A silver, with a little help from her friends

Gold beats silver: That's why one podium step is above the other. But when Maude Charron won Olympic gold in Tokyo it felt like a dream, but a strangely empty one.

- BRUCE ARTHUR

The theatre in which she won was vacant, save for masked coaches, officials, journalists and volunteers who wiped down the faux-leather seats. She was handed gold, and the top step of the podium felt so far from anybody else.

And Charron's family, which means so very much to her, was half a world away. Charron was so happy to win that medal for Canada, especially after fellow Quebec weightlifter Christine Girard had to wait six years to receive her gold following the 2012 Olympics and the slow grind of anti-doping. Like Girard, Charron felt her moment was stolen. Part of it, anyway.

Three years later, the 31-year-old Charron arrived in Paris after being forced to drop a weight class and more than 12 pounds, with a knee that needs daily maintenance. She knew she could win a medal, sure. She wanted something else.

And then Charron lifted the same total weight she had lifted in Tokyo. And when she accepted the silver medal, she cried like she did in Tokyo, but for different reasons.

"It's an easy answer, really. You train and you train to carry these huge weights, and it's not something you do alone. At the end of the day you want to find a way to thank all the people who supported you, who helped you, who were there with you," Charron said. "I've already fulfilled my Olympic dream. The medal is good... and competing with these incredible athletes is really exceptional.