WEBVTT

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[background noise]

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Christine, understand this.

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You will never compete
on an equal footing outside Canada.

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[applause]

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[music]

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Dear, Christine.

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I know life isn\'t easy right now.

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I get why you hide,
crying at school every day.

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Moving from Ontario to Quebec was tough.

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You\'re the shy new kid, the one
with a strange Franco-Ontarian accent.

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But don\'t worry, it will get better.

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[music]

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[weights dropping]

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Next year, thanks to your big sister,

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you\'ll discover a new sport,

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and you\'ll find more courage
in your little buddy

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than you could ever have imagined.

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Your parents will invest
body and soul in your sport.

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Doesn\'t everyone have a basement gym?

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Don\'t all parents endure the noise
of falling weights while they watch TV?

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At 16, you\'ll leave
the family cocoon for Greece,

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your first international competition.

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In Quebec, it\'s easy to stand out.

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There aren\'t many weightlifters.

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In Greece, you\'ll learn that,
for some countries,

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it\'s the national sport.

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You\'ll also learn about doping,
about cheaters.

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[music]

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[weights dropping]

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Christine, understand this.

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You will never compete
on an equal footing outside Canada.

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The sooner you make peace with that fact,

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the sooner you\'ll be able
to focus on what\'s important.

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Pushing your limits
while respecting your body

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and remaining faithful to your values.

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[music]

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In 2008, you\'ll participate
in your first Olympic Games.

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Just 3 kilos, that\'s what separates you
from the podium in Beijing.

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Fourth place will feel like a failure.

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Use it as motivation
for the next four years, you\'ll need it.

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Those years will be
the toughest of your life.

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[music]

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But keep your focus.

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In London, you\'ll become
the first Canadian female to medal

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in Olympic weightlifting,

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but the full measure
of your success will have to wait.

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You see, years after the Olympics,

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your competitors will be disqualified
for doping.

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[background noise]

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In Beijing,
that fourth place should have been bronze,

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and it would have been
the first Canadian medal of the Games.

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In London,
that bronze should have been gold.

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You were robbed but remember the journey.

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Your new medals will be bigger than you,
bigger than your family and friends.

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A point of pride for an entire country.

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Proof to the world

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that a girl was right
to believe in a pure sport.

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Little Christine, dry your tears,

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come out of your hiding place,

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and unleash that incredible force
that\'s inside you.