Congratulations!!!

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.

Let the Review Begin

Canada will finish the 2010 Winter Games with 26 medals - 13 of which are guaranteed to be gold and this number could still increase to 14 dependant upon the results of the Men's ice hockey final on Sunday. Let the results show that Canada has had a very succesful Winter Games.

In reviewing the results by sport we see that many sports have increased their medal count from four years earlier in Torino. The results by sport are as follows:

2 (1 maybe 2 gold) medals in ice hockey
2 (1 gold) medals in curling
5 (1 gold) medals in long track speed skating
5 (2 gold )medals in short track speed skating
2 (1 gold) medals in moguls
3 (1 gold) medals in bobsled
1 (1 gold) in skeleton
2 ( 1 gold) medals in snowboard cross
1 (1 gold) in ski cross
1 (1 gold) in snowboard slalom
2 (1 gold) in figure skating

Many sports improved on their medal count from Torino including ice hockey, moguls, bobsled, snowboard cross, moguls, figure skating and snowboard slalom. Those that fell include cross country skiing, skeleton and long track speed skating.

In the years to follow much will be made of these results. The Own the Podium program will be scrutinized and or celebrated for Canada's success.

But after all the facts are analyzed and the pundits have put away their pens the following synopsis should be made.

1) The results from Vancouver confirm that Own the Podium program was succesful in turning potential silver and bronze medal performances into gold. How else can one explain a record 13 (and counting ) Olympic gold medals in Vancouver nearly doubling the number of gold from four years earlier. However, the Own the Podium program failed to turn potential fourth and fifth place performances into podium finishes. Canada failed in its goal of being the #1 medal winning nation in Vancouver despite having the games on home soil, access to venues earlier & more often than any other nation, and countless other advantages.

2) Alberta based athletes won 14 of Canada's 26 medals in Vancouver, down from 16 medals in Torino. The biggest fall was in Canada's long track speed skating program where Canada won 3 fewer medals in Vancouver than it did in 2006. The fall in medal productivity can be attributed in part to the financial woes experienced by WinSport Canada in 2009 which resulted in budget cuts and long term staff being terminated from their duties with the Olympic Oval. Should Canada wish to continue with its medal superority in Succhi it is imperative that WinSport Canada have the financial resources it needs to operate on a go forward basis.

3) Canadian athletes had a phenomenal games but there is evidence that the system is starting to show cracks. The facilities in Calgary that are used to produce Olympic athletes are getting older, WinSport Canada is facing some tough financial times and should this continue there is a possibility that Canada's medal haul could decline - I.E think Long Track Speed Skating.

This blogger's recommendation going into 2014 is to scrap the Own the Podium program and utilize the savings to invest into the infastructure and operations of WinSport Canada. Doing so would create a legacy of success into 2014, 2018 and beyond.

Unanswered Questions

Weren't these the games in which Canada's athletes would no longer question the lack of resources that were available to them? After all we were told that the $110 million dollar Own the Podium program would take care of external issues and allow our athletes to focus on the task at hand. "Own the Podium is giving Canadian winter athletes the tools and the resources so that we too can deliver the performance of a life-time in 2010," noted cross country skier Brian McKeever.

Why is it then that Mike Douglas was eliminated from the Skeleton competition after he failed to have his sled ready for competition in the alloted time. After hearing about the news he questioned his coach saying "We should have checks in place. I think the head coach should be there to help with that. That didn't happen."

Why is it that after Denny Morrison failed to live up to expectations in the 1,500m in long track speed skating he questioned the training program. "It wasn't that I just got tired and started going slower. It was that I got tired and started skating worse. Is it something with my training program?"

There are others. The facts are that while Canadian athletes are performing admirably in Vancouver the Own the Podium program is not performing as expected. In fact, Canadian athletes showed in Torino that they can perform beyond expectations largely without an Own the Podium program.

Perhaps it is time to scrap the Own the Podium program and start investing into facilities that have a proven history of producing Olympic Medalists. Perhaps it is time that we used the monies from the Own the Podium program and restored the Calgary Olympic Facilities that have proven their ability to produce Olympic medalists. Just a thought.

