Olympic Superpowers That Have More Medals Than Canada...

[Flaming Choy]

add a 4th medal (bronze) in the men's 1500m freestyle. Nice to see a swimming medal after Canada set all those Canadian records during the olympics.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by flylock shox

Yipes. Did anybody watch Bolt run the 100m men's final?

That guy could easily, easily run below 9.6 seconds. Scary.

he was soo fast in the middle of the race it was borderline disturbing.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

I would love to have a gold medal in wrestling.

Take the bag off your head, I certainly felt nothing but joy watching her win and cry as O'Canada was being played for the first time this Olympics.

is there any video of the medal ceremony with O'Canada being played? i waited up to catch a replay of the match but they didn't show the ceremony, pissed me off. the best thing IMO about Canada winning any gold medal is hearing our anthem being played on the world stage

[OBCT]

Originally Posted by Dan02

he was soo fast in the middle of the race it was borderline disturbing.

No kidding. Wow.

And considering the guy's first organized race at the 100m distance was just this May ... he may have a ways to go in terms of potential.

At 21, Usain Bolt has a chance to obliterate the competition for years and years. I, for one, look forward to seeing just what he's capable of in the future.

[Resolute 14]

Hmmm. Could we have a reset of the OP here? I'm rather curious as to which Olympic superpowers are ahead of us now...

[Muta]

Originally Posted by fotze

koeverden is pissed at the whiners:



http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Olympics/2...73791-sun.html

Adam van Koeverden, who will chase double kayaking gold this week, says some of our nation’s struggles can be blamed on a flaw in our culture that breeds laziness.

“I’d like to ask the people who are complaining about our results are they playing Xbox or are they playing sports? Are they going to (amusement parks) on the weekend or are they swimming? Do they do swimming lessons? Are they encouraged to play sports at school? Do they have phys ed at school? Most kids don’t and that’s a real cultural issue in Canada.

“That gets me pissed.”



It is fine to get pissed but is misdirected at those that are actually contributing to the cause. Its like a guy sitting in the lawn chair drinking beer getting pissed at the lazy s setting up his tent.

Meh. His point is true, though. Most people probably don't know the struggles it takes to get to the Olympics, and it's easy to be an armchair critic with a beer in one hand and a remote in the other.

While his comment is still quite the generalization, his point is fairly obvious ... and truthful.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by Muta

Meh. His point is true, though. Most people probably don't know the struggles it takes to get to the Olympics, and it's easy to be an armchair critic with a beer in one hand and a remote in the other.

.

Yeah and that's what fans do. Athletes should never complain about fans - he's the guy that chose this as profession. My job is tough too. I'm sure a lot of people's jobs are tough.

To sit there and beak off to and look down on fans is really unimpressive and doesn't help the situation in the least.

[arsenal]

I think he has a point. The majority of the people complaining are band-wagon fans. The ones that don't care about the olympics except when they are on.
It isn't really fair for people who don't pay attention to the olympic sports to beak off at the athletes when they are breaking canadian records, but not getting any medals.
Medals take time and money. If these people want the results, they need to support the athletes the other 3.5 years that they are training. Not just at the games.

[JiriHrdina]

You can't tell fans when and where to support them. Most of these sports are flat out dull when the olympics aren't on.

Honestly this sense of entitlement from some Canadian athlete's is pissing me off. They went into their sports knowing what they were getting into.

As a fan I have every right to support them when I want - and if that means I just pay attention once every 4 years - well it's either that or nothing.

I understand medals take time and money - but why are we sending over a HUGE team that is largely full of people that have no chance.

If the athletes want more money - fine - we can re-allocate a lot of it simply by cutting the team down to a third of it's size. Less people get to go but at least they have a better chance.

[arsenal]

Then the Olympic qualifying times / places need to be a lot harder. If we make qualifying for the Olympics harder, then less people will go. That's up the Canadian Olympic committee to determine.

And I know you cant force fans to support the athletes. But then they shouldn't be complaining when they don't medal.

I wouldn't say it's a sense of entitlement, it's probably more frustration than anything.
Yes, it was their choice to do what they do. They know the commitment they are giving, and what they are giving up.
They also want to perform and represent their country to the best of the ability. And when they do that, they hear through the media that the majority of canadians are saying "well that's well and good, but you didn't medal so it means nothing".

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by arsenal

Then the Olympic qualifying times / places need to be a lot harder. If we make qualifying for the Olympics harder, then less people will go. That's up the Canadian Olympic committee to determine.

