Christine Sinclair is not a flashy character. She doesn’t shine in interviews. She is shy by nature, fiercely private, disinclined to self-promotion. But her teammates, both on the Canadian national women’s soccer team and in club soccer, know her differently than the public or press do, and like and respect her immensely. Talk to any coach, any player from anywhere else in the world and they will sing Sinclair’s praises, will tell you that she can do just about anything on the pitch. (Well, perhaps the Americans’ just-departed head coach, Pia Sundhage, wouldn’t be part of that chorus, but given the rivalry, that can be read as the ultimate sign of respect.)
Canadians finally realized what they had in Sinclair while watching her and the rest of the women’s team lose a game to their hated rivals from the United States at the London Olympics. They finally, fully got it, just as hopes for winning that tournament and a gold medal went out the window. Of course, an incompetent Norwegian referee was also a part of the equation, which helps with the righteous indignation—already high any time we take on Americans favoured in anything. That match was followed up by the bronze medal clincher against France, a game that doesn’t fit so neatly into the heroic narrative, because on a day when they looked like a spent force, Canada was darned lucky to get the win.
But that memory is blurred now. What remains crystal clear is the image of Sinclair scoring three against the Americans with magical skill, playing every minute with fists-clenched tenacity, blowing up at the base unfairness of the officiating, leaving it all right there on the pitch at Old Trafford, leaving no doubt as to her heart, her passion, her competitive will and her superlative talent.
Canada won one gold medal at the London Games. It won a fistful of medals of other colours, and outside of the Olympic bubble, Canadian athletes achieved in many different sports on many different fronts this year. Still, flip through the triumphant moments and you always wind up stopping with Sinclair, playing arguably the greatest game of her career—and given her achievements, that’s saying something—on the biggest stage, when it mattered most.
There is a redemptive arc to the story, which extends back to 2011, to the Women’s World Cup in Germany, where Sinclair played through a broken nose in the opening match against the powerful home side, and scored Canada’s only goal on a brilliant free kick.
It was all downhill after that, one of the worst team implosions in recent memory. The day the tournament finished, Sinclair wearing a protective face mask and diminished, Canada winless and humiliated, it was hard to imagine the team rising from the ashes in time to qualify for the Olympics in January.
But with new coach John Herdman at the helm, the competition in Vancouver proved to be a precursor of good things to come. Sinclair delivered a magnificent performance in the definitive match against Mexico in her home province. Add that to her 2012 athlete of the year credentials.
Christine Sinclair stands at the very top of a global sport. She is on a short list of the greatest female athletes ever to have played the game.
All of that has been true for some time now, and she should still be near peak form when Canada hosts the next World Cup in 2015.
But only in this year did Canadians really pay attention, did Canadians really understand what they have in their midst.
Next nominee: Georges St-Pierre, MMA
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