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Born: 16 May 1975 in Ontario (Canada)FACT FILECompeted in four editions of the Olympic GamesWHAT THE OLYMPIC VALUES MEAN TO METhe Olympic values give the Games a greater meaning. They become the purpose of the Games. Otherwise what is the meaning? You are really good at sport, so what? That is kind of absurd. The events have a camaraderie – that shared experience and conscience, all of the athletes sharing the same stage.It is also about being part of the storyline, this thread that is carried through. You can look back and see we used to run 100 metres in this time and now we run 100 metres in this time – these are great benchmarks to compare and look at how we have evolved.WHAT I LEARNED FROM MY OLYMPIC EXPERIENCESI have spent the years since I retired figuring out what I was about. It is now clear to me what my superpower was. Fundamentally in my career I learned the ability to sit still, have a clear mind and focus. That is my superpower.That self-analysis has been really important. For me, what I was looking at was: what are the common themes from my career? What did I do well? What did I not do well? How can I learn from that? That has been a very interesting and sometimes difficult process. So much of that comes with shame. For so many people if you have success at something you should feel no shame. I came out of my sporting career with an enormous amount of shame around the way I treated certain people or the way I behaved.I knew how to be a leader, to make other people follow me, but a king or queen provides a safe environment for others to prosper and I did not do that. I can be a leader but not a king. Too often I was on my own, driving my own path and dragging people along.Now you take the experience, the great privilege to have that experience, and you continue to the next chapter with what you have learnt from the previous one. ■AboveWhitfield carries the Canadian flag at the Opening Ceremony for the Olympic Games London 2012Olympic medals in triathlon2First-ever Olympic champion in the men’s eventFlagbearer for Canada at the Olympic Games London 20121 gold(Sydney 2000)1 silver(Beijing 2008)OLYMPIC REVIEW 75MY GAMES