THE 'TOBA 10
When Clara Hughes looks back at 2006, she remembers the struggle, above all else. The struggle she went through to reach her pinnacle as an athlete, and the struggle of disadvantaged children around the world.
On Feb. 25, in Turin, Italy, Hughes put those two concepts together to produce the race of her life, winning gold in the 5,000 metres at the Winter Olympics.
In a year-end interview with the Sun, Hughes recalled how seeing TV images about the Right to Play program the morning of her race fuelled her incredible effort hours later.
“The struggle is what opened my eyes and totally inspired me in the end,” Hughes said. “That struggle is what connected me to the children in the Right to Play programs, gave me wings on that day. The suffering I was feeling, what I saw on TV with those kids and what they were dealing with, it really put things into perspective for me.”
After the race, Hughes fulfilled a promise she’d made to herself, and announced she was donating $10,000 to Right to Play.
Her challenge to fellow Canadians produced more than $400,000, and counting in additional pledges.
When Hughes hears she’s been selected one of Manitoba’s most inspirational figures of the year, she says she feels honoured and humbled at the same time.
“It makes me feel really good that what I do and how I do it can maybe inspire hope in people and dreams in people,” she said. “But I just look at it more that I’m a person that was born in a country that’s rich and who’s had incredible opportunities because of that. So many kids that I’ve met will never even have a chance to try. Or to even have a dream like I’ve had.”
The only athlete in the world to win multiple medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympics — she’s a former cyclist — Hughes, 34, is still competing, and hopes to qualify for various international events in the new year. She also plans to defend her gold medal at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
