Quote:
Originally Posted by FFR
Totally agree. I was an elite level athlete for a number of years and had to work a full time job to support my morning and evening training.
That's why I want to see a culture shift in Canada towards expecting winning. If we, as a nation, expect winning - it will demand more from our government and sport programs in terms of funding. Athletes in Canada are woefully underfunded and it impacts their ability to train to be the best in the world. I think that lack of funding stems from the general opinion that just getting to the Olympics and having a personal best is satisfactory. Why put more money and effort into sport (as a government) when we are happy with Canadian records and personal bests? It's a really attainable goal that will continue to be achieved. We need higher goals to effect change in Canada's amateur sport scene.
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Really enjoying the debate hear. Totally agree with FFR and I think among the sports federations and people who know and understand amateur sport you do see that demand.
Amongst the non-fans you do have the rubes that complain when athletes that are ranked nowhere near the top 10 don't finish on the podium but there are also those that know what is a good result and what isn't.
Speaking specifically of Team Kripps I can tell you that there is no chance that Justin is satisfied with his 4th heat. The same with Chris Spring and Jesse Lumsden (who's a crazy intense guy), they are definitely kicking themselves.
But as viewers and fans, it's really not fair of us to pile on 10 seconds after the event. We can be disappointed and saddened in the result and (among those of us who get the sport) critical of the performance. But again we can also look over the entire season as a whole and judge that as an overall result.
