The so-called 'Greatest Show on Earth', a rodeo and 10-day city party, opened last week in Alberta. Two guest marshals were honoured at the launch of the Calgary Stampede - one of them a true, but reluctant, hero.
Sara Renner is a world-class skier who won a silver medal last winter in the sprint relay event at the Olympics in Torino, Italy. Riding alongside her at the head of the parade was 37-year-old Bjoernar Haakonsmoen. He was the head coach of Norway's cross-country ski teams at the Turin Olympics. In fact, he helped Renner win her medal - and has been feted by Canadians coast to coast ever since.
Ms Renner was competing in her event and was near the head of the pack when - in full view of all of us watching on television at home - her ski pole snapped. Cross-country skiers use their poles to propel themselves. I remember sitting with friends and we gasped in unison. That's when Mr Haakonsmoen took his own pole, stepped up to side of the track and handed it to Ms Renner. Without breaking stride, she grabbed it and raced on to win her medal.
It was a selfless, spontaneous, almost impulsive act. Shortly after, we learned that he was the coach of athletes who Ms Renner was competing against. Mr Haakonsmoen's own team ended up in fourth place, out of the medals. 'We are a country that believes in fair play,' he told reporters.
Then the flood of affection and gratitude began. Le Journal de Montreal newspaper published a massive headline on its front page: 'Takk' - which means 'thank you' in Norwegian. Across the country, Canadians wrote to Mr Haakonsmoen, to the Norwegian embassy and to Norwegian newspapers to salute his sportsmanlike gesture. One letter writer gushed: 'In the eyes of Canadians, we took a silver medal, but Norway has won gold for sportsmanship.'
Some 8,000 cans of maple syrup were sent to Mr Haakonsmoen and the Norwegian Olympic Committee, along with other gifts. He was invited to be the marshal at the Calgary Stampede, after which he will enjoy a free, week-long luxury vacation at a resort in the Rockies. He keeps insisting that he did nothing extraordinary, and we keep telling him that, yes, he did.