Canada is in a festive mood today. Mens' Ice Hockey Gold, to complete the 2010 Winter Olympic Games with an all time record of 14 gold medals. Not bad for a country that had never won Olympic gold on home soil. Canada's athletes should be proud of themselves. We are certainly proud of them.
With the Games now complete the focus will soon turn to our Summer athletes and they have some big shoes to fill. In fact, let the results in Vancouver show that the disparity between our summer and winter athletes has never been as great as it is today. Consider that Canada has won 12 gold medals at the past four Olympiads in summer sports - fewer than what Canada won in Vancouver. Canada has won 50 Olympic medals at the past two winter Olympiads. At the past three Summer Olympiads Canada has won 44 medals. Canada won over 10% of all available medals awarded in Vancouver. At the past three summer games Canada has won fewer than 1.5% of medals awarded.
Lets enjoy Canada's success in Vancouver, but recognize that there are two groups of athletes in this country. Our Summer athletes deserve the same opportunities our winter athletes have received.
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