Christine Nesbitt Shows Aussie-Canadians Are Good Sports After All

Imagine, if you will, two people.

Both are products of mixed Canadian-Australian heritage. One, a young woman, born in Australia to an Australian mother and Canadian father. The other, a young man, born in Canada to a Canadian mother and Australian father.

Both were born in 1985. Both are bright, gifted athletes. He is a self-made Internet millionaire, she a budding engineer.

Both represented their nation at the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics. She for Canada, he for Australia. She is a speed skater, he a freestyle moguls skier. Both won medals at both Games.

She is Christine Nesbitt. He is Dale Begg-Smith

But it’s here that their stories diverge.

He abandoned his home country to pursue skiing glory without sacrificing his business. He rejected what he saw as a suffocating training regime in Canada in favour of a more relaxed and understanding program in Australia. He has an eye on the future and, more particularly, a future beyond skiing.

It is a lesson that many young athletes would do well to learn.

No one doubted his work ethic, just his dedication to his sport and to his home country. His relationship with the Canadian media has never recovered.

She embraced the system and made the sacrifices it demanded and, although she switched from short-track to long-track, the hard work paid off. She has an excellent rapport with the Canadian media—and any other for that matter.

She is broadly admired; he seems to have few friends.

He was controlled, reserved—almost introverted in his response to his success. Any emotions he may have been feeling were very tightly controlled. He looked, in short, like his dog had just died.

She was emotional, ebullient, and very obviously ecstatic. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind what she was thinking and how she was feeling. It was heartwarming—even for us non-Canadians.

No one would question either athlete's ability or, after his injury comebacks, commitment to their sport. The difference is all in the attitude.

While she wore her national identity as a badge of honour, he looked like he would be more comfortable competing as an independent.

All athletes, however, when they are wearing our flag, represent us as a nation—wherever we’re from. Part of the immense privilege of representing us is competing hard and part of it is being seen to show good grace whether you win or lose.

Regardless of what their emotions may be after the competition, the important thing is perception. If you win, you do it with good grace but show your pride. If you lose, you congratulate your competitors with genuine warmth.

There is a comment on another article that defends Begg-Smith’s lack of emotion. By paraphrasing Rudyard Kipling’s ”If”—that refers to both triumph and disaster as imposters—they excused Begg-Smith’s surly attitude (both when he won in Torino and when he came in second in Vancouver) as a balanced approach.

The problem with that is that we invest a lot in our athletes, and we expect a return on that investment. We want to share in their triumph and disasters, no matter that Kipling thinks that they are imposters. It is why we sit, bleary-eyed, watching with pride and expectation.

We have the right to be disappointed if someone disrespects that—however unintentionally.

Christine Nesbitt gets that. Dale Begg-Smith does not.

In short, we Aussies have claimed the wrong one. Congratulations, Christine—it was a tremendous victory. We’ll be cheering for you in your remaining races.