Quote:
Originally Posted by formulate
If becoming a 'successful' nation means pushing our athletes to the point where performing better than they ever have is still not good enough, I'd rather keep our 'Canadian' view of sports. Of course every athlete on team Canada wants to medal, it's just not realistic that most of them will. However, if the attitude is to push towards personal bests every time out, the results will start to come. Being disappointed in an athlete or team that has performed above their ranking, but perhaps misses out on gold due to a few mistakes, is not something I'm about to start doing. Would you be disappointed in the Swiss hockey team that 'lost' the World Championships this past year?
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If we only push towards personal bests we will never catch the best in the world. We have to push to be the best in the world - if that is the overall goal. And, in my opinion, it should be. I think that if we change our mindset to push to be the best in the world, funding and better programs will develop to support that. If we are happy with personal bests, nothing will push the government and sport federations to provide better support for our athletes.
As for Switzerland - if they want to be a top/elite nation in hockey then they should be disappointed. To be satisfied with their finish means, to me, that they are happy not being the best. If they want to be the best, then they need to strive for more.