And I know you cant force fans to support the athletes. But then they shouldn't be complaining when they don't medal.

Why not? They are fans. What makes olympic atheletes different from any other athlete that they are not subject to criticism?

Originally Posted by arsenal

I wouldn't say it's a sense of entitlement, it's probably more frustration than anything.
Yes, it was their choice to do what they do. They know the commitment they are giving, and what they are giving up.
They also want to perform and represent their country to the best of the ability. And when they do that, they hear through the media that the majority of canadians are saying "well that's well and good, but you didn't medal so it means nothing".

Welcome to sports. If they can't take it - they chose the wrong profession.

[arsenal]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Why not? They are fans. What makes olympic atheletes different from any other athlete that they are not subject to criticism?

That they are amateurs. They sacrifice their own time, money, and lives to do what they do. A lot of them work and train full time, to get to the point that they are at. They go and represent their country on the world biggest stage, produce best times, place higher than any Canadians before them, then are told by their home country that they suck because they don't medal?
Sorry, criticism is fine, but being telling these athletes that they suck is not constructive, nor is it fixing the problem.

If we as Canadians want the results, and the medals, then we as a country need to sacrifice some time / money to support them.

[OilersBaby]

wow i dont get much canadian coverage here in the US so i check cbc.ca for canadian olympic info and yay we have 7 medals now

[fredr123]

So are these athletes amateurs or what? What's the definition? Sure a lot of our athletes (and others around the world) have to work a regular job and train for their sport in their spare time. Others accept significant (well maybe not in Canadian olympians' cases) public funding to train and participate in competition. Some have private sponsorship and endorsement deals (I heard, but have no link, that Michael Phelps is getting $5M a year). Then there are the professional athletes (think hockey in the winter olympics and even Chris "Good Times" Reitsma in the summer).

Guess the point is if these athletes truly were amateurs in every sense of the word I would feel hesitant to give them too much grief. On the other hand, if they're walking down that professional or semi-professional path then I don't see what the big deal is getting on their case a bit for poor performances.

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Yeah and that's what fans do. Athletes should never complain about fans - he's the guy that chose this as profession. My job is tough too. I'm sure a lot of people's jobs are tough.

To sit there and beak off to and look down on fans is really unimpressive and doesn't help the situation in the least.

Well, after reading his speech I jogged right down to Cardell Place and signed up for lane swimming. I just dropped a check in the mail to the COC on the way home.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Hmmm. Could we have a reset of the OP here? I'm rather curious as to which Olympic superpowers are ahead of us now...

Using the Olympics' official medal ranking system, which ranks first on the number of gold, then the number of silver, then the number of bronze, Canada is 19th with 2-1-4 (http://tsn.ca/olympics/standings/).

If you go by the total number of medals (7), Canada is 17th.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by arsenal

That they are amateurs. They sacrifice their own time, money, and lives to do what they do. A lot of them work and train full time, to get to the point that they are at. They go and represent their country on the world biggest stage, produce best times, place higher than any Canadians before them, then are told by their home country that they suck because they don't medal?
Sorry, criticism is fine, but being telling these athletes that they suck is not constructive, nor is it fixing the problem.

If we as Canadians want the results, and the medals, then we as a country need to sacrifice some time / money to support them.

I don't agree with everything fans are saying but as fans they have every right to say and feel whatever they want.

I don't think we need to sacrifice more money but rather simply be smarter about what we already spend.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by fotze

I think that people can criticize anything regardless of how they are financed. I have just always felt funny criticizing very successful people's performances. I have personally after everything is said and done, probably given Adam van der koudbasdhbau $0.01. He is far more successful in his career than I am so who the hell am I to question his effort (I can criticize it, but I should expect some back, questioning my own effort), I don't know how hard he has trained.

Why is it so horrible for him to snap back at something he doesn't agree with? To stand up for his teammates. What a bad guy, off with his head.

I guess being a Canadian athlete is to accept with grace no matter how much you disagree with the criticism. Its true the ones who lost did not do enough to win, but its also true that some people criticising are fat losers. Both are part of the problem.

I don't think athletes should EVER be snapping back at fans and in particular questioning their right to have opinions because they aren't in as good as shape. It's just silly.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by fotze

So fans have a right to opinions but athletes do not?

Pretty much yeah - if they want fans to root for them they need to stand in there and take some shots. If your in the public eye - get a thick skin for pete's sake.

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by fotze

Arguing with you is like being in a Punch Yourself in the Balls contest. There's no possible way to win.

I heard that contest is replacing Women's Softball in the 2012 Olympics.