As a high-schooler a decade ago in tiny Hazelton, B.C. where the United Church had sponsored her Chinese parents as refugees out of Vietnam, it was her older brother and sister who were always there encouraging her to get into sports.

She was the first of her family born in Canada and provided one of the most memorable moments from the Beijing Games with a gold-medal performance breaking an eight-day medal drought for a country yearning to hear its national anthem. 

In Beijing, her tears during the medal ceremony told the story of a young woman who had completed a life-long journey that had taken her back to the country her father had fled over 50 years earlier to win for the country that had embraced them as refugees.

Her thoughtful demeanor and humility resonate with corporate and youth audiences alike.