If the silver medal hanging around the neck of Mike Wolfs had been hanging around the neck of a sprinter, swimmer or rower, the instant celebrity bestowed on him would have been loud and long-lasting. Instead, Wolfs won his silver at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens in relative obscurity. He won it with partner Ross Macdonald on the water, capturing second spot in the Star class regatta, an event that only allows 16 boats to qualify.

Wolfs, 34, of Port Credit, was in London yesterday, as part of a promotion for the local Mercedes-Benz dealership. He drew prize winners, posed for pictures and signed autographs, just like any superstar athlete would.

And why not? His silver was as good a finish as any other Canadian managed in Olympic sailing history. But like many athletes who participate in sports that don't have commercial visibility in North America, Wolfs and Macdonald operate in anonymity. They are far better known in Europe.

"In North America (we operate in obscurity,)" Wolfs said. "But when we come off the dock in Europe, many times we're asked for our autographs. It's just a different atmosphere."

Wolfs run to a silver medal makes for good story.

It was his first Olympics. He attempted to qualify in 1992 in Barcelona, but didn't make it. Wolfs went as a tuning partner, the equivalent of being a boxer's sparring partner.

As these Olympics drew nearer, both Wolfs and Macdonald realized they weren't going to make it with their current partners. They decided to team up in January, less than eight months before these Olympics. In those eight months, they would have to train and qualify. It was a big problem since Macdonald is from Vancouver and Wolfs from Port Credit.

"The only way to qualify was to go for it," Wolfs said. "So we teamed up in January, moved to Miami for winter training for two and a half months. We rented a small house and got to know each other in the boat. We knew each other for over 15 years but never sailed together."

The training, trips to the tropics and time spent away from work cost a great deal of money. Friends raised around $150,000 to give them to chance to train.

"Sport Canada does help out," Wolfs said. "But in an Olympic year, they make up one-fifth the cost. But in non-Olympic years, the other three years, they make up maybe one-tenth of the cost. My feeling is they have the funding a little bit backwards. You can find money in the Olympic year. They should be giving out more money in the other years when there isn't as much."

Wolfs sells and makes sails. His salary is based on a full commission. When he doesn't work, he doesn't make any money. His sport is expensive to participate in. Besides, the boat and the travel, there's the sails. It takes four sails to compete in a regatta. A set of sails costs $6,000 and in an Olympic year, Wolfs goes through a minimum three sets.

Like any world-class athlete, competing successfully on the world stage means making more than financial sacrifices.

"To do well, you have to give up your private life, your business. You give away a lot of time with family and work," Wolfs said. "There's a lot of days on the water and a lot of days travelling to and from. There's no money going in and a lot of money going out."

But the reward is something else.

"Going down the tunnel in the stadium you are really charged up," he said. "There's 100,000 yelling and screaming people, cameras flashing. Then you see the other countries in the centre. You're all charged up and you wish you could compete right then. You see the star athletes, the swimmers and basketball players, you start thinking 'I'm amongst the world's best athletes here and I'm one of them.'

"After we won our medal, the feeling was almost numbing."

Wolfs doesn't know whether he'll be in Beijing in 2008.

He will sail full-time for the next year or so though, a little less anonymously than before.