To the Editor,

As I read Evan Burgos’ Feb. 25 column, “The Winter Olympics… To the Editor,

As I read Evan Burgos’ Feb. 25 column, “The Winter Olympics have not been kind to Canada and Canadians,” which detailed the failings and shame of Canada regarding the, at the time,yet-to-be-concluded Olympic games, I immediately began forming a response in my head to such premature claims.

As a proud Canadian, I could not let the article go publicly unchallenged.

Canada closed the games as the leading gold medal-scoring nation, with an amazing 14 gold medals in a wide variety of events such as hockey, curling, speed skating, figure skating, snowboarding and freestyle skiing.

In doing so, it set a world record for most gold medals won at the Winter Olympics and won by a host country.

Canada ended in third place for medals overall.

I see nothing embarrassing about these standings, and my family, friends and countrymen to the north do not either.

You need to remember that the total population of Canada is less than that of California, and a medal count of 26 is extremely significant. We might look big on the map, but we are a small country, and to suggest that Canada could only see the death of an athlete as a “blemish” tells me that Burgos does not know much about the Canadian people.

The United States performed incredibly throughout the games and gave some truly inspiring performances — White, Ohno, Miller and Lysacek in particular come to mind.

One should remember that the United States has its superstars, and so does Canada. The name Kevin Martin does not mean what it means up there. Hey, the whole sport of curling doesn’t mean what it means up there.

Canada faced disappointment early on, but it never gave up hope for shame. It never left its pride for embarrassment. The Canadian teams and athletes fought back, and their fans were right along with them, providing a rousing, showstopping performance of “O Canada,” or fitting an inspiring “Go Canada Go!” into a typically three-beat cheer.

The reputation of Canada has not been tarnished. These games have not been an embarrassment. The 2010 Vancouver games did not “peter out with a heavy dose of shame for O’Canada,” as Burgos predicted.

Canada ended on the highest possible note, with a win in the highly anticipated gold medal hockey match and a spirited closing ceremony.

Canada is, was and will remain a proud nation full of caring people.

Make fun of us for how we say “out and about,” keep calling us “America’s hat”or sing “Blame Canada” to us one more time.

But do not dish your ignorance out on us, and never say we are anything less than proud to be Canadian.

Sarah Haviland

Arts and Sciences

Class of 2011