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Originally Posted by OldDutch
Count me in the group against "Own the Podium". This program has done nothing but ratchet up the pressure on everything about these games. It has put out an atmosphere of competition on everything about these games:
1. Constantly remind people that no one won gold in Calgary or Montreal. Like that counts as a measure of success in hosting a games?
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I think it bears mentioning that the "gold medal count" statistic for the past two Olympic games hosted by Canada usually fails to take into consideration how much the Olympics—and the Olympic events—have changed even just in the past 20 years. At present Canada's two gold medals and four of its six medals in total have been won in events that were not part of the winter games in Calgary. Events in which Canadians are expected to do well (including snowboarding double slalom, skeleton, arials, curling and short-track speed skating) are relatively new to Olympic competition. Oh, and then there is that little matter about having NHL players in the Olympic games since only 1998.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OldDutch
2. Questionable ethics used to block other countries from using our venues to practice.
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Yeah, that seems wrong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OldDutch
3. All round make it clear that if we do not win the medal count these games are a failure in some way.
When did Canadians become like this? This hyper competitive nature is something out of a US games. It has nothing to do with Vancouver, or the great city it is. It all got so politicized so fast, now everyone is fighting with each other, over stupid things like gold medal counts. How sad.
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This is true, and it is also pretty ridiculous when considering who the competition is. Does Canada honestly think that they can compete with the MUCH larger, wealthier, more seasoned United States? They are regular winners in the Olympics for reasons that Canada can't really claim, including the hyper-competitive element that seems engrained in American culture as well as a very high—perhaps even irrationally high—commitment to athletics.
As usual, I think that if Canada finishes in the top-three in the final medal count we should all consider that a fantastic accomplishment.