[jeremywilhelm]

Well he is not wrong. It is typical Canadian effort in sports that aren't hockey. Just being there is good enough.

This stems from the fact that there is no real world motivation for these athletes to win or lose. If they win, they get a pat on the back and a small amount of money and then are told to do it all again in 4 years, all the while having to fund themselves with little to no support. If they lose, no big deal, the public and the government just assume they will try harder next time. It's a societal loser attitude, something Canada has been promoting (although probably without knowing it) for a long time. Canada is a rich country that makes no real effort to produce great athletes.

I speak from experience by the way, not just an outsider observation. I've seen and talked to athletes from stronger countries in the athlete villages at large competitions like the World University games, and it is astounding how well they (the non-canadians from the other competitive countries) are supported financially.

Example: I went to the World University Championships for Taekwondo (which is an Olympic sport) in 2004. It was in Patras Greece. I had to pay for pretty much everything except a Taekwondo uniform, a track jacket and one meal. Our team doctor was a hollistic healer... thats right, a hollistic healer who was telling us that these crystals she would press into our flesh would heal our injuries (like my tweaked ACL). This is the type of support that sport Canada supplies athletes in international competitions in Olympic sports.

Chinese Taipei's and Korea's governments on the other hand had put up over 100,000 dollars to send the teams to the Games. They had olympic coaches, real doctors and funded equipment.

This is not an abnormal thing, this is just the way sport Canada works.