London, Ont. family celebrates as daughter carries Canadian flag in Tokyo

London, Ont. -

It was a sleepless night for Gus and Sandy Ayim, with the anticipation of watching daughter Miranda walking into Olympic Stadium in Tokyo bearing the Canadian flag.

“Exhilaration, nervousness, anticipation as we just saw the flag...the Canada flag in the corner in the back, in the tunnel, and then that ratcheted everything up just a little bit as we saw the anticipation of them coming out,” says Gus.

Wife Sandy added, “I keep pinching myself. Is this really happening? And, just so, so excited for Miranda, and so excited for the whole Canadian team, and so excited for all of our friends and family because it takes a village to raise a child.”

At their London, Ont. home, memories of road trips to tournaments and early morning practices flood the mind for Gus as he watched his daughter realizing a dream come true in her final Olympic appearance.

“I was thinking about the early morning practices, she would want to shoot before school, so we would get to school a couple of hours before, and I might be in my suit ready for work, but I’d go and rebound.”

Mom Sandy reflected on the sacrifices her daughter had to make in her personal life in order to achieve this moment.

“Miranda has been away from family for so long, spent birthdays and holidays away, so there is that sacrifice, and yet anything worth doing, is worth doing hard and giving it that full commitment.”

Ayim will lead the Canadian women’s basketball team into action on Monday against Serbia in the first game of the preliminary round.