Chronic Olympic Mediocrity

We were supposed to "own" the podium. Instead, as I nervously pointed out, we're renting it out - to the United States.

To say I'm disappointed with the medal haul thus far in Vancouver is an under statement. In fact, it's been a topic of discussion among a few sports junkies in my circle of numb skulls. We just can't accept being a winter nation with average results. Call us cranky Canucks.

To think some papers predicted we'd win as many as 41 medals. I never believed for one second that would happen but I did think we were poised to surpass Torino's impressive showing. At this point, it looks as though we'll be lucky to hit 20.

The U.S. has been outstanding already hitting the 20 medals plateau half way through. Canada? Seven. Seven.

In Torino we finished third overall with 24. If we're gonna hit that mark we got some serious ass to kick. Many pinned their hopes on the ski team to come through with a couple of medals. However, like in Italy, our ski team flamed out despite having the net advantage of knowing the hill very well.

What makes Canada's start surprising, and I'm sure there are some nervous people within the COC, is the fact we concluded the world cup sessions in 2009 tied in the overall standings with Germany. It was a great year. Yet, we still can't convert that achievement into Olympic success. Jeremy Wotherspoon is arguably the greatest long track speed skater in his specialty in the sport's history, yet he too couldn't bag a medal. Weird stuff. Does this tarnish his legacy? Absolutely not but it's unfortunate nevertheless.

Put it to you this way. We have three gold medals. Korea, that noted winter power, has three. Indeed, China and Korea are out skating Canada. Dunno 'bout you but I'm of the darn opinion that should never, ever happen, you know, because we essentially LIVE ON ICE. Norway. A tiny nation of four million sits ahead of us in the standings; as they've usually done historically speaking.

In 2006, Canada started out slow and finished off strong mostly thanks to short and long track speed skating. I don't know if that's going to happen this time around. If it doesn't, we'd better hope some dark horses come through. If the overall medal count is out of reach, capturing more golds than any country is still a possibility.

Hey, but you know us, at least we're hitting personal bests and are participating.

***

Despite all this, I applaud Canada's athletic maturation process. We're finally coming around to the notion that striving for excellence is a good thing. We should always aim for gold. A nation feeds of the success of its amateur athletes for two weeks every four years. Up until now out approach was way too "nice" and unrealistic.

However, as we Canucks are realizing, it's not enough to say we want to achieve greatness by pouring money into the system. The difference between being a nation of champions and a being a nation of chumps is all in mental preparation. Canada is getting there. Until our athletes develop a ruthless killer instinct, we will never own the podium. Truth is, it was a tall order for Canada to over take Germany, Norway and the United States. These nations have  taken the idea of competition more serious than we have until now. It's going to take longer for the "own the podium" program to take root; to embed itself in the psyche of its athletes and even the population at large. We need future athlete watching these Olympics to get "mad" and say, "Hey, I want to make Canada win." Think the "Program of excellence" in hockey. It's been a resounding success. There's no reason why we can't replicate this in other sports.

I seriously hope Canada doesn't abandon their quest for excellence. We have great athletes. They deserve to be given a chance to win. We need the corporate world to get even more involved to make it all possible.

I don't want to see the same thing happen to our amateur program that gripped the soccer program. In 1986, we made the World Cup. The soccer community was convinced Canada was on the right path and that it was a matter of time before we developed our talent into a strong soccer outfit. The assumption was we were going to build on the 1986. Instead, the exact opposite happened. The CSA fell into an abyss of irrelevance and incompetence. The results plain for all to see as we slid way down the rankings.

One other thing. We may want to consider trimming down the number of athletes we send to both the winter and summer games. If funds are limited, then a "leaner is meaner" approach may be appropriate. Select the sports we think we can excel in and focus on that. There's no point in sending 126 athletes if they're going to render you a return of a dozen medals. That's not a sound game plan. 

Stick with it Canada. This is just the first phase. We'll figure out how to win on a consistent basis at the winter games.

It's too bad it's taken this long for us to "get it."