Where are you from?" is a loaded question when it comes to the Olympics - especially when you win.
Just ask Squamish's Maëlle Ricker - or is that West Vancouver's Maëlle Ricker? Or North Vancouver's Maëlle Ricker? Or Vancouver's? Or Whistler's?
Each has made its claim in the wake of Ricker's triumphant run down the slopes of Cypress Mountain Tuesday (Feb. 16) to claim Canada's second gold medal of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver - the first Canadian woman to win gold on home soil.
When the story of her victory broke on www.squamishchief.com, one commenter decided to take us to task for claiming her as Squamish's own. "How is it that 'Squamish can celebrate its first-ever Olympic gold medal' when Maëlle is not originally from Squamish?" he asked.
Well, we think it's obvious, but since someone seems not to see that, we'll explain, and take the opportunity to show some hometown pride while we do it.
She was born in North Vancouver and raised in West Vancouver, giving each of these communities their claim. Whistler, of course can claim her as a hometown rider, and she works in North Vancouver. The international media, meanwhile, has lumped all of these into the generic "Vancouver".
But if home is where you lay your hatwell, the current address is Squamish. So, while we're happy to share her with our North Shore and Whistler neighbours - we are, after all, Canadians first - we call dibs.
Squamish is the type of place that relatively few people are "from". Rather, it's a destination to which thousands are drawn for a variety of reasons - its natural beauty, its unparalleled recreation opportunities, its small-town vibe but convenient proximity to both the metropolis of Vancouver and the slopes of Whistler. To be born in Squamish, while fortunate, is not an act of choice.
Those from elsewhere who choose to come here are ours in the very same way as those who have lived here all their lives as far as we're concerned. That happens to be the case for all our home-town Olympians who are doing us proud - you don't have to be born here to be ours, as far as we're concerned.
It cuts both ways, of course. Due to misinformation put out by the provincial government, Canmore's Mike Robertson, who spent a summer here in Squamish two years ago, magically became a Squamish citizen again this week after winning silver in the men's snowboard cross in the Olympics, prompting a hilarious phone exchange between Mayor Greg Gardner and 62-year-old Squamish resident Mike Robertson, who did not actually win a medal, but who now has a wonderful Olympic moment to treasure.
As Canadians, we're proud of all our Olympians - and we're especially proud that she has chosen Squamish for her home.
Congratulations, Maëlle.
-Tim Shoults
