This thread popped up for me and since the last post was from a Canadian, I thought I'd pipe in (2 years later).
#1 and #3 - absolutely.
#2 - hate to say it, but yes. Every Canadian (at least those over 30) know the name "Ben Johnson". But that's what made Donovan Bailey even sweeter in 1996.
#4 - I don't know. Of course most Canadians today know Virtue and Moir, they are on commercials and we all love them. Just not sure if this one routine makes the list. There are so many great Canadian figure skaters and figure skating moments in Canada. I grew up with Kurt Browning and Elvis Stojko. Then there's Joannie Rochette's emotional bronze in 2010 after her mother passed away.
#5 - I personally enjoyed this, and the penalty kick comeback makes it an easy highlight reel. But we need time to pass before it makes the the list.
Possible nominations for the list:
Many of these are older, so it's just about generations, I guess.
-Crosby's Golden Goal will forever be #1. However, the golds in 2002 by both our men's and women's teams were crazy huge. First gold for the men in 50 years, while the women got revenge for 1998. I was in the streets in Montreal after the 2002 men's win and it was nuts till the early morning.
-Schmirler the Curler winning the first curling gold in 1998. At the time Canada didn't win many golds, even at the WOG. With the men's curling and both hockey teams failing to win that year, this was our pride and joy.
-Sylvie Frechette getting silver in synchro swimming in 1992 after a judge's error. The Brazilian judge accidentally pressed the wrong number (8.7 instead of 9.7) pushing Frechette down to silver. Despite alerting the officials right away it took a year and a half for the IOC to finally give her the gold. To make matters worse, she came home to find her boyfriend who had committed suicide shortly before the Olympics.
-The Dufour-Lapointe sisters getting gold and silver in 2014 in moguls. Their other sister got 12th.
-To stick with Moguls, Alexandre Bilodeau winning Canada's first gold on home soil in their 3rd home Games, with his brother cheering along in the crowd.
-When TV channels would sign off for the night back in the old days () CBC would play Greg Joy's silver medal performance in high jump from 1976. I was actually born after that took place, but I remember as a kid seeing that jump late at night on TV.
-Ross Rebagliati won gold in the first snowboard event in 1998, then had it taken away because he tested positive for marijuana, then got it back because the COC protested that marijuana was not a banned substance. Everyone laughed that of course the snowboarder was a pothead. People my age remember this well since Rebagliati's defence that he must have inhaled secondhand pot at a party became a rallying cry of every teenager for years to come.