Stand up and cheer Calgary

Today marks the half -way point of the 2010 Olympics and like we expected Canadian athletes are excelling. 8 Olympic medals to date, 4 of which are Olympic Gold. Canadians from coast to coast are rejoicing as a result.

Olympic Officials, journalists, and athletes credit the Own the Podium program for Canada's success in Vancouver. However, as reported in previous blog posts Canadians have been excelling at the Winter Olympic Games since 1998. In those Games Canada finished 5th in the overall medal count. In Salt Lake City we were fourth, four years later Canada finished 3rd in the medal count and in Vancouver we currently sit 5th.

Pull the veil a little further back and one will see an all too familiar trend emerging in Vancouver. Virtually all of Canada's medal winning athletes live and train in Alberta. Consider the following:

Jenn Heil - 2nd in the moguls is from Spruce Grove, Alberta

Michael Robertson - Silver in Snow Board Cross - Lives and trains in Canmore, Alberta

Christine Nesbitt - Gold in Long Track Speed Skating - Lives in Calgary

Jon Montgomery - Gold in Skeleton - Lives in Calgary

Kristina Groves - Bronze in the Woman's 3,000 in Long Track Speed Skating - Lives in Calgary

As for the other three medalists - two of them Alexandre Bilodeau and Maelle Ricker frequent the athletic facilities in and around Calgary regularly. And the company that manages these facilities is WinSport Canada.

As the rest of the country applauds the Own the Podium program isn't it time we recognized who is truly responsible for Canada's success at these Games. Stand up and Cheer Calgary! It is you and your Olympic Legacy who is truly responsible for Canada's success at these Olympic Games.

Setting the Record Straight

It is still early but Canadian athletes are excelling at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. After only Day 5 at the Games Canadian athletes have already broken a curse that has dogged the Canadian Olympic team since 1976, Olympic gold on Canadian Soil.

Up until these Games Canada had the dubious distinction of hosting 2 Olympic Games and never having won Olympic Gold on home soil. Alexandre Bilodeau and his performance in the moguls ensured that there would not be a 3rd time. And Canadian athletes are just getting started. Maille Ricker won gold in snowboarding on Tuesday and many more are to come.

However don't think that the performance of our athletes at the 2010 Games are the exception. For the past decade it has been the norm to see Canadian Athletes on the podium. Yet every time Canada wins a medal at these Games, journalists seem intent on reporting that there has been a change in attitude amongst our athletes.

In the past the typical Canadian attitude towards international competition aside from hockey was "we hope not to embarass ourselves," notes Stephen Brunt of the Globe & Mail. Note to Brunt, at the past three Winter Olympiads Canada has been recognized as the most dominant nation in the world in the sports of speed-skating and curling - not hockey.

Bob McCown of the fan 590 in Toronto reported on his show yesterday that there is a fundamental shift in the attitude of Canadian athletes at these games. He went on to add that the Own the Podium program has installed a winning attitude in our athletes. McCown - did you forget that Canada finished fourth in the overall medal count at the 2002 Olympic Games and 3rd in the medal count in 2006. Canada currently sits 5th at these Games.

Canada is having a great games and lets all hope that this continues, but lets just all remember that Canada has been winning medals at the Olympic Games for the past 14 years. 2010 is not an anomaly. It is just the first time that most journalists have taken the time to notice.

Owning the Podium

We've read all about it. Canada's winter athletes are poised to win more medals than ever before on account of a $120 million dollar Own the Podium program.

"Everyone recognizes that that has been an incredible success," says Roger Jackson, CEO of Own the Podium, the centrepiece of the new Canadian system.

"It would be fair to say that this will be a seminal moment in sport leadership in this country," adds Chris Rudge CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee.

However, is the Own the Podium the root cause of this success? Let's not forget that Canada's athletes have improved on their Winter Olympic Medal count at each successive Olympiad for the past 25 years. Further Canada finished third in the Winter Olympic medal count - 1 medal behind the United States - with 24 medals in Torino largely without an Own the Podium type program.

