When Canadian goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe returned home from the Rio Olympics last summer, everyone wanted to see her bronze medal. It became a constant refrain: Where’s the medal? Can I see the medal? Show us the medal!
But after a while the pride and joy associated with the medal and its meaning — Canada’s second straight bronze in women’s soccer — took a dark turn. Labbe wondered if people valued the medal more than they valued her as an individual.
“For me the first little bit of it was surreal: right after the Olympics, going to so many appearances and everyone wanted to see the medal.