever but he arrived reborn at these Games as the fourth-rated rider in the field and with Hickstead, a jewel of a horse (some compare him to the legendary Big Ben, the famous mount of Lamaze's Canadian teammate, Ian Millar of Perth, Ont.).
It came down to a jumpoff between Lamaze and Sweden's Rolf-Goran Bengtsson. When Lamaze and Hickstead completed a clean round, the gold was theirs. And, it could be suggested, one of the great comeback stories in Olympic history. Vindication doesn't even begin to describe the hell that Lamaze endured and survived.
"When you give people chances and allow them to come back from their mistakes, great things happen," Lamaze told CBC's Erin Paul before accepting his gold medal. "I'm a great example that you shouldn't give up on people."
We can only imagine what was running through Lamaze's mind as the strains of O Canada played in his honour.
"There were so many days when you wouldn't dream this was possible," he said.
Olympic Morning host Diana Swain wondered if Lamaze "had his life flash before his eyes. There is a lot of history in that face." She also predicted — and probably not wrongly — that the story will be worthy of a movie someday.
It is an inspiring tale of redemption, indeed. Too many of us have asked for (and needed) second chances in our lives. Eric Lamaze reminded us today just how much a man can achieve when all he asks for is an opportunity to show he has changed for the better.
Sometimes, you see, faith really is the most special virtue of them all.
"He vowed to earn Canada's trust again," CBC anchor Scott Russell later said during a replay on Olympic Prime.
Consider it a promise kept, in just about every way possible.