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BEIJING — As Canada raked in another fistful of Olympic medals, surpassing the total of 12 the country won in Athens four years ago, the face of a new breed of Canadian athlete has begun to emerge.
If the developing portrait is hardly of the sportsman as Ugly Canadian, it is certainly bold, demanding and even impertinent.
From the trampoline, where Toronto's Jason Burnett unleashed the night's most daring routine - a double layout with four twists, done backward for good measure - to the Bird's Nest stadium where hurdler Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, who had earlier confidently pronounced this her time to shine, won a bronze for Canada's first track and field medal since 1996, Canadians were proving themselves unexpectedly fierce competitors.
"This is the Olympics; why play it safe?" asked the 21-year-old Mr. Burnett.
Canadian Priscilla Lopes-Schliep celebrates her bronze-medal victory in the women’s 100-metre hurdles Tuesday at the Beijing Olympic Games. (Mike Blake/Reuters)
That same fighting spirit was everywhere in red and white as, with diver Alexandre Despatie putting together a silver-worthy performance in the three-metre springboard and Simon Whitfield setting the tone early in the day with a courageous late challenge to win silver in triathlon, Canada hauled in another four medals yesterday for a total of 13.
With five days of competition to go, Canada sits tied with the Netherlands in overall medals won, with the promise of more to come.
The paddler Adam van Koeverden, defending Olympic champion in the K-1 500 metres, broke his own world record to qualify for tomorrow's semi-final.
In Athens, Mr. van Koeverden, then a relative babe of 22, had dared to condemn the then-prevailing Canadian refrain of "Being happy to be here" as a cop-out.
Yesterday, the double medalist - he also won bronze in the K-1 1,000 metres in Greece - was dedicating his world-beater race to the 33-year-old Mr. Whitfield, whose performance he had watched on television.
Indeed, if Canadians really want more medals, if they really want to win, then they had better get used to the sight and sound of the diminutive Mr. Whitfield and the small but increasingly merry band of athletes for whom he is the spiritual leader.
This is what a winner looks like: Mr. Whitfield may well be the archetype of the future Canadian Olympian - an athlete with the gumption to demand the best from himself and his sports organization and the mental and physical fortitude to deliver big on the only day it matters.
As he said afterward of his late-in-the-game move that, with less than 100 metres to go in the 10-kilometre run that is the sport's gruelling last leg, saw him overtake long-time rival Bevan Docherty of New Zealand, "Do you want to know what I honestly thought?
"I rolled up behind him [Mr. Docherty] and said, 'You just made the biggest mistake you've ever made, letting me back on here.
"And then I said - I can't say it here, but I thought to myself - 'Fuck it: Here we go.' "
Mr. Whitfield even tore off his white cap, literally throwing down the gauntlet. He thought he had the race, too.
Adam Kreek, one of the gold-medal winning rowing eights last weekend, had bellowed out the anthem on the podium; Mr. Whitfield wanted to do the same.
He had "Sing like Adam Kreek" written on the handlebars of his bike; he was humming the line in his head as he made his move, telling himself, "Sing it like Kreek, buddy."
He had read Mr. Docherty correctly; the 31-year-old New Zealander was out of gas. So was Javier Gomez of Spain, the reigning world champion and until the final turn in the lead pack.
But Mr. Whitfield had misjudged Jan Frodeno of Germany, who passed Mr. Whitfield with about 50 metres left. Mr. Whitfield tried one more time to break him, but Mr. Frodeno wouldn't be caught, and crossed the finish line 5.19 seconds ahead of him.
Mr. Whitfield actually uttered a version of the line with which generations of Canadians have become so familiar: "I'm very happy with silver."
But in his next breath, it was clear he didn't mean it.
