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The Bookless Club: Are you glued to the Olympics?

Even though I don’t much care for the Olympics, I’ll keep watching. Not for the medal count but for the drama

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According to the International Olympic Committee, we’re simply loving these Winter Games. Across the globe — even in non-traditional winter sports markets such as Brazil and Australia — people are tuning in in record numbers to watch the Games. Broadcast and streaming figures for Milano-Cortina 2026 are leap-frogging over anticipated numbers. A lot of this success is due to unprecedented digital engagement. Social media engagement has doubled since the Beijing Games in 2022. In the U.S. alone, the Games average 24.3 million viewers on NBCUniversal platforms each day.

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You’d think we all lived for the luge. But that’s not why I watch. I watch for the unscripted moment.

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I’m not a big fan of the Olympics. To me, they seem entirely commercial. Despite that, at every Games there’s always a genuine human drama that blossoms forth, and those moments are captivating. These Games bring to mind Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette, who, despite the fact that she was mourning the death of her 55-year-old mother just two days prior, won a bronze medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics here in Vancouver. With hearts in our throats, the world watched her graceful performance accompanied by Celine Dion’s mournful song, Fly. Rochette has gone on to become a physician and has also worked to raise awareness of heart disease in women. Now, that’s an Olympic memory worth remembering.

Norwegian biathlete Sturla Holm Laegreid’s apology from the podium earlier this month is another Olympic moment I won’t soon forget. Laegreid used his bronze medal victory to apologize to “the love of his life” for an infidelity that ended their relationship. The backlash was instant as commentators and teammates condemned Laegreid’s remarks, saying they would rather see the focus on the sport and not on someone’s personal life. Not me. I love these unexpected developments. This is the drama that I tuned in for.

The dream is, of course, to “own the podium” and there’s always someone who dominates the Olympics. Someone with an athletic skillset that’s deep and wide. Someone like Michael Phelps who, with 28 medals — 23 of which are gold — is the most-decorated Olympian of all time.

When it comes to the Winter Olympics, the country that dominates the Games tends to be Norway. Winter is Norway’s stock-in-trade so this may come as no surprise, but Canada is no slouch in the winter department, either. Norway may have garnered the most medals in four of the last six Olympics, but in 2010 Canada outstripped the Scandinavian stronghold winning 14 gold medals, the most ever won by a single country at a Winter Games. In 2018, the Norwegians took home 38 medals overall — the highest number of medals ever going to a single country. Canada’s gold medal dominance was short-lived: In 2022, Norway surpassed Canada’s 2010 triumph, taking home 16 gold medals. Clearly, Norwegians are the team to beat.

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Even though I don’t much care for the Olympics, I’ll keep watching. Not for the medal count but for the drama, because you never know when an unscripted spectacle will unfold.

Jane Macdougall is a freelance writer and former National Post columnist who lives in Vancouver. She writes The Bookless Club every Saturday online and in The Vancouver Sun. For more of what Jane’s up to, check out her website, janemacdougall.com

This week’s question for readers:

Question: Are you glued to the Olympics, or giving them a pass?

Send your answers by email text, not an attachment, in 100 words or less, along with your full name to Jane at thebooklessclub@gmail.com. We will print some next week in this space.

Last week’s question for readers:

Question: Where do you sit on the family dinner spectrum?

• Yes, we do family dinner every Sunday. There are usually 10 to 14 of us — ourselves as grandparents, our daughter and her husband, our grandchildren and their spouses/partners. I do all the cooking and our daughter does the cleanup. It’s not about the food — it’s about being together and hearing how everyone’s week went. It’s amazing what we hear. And it’s hugs and something from the candy jar when they have their shoes on to leave. We’ll do family dinner as long as we can.

Carol and Harald Leukefeld

• From the time that our three children joined us at the dinner table on Sunday, it was impressed upon them that Sunday dinner was a priority above all others. They were expected to join and could invite any friends that they wished and all were welcomed. My children now have their own children and grandchildren, and the custom was broken only when my husband passed away six years ago. Now they invite me to their wonderful Sunday dinners.

• The Family Day holiday and meal-sharing are good for those with families. Many of us in Vancouver, however, don’t have them, so this day is exclusionary. Family day is every day/weekend/holiday, so there are lots of opportunities to gather. The day is badly named and should be more inclusive of our friends and neighbours. Although not promoted as such, Thanksgiving has become the more welcoming holiday.

• Sunday dinners were a regular event when I raised my family. When I found myself single in my 50s with the kids gone, I missed those dinners. I met a friend in the same situation and to fill the void we took dancing lessons on Sunday nights. Now, with grandkids, I can do family dinners again, but not so often. Now in my 70s, it takes me two days to make them. And yes, my friend and I are still dancing.

• Family Day now falls on the same weekend as President’s Day in the U.S. My family used to enjoy being able to enjoy “cheaper” holidays in the U.S. (when we weren’t boycotting travel there) over our Family Day weekend when it didn’t align with their holiday. I also preferred Family Day being further away from Spring Break to help spread out school holidays. Oh well, still appreciate the break.

• Family dinners are the glue that holds families together. When, and if, they come to an end, the weeks just run together. Even if you didn’t really enjoy them as a kid, you sure miss them when they’re gone.

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