If Canada can win 24 medals at a Winter Olympiad without an Own the Podium type program is $110 million dollars a good use of funds to win an additional 6 projected medals in Vancouver? Is it possible to think that Canada could win 30 medals without an Own the Podium type program, after all Canada's success has steadily improved at each Olympiad? One would think that home soil should certainly assist in turning some of those near misses into medal winning performances.

Maybe just maybe the Own the Podium program isn't the driving force we have been led to believe regardless of how many medals we win in Vancouver.

Roger Jackson and Chris Rudge will certainly tell us otherwise.

Good Luck

A quick send out to all our Winter Olympic athletes who are presently putting the finishing touches on preparations.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!

We as Canadians are proud of your courage to get this far and over the course of the next two weeks will certainly inspire millions of Canadians with your efforts.

Compete hard, but most of all enjoy yourself.

Excellence Redefined

At the recent Rowing Canada Coaches Conference, Alex Baumann - Chief Technical Officer and Sean Scott - High Performance Advisor of the Own the Podium Program spoke to conference delegates about the future of sport in Canada.

Baumman and Scott laid out a model for the future that focuses on sports excellence and delegates seemed to appreciate the new found approach after years of the "status quo". However, how one defines excellence is another matter in itself.

In the last decade Athletics Canada and Swimming Canada have seen two athletes, men or woman - Perdita Felicien and Brent Hayden - ranked #1 in the world. Meanwhile boxing has had four different men (Lucien Bute, Steve Molitor, Arturo Gatti and Jean Pascal ) who have been ranked at the very top of their sport.

But when one examines as to who benefits from the Own the Podium funding model we see that Athletics Canada and Swimming Canada are the beneficiaries at the expense of boxing. In 2009-2010 Athletics Canada and Swimming Canada are slated to receive $2,811,000 and $3,314,000 respectively in Own the Podium funding. Meanwhile, Boxing's take from the Own the Podium program is $0.

Basketball Canada produced arguably Canada's most dominant and successful athlete over the course of the last decade in Steve Nash. Meanwhile the Canadian Fencing Federation has never had an athlete stand on the Olympic podium and the sport while improving is a virtual after-thought of the Canadian public. However, it is the Canadian Fencing Federation who is the beneficiary of the Own the Podium funding model not Basketball. The Canadian Fencing Federation will receive $860,000 in sport funding in 2009-2010. Basketball $0.

Justin Morneau - became the second Canadian to win the MVP Award in Major League Baseball in 2006. Trampoline has never had a Canadian ranked higher than second in the world. No matter, it is trampoline that receives $960,000 in annual funding from the Own the Podium program . Baseball Canada gets nothing.

Perhaps it is time for the Own the Podium program to re-evaluate its definition of excellence.

"Giving Summer Their Due"

Canadian amateur athlete fans were bombarded this morning with reports about the apparent demise of our winter sports system following the conclusion of the Winter Olympic Games http://thestar.blogs.com/olympics/2010/02/roger-jackson-who-heads-own-the-podium-the-organization-designed-to-help-canada-win-the-medals-race-at-the-2010-winter-olym.html

Roger Jackson of the Own the Podium program notes in the article that the federal government will only commit to $11 million per annum towards the program following the games. The current level of funding is $29 million. However, what Jackson fails to note is that the Own the Podium program as originally designed should have only received $11 million in funding from the federal government. All remaining funds were to come from private donations. With the games now over, the federal government is being asked to make up the shortfall from private donations as opposed to the program finding corporate support.

Meanwhile on the summer side of the equation, the Summer Own the Podium program as designed requested $84 million dollars in federal funding. They however, currently only receive $8 million dollars in federal funding with a bump to $16 million next year.

Rather than have Canada's winter sport bodies lobby for more than what they were originally intended to receive shouldn't we first look at the shortfall faced on the summer side of the equation. Our winter athletes have received more than their fare share in funding for the last five years. It is time that our government started recognizing that there our summer athletes equally deserving.