Not many Canadian men have done what Marc Gagnon has done at the Winter Olympic Games. As a matter of fact, only one other Canadian Olympian has. Gagnon and Phil Edwards are tied as the only Canadian men to total five medals in the Olympics. While Edwards holds the record for Summer Games events, Gagnon topped Gaetan Boucher as the most decorated Winter Games Canadian male athlete by collecting five medals in three consecutive Olympics.

While the Canadian Olympian story of Victor Davis has a miserable ending, it still has many joyful chapters. Davis was -- and possibly still is -- Canada's best breaststroke swimmer. At the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, California, Davis captured the gold medal in the 200 m breaststroke in world-record time and he also took a couple of silvers home with him. He also took another silver medal in the 1988 Seoul Games.

Performing at an Olympic level is an incredible feat, but Clara Hughes has gone above and beyond that call of duty. Clara Hughes is not only the first Canadian to win multiple medals in both the Summer and Winter Games, but she’s also the first Olympian to ever do that. Originally, she was a speed skater, but moved to cycling in 1990. After a well-decorated career in cycling (which includes two bronze medals in Atlanta), Hughes came back to speed skating and earned three medals in the 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympic Games, including her first gold medal in Turin.

More isn't always better, but in this case, it is. When it comes to medals for Canadian Olympians, no one has more than Cindy Klassen. After she finished with a bronze in the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, Klassen exploded and earned five more (one gold, two silvers and two bronzes) in 2006 at Turin. Klassen received some high praises for her remarkable accomplishments: International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge called her the "woman of the Games" at Turin, she was tabbed to carry the Canadian flag during the closing ceremonies and bested three MVPs from their respective sports (Steve Nash, Justin Morneau and Joe Thornton) for the Lou Marsh Trophy, awarded to the Canadian Athlete of the Year.

A recurring theme in sports is perseverance, and few athletes have a more compelling tale than Silken Laumann. After capturing a bronze medal the 1984 Olympic Games, Laumann was the odds-on favourite to win gold at the 1992 Games in Barcelona. During her training, however, her boat collided with a German boat and she suffered a grueling injury to her leg. It took five operations and three weeks of hospital time before she was cleared to go back to training. But, hard work -- as it typically does -- paid off and Laumann took home another bronze in Barcelona. After taking a year off to fully recover, Laumann came back even stronger in 1996 and won a silver medal in Atlanta. Laumann is a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.

Since women's hockey was introduced as an Olympic event in 1998, Hayley Wickenheiser has been dominating it. Hayley finished with a silver medal and an all-star invite in the introductory season and went on to best both feats in the following two Olympics. In 2002, Team Canada won gold and Wickenheiser was named the tournament MVP. In 2006, she again won gold with Team Canada, was named tournament MVP and led the event in scoring. Although women's hockey still has a short history as an Olympic sport, Wickenheiser is the Canadian face of it.

Canadian Brian Orser and American Brian Boitano competed in one of the closest figure skating bouts ever -- and they put on an amazing display in a rivalry that hasn't been paralleled in the sport. In the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, “The Battle of the Brians” was down to the long program as the scores were tight after the compulsory figures and the short program. Boitano skated his long program first, and as the boys from South Park once sang, everyone wanted to see what Brian Boitano would do? Well, he was perfect and Orser was just short of perfect and lost a split 5-4 decision.

With 38 Canadian swimming records and the world record for the 200-metre individual medley, hopes were high for Alex Baumann as he headed to the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Prior to the Olympics, Baumann's father died from medical-related complications and his brother committed suicide. And although Baumann felt pressure to win, the country was pulling for him more so than usual. As the great Canadian Olympians usually do, Baumann produced under pressure and earned two gold medals and set world records in both events in the process. His medals were Canada's first in swimming since 1912. For his achievements, he was named Canada's Male Athlete of the year in 1984.

Nancy Greene's resume includes a spot in the Canadian Sports Hall Of Fame and a spot on the Canadian Walk of Fame -- obviously she has done something right. Greene was as dominant as they come in the sport of skiing in the late 1960s, and her performance in the 1968 Grenoble Olympics was yet another example. Her gold-medal Giant Slalom victory was by far one of the biggest margins ever. The two-time Canadian Athlete of the Year was also voted Canada's Female Athlete of the 20th Century by newspaper editors and broadcasters.

After finding out that Ben Johnson loved to "Cheetah all the time," the Canadian image in track and field took a big hit. But, in Atlanta during the 1996 Games, not only did Donovan Bailey wipe the slate clean with his gold medal run in the 100-metre dash, he etched another unforgettable memory -- this time the good kind -- when he set a new world record in the event. He became only the second runner ever to hold the World Championship, Olympic Gold and World Record at the same time and his record time is still the fastest ever in the Olympics. Good reason for being one of our favourite Canadian Olympians.