Ben Johnson

It’s August 2024. The world is focused on the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Or the Bercy Arena in the 12th arrondissement of Paris. Or maybe it’s the Papp László Budapest Sportaréna. Team Canada takes the floor and, for the first time since the 1936 Games in Berlin, there’s an Olympic gold medal on the line for the Canadian men. Andrew Wiggins looks up at his country’s flag. Hands behind his back. Body anxiously swaying left and right. Left and right. The red maple leaf on Canada’s flag seems to have its own heartbeat as ‘O Canada’ reverberates off its fabric in the rafters.