Canadian speed skater Denny Morrison took silver in the 1,000- metre race at Sochi after teammate Gilmore Junio offered up his spot.
Canadian speed skater Denny Morrison took silver in the 1,000- metre race at Sochi after teammate Gilmore Junio offered up his spot. Facebook photo

True sportsmanship or a great illusion?

  • February 20, 2014

The key to the great illusionist Harry Houdini was the art of misdirection. Houdini could do things like make elephants on stage disappear by misdirecting the eyes and ears of the audience so their minds believed something quite different.

Generations of illusionists have studied Houdini’s methods and the greats like David Copperfield have built on them. It appears the Canadian Olympic Committee is not unfamiliar with Houdini’s methods, either.

One need only look at the feel-good story of Canadian speed skater Gilmore Junio stepping aside and giving Denny Morrison his place so that Morrison could capture the silver medal for Canada in the 1,000-metre long track race.

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