TEAMWORK PAYS OFF
Morrison returns the favour to friend and teammate Junio with speedskating silver in 1,000 metres
There were 12 of them there: Gilmore Junio’s parents, his brother and sister and half-sister, a cousin, his sister’s husband and in-laws, some family friends. They had tickets for the 500-metre long-track speedskating sprint, but waited until this week to buy tickets for the 1,000. They weren’t sure Gil would skate. But they had flown around the world, and they figured he would. They bought the tickets.
And then Gil didn’t skate. He let his teammate, Denny Morrison, race. Denny had a better shot at a medal. Gil says it was an easy decision.
“I was hoping for the best for one of my best teammates and one of my best friends, the past four years,” said Junio, 23, a small man with soft eyes.
Gil had started out as a hockey player before he realized that at his size — he has maxed out at 5-foot-8 and 148 pounds — he didn’t fit. His dad, a first-generation immigrant from the Philippines who came to Canada for a better life, saw an ad for a skating club. His son signed up, and got into short-track. He was good.
And two weeks before qualifica- tion for the world juniors, Gil was in a race and his buddy Rob Watson tried to pass and wiped both of them out. Gil’s little body careened into the boards. He fractured two vertebrae in his back. He decided to try long-track, because he didn’t want to crash again. Junio and Rob are still good friends.
“I never blamed him,” Junio said.
He qualified for the 500 at the Canadian trials, and then when Morrison fell, he qualified for the 1,000, and he was asked by Canadian coaches to consider giving up the spot after he skated in the 500 here, and finished 10th. They made it clear: it was his call. He asked his family. His dad didn’t understand why he had to do it.
“We said we’d be behind you either way, and do you what you feel is right,” said Gil’s older sister Marjorie, 29. “He wanted to give his spot to Denny. He felt it was the best chance Canada had at a medal, and he wanted to do that for his team.”
Gil knew he wasn’t winning this race; he figured he might make the Top 16. He texted Morrison. They met at Canada House with their families, and the Morrisons thanked the Junios for the gift they had given their son, and Morrison was so excited, they thought he could go out and skate right then.
And then the race came, and the Junios went and watched, and a funny thing happened. They were so nervous. They cheered so
‘It’s going to be in my memory forever. It’s one of the best Olympic stories that I’ve ever experienced, and I’m happy that my son was part of it.’
CAROL MORRISON,
Mother of silver medallist Denny Morrison
hard. They agreed: Gil wasn’t racing, but it was as if Gil was racing.
“I found myself cheering for Denny as much as I would cheer for Gil every other day,” said Gil’s older brother Jerry, smiling.
“Absolutely,” agreed Marjorie. “Absolutely. My heart was pound
ing.”
Their father Gino, born Guillermo, came to Canada from the Philippines in his early 20s, and his wife Julie, born Julita, did the same. They met in Winnipeg. They took entry-level jobs, worked their way up, moved to Calgary. They provided for their kids, became a tool-and-die company manager and a reservoir technician at an oil company. Gino’s retired. It is such a lovely, Canadian story.
And in Sochi, they cheered for their son for a second time, but through someone else. And incredibly, Morrison won silver, and was a sliver of a second from the gold. The Junios were so happy for Denny, who has been over for supper, who is a friend. Marjorie cried. This is the Olympics.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the guy,” said Gil.
“I love this guy,” said Denny.
“It’s going to be in my memory forever,” Carol Morrison, Denny’s mother, said. “It’s one of the best Olympic stories that I’ve ever experienced, and I’m happy that my son was part of it.”
“As Canadians, we don’t just want to be at the Olympics competing anymore; we want to be on the podium,” said Gil. “So looking at that, and looking at my chances, and looking at Denny’s reputation in the 1,000 metres, and how he’s been skating: yeah, like I said, it was an easy decision.”
It is a Canadian moment, partly because it is about teamwork and humility that we prize, and partly because it is about the aggressive pursuit of global excellence, which has come to define our approach to the Olympics, too. Morrison has started saying Gil should be the flag-bearer at the closing ceremony. We will have so many gold medallists, so many choices; it probably won’t happen.
But it’s a wonderful thought. Imagine that.
“The thing that he wants to do,” said Gil’s older brother Jerry, “is represent Canada in the best way. And I think he did that.”
Yeah. He did.