According to Sports Illustrated we’re going to win four gold, eight silver and two bronze.
As usual I suspect they’ll mostly be rowing medals. The LA games seem a lifetime away. 
Interestingly they predict Gail Devers will beat Perdita. We’ll see. 
We must understand that in L.A.1984 was a specific situation because of eastern block boycott.Therefore there was a lot of space for other countries to win a medals.
Oh I’m fully aware of that - but even still Canada had talents like Victor Davis, Alex Baumann, Shawn O’Sullivan, Willie Dewit, Anne Ottenbrite and that guy who won the bronze in the 100m Not to mention Mark McKoy
Athletes like that are few and far between in this country now days. I’m not knocking our athletes this year by any means, I think we have some awesome athletes. It just happens sometimes that there is a sudden jump in the level of superstars a country produces - it almost goes in cycles. It happens in most sports - look at German soccer in the late 80’s, early 90’s compared to now or Canadian sprinters in the mid 90’s compared to now.
Davis and Baumann are the types of swimmers that Canada only produces once every generation, but to have them both peak at the same Olympics was magic. 
14 seems a little harsh. I know we won 22 in Atlanta, and something close to that in Sydney. I think Perdita will beat Gail.
Unfortunately our swim team is not as strong (or nearly as big) as in Atlanta. I hope Perdita beats Gail… all the props in the World to Gail who really wants this missing medal from her collection, but I think Athletics Canada needs Perdita right now.
Our governing federations also go in waves… embarrassed then pump $$ in then embarr… & so it goes. Atlanta was a high point (remember the look on Donovan’s face at the finish??) but I fear Athens will not be.
But who knows… athletes being able to rise to the occasion or crumble under the pressure is one of the great mysteries & variables in sport. Thank god for that or the medals would have been given out already.
Not to sound like a american jerk but what is the problem with the swimming programs up there? Is it the University programs? I see a lot of olympians from canada comming from the US colleges.
University Programs?? What are those?
The NCAA’s is the fastest meet in the world…the olympics are sexy but some guys get lost through the lack of support. The cuts for ncaa’s are faster than the olympic A standards and if FINA let the americans have three people going to Athens instead of two (the IOC and Fina had to stop the americans from going 1-2-3 from the 1976 slaughter). I like the university of calgary…
The same problem that plagues every single sport in Canada except hockey.
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Not enough money is spent on developing athletes from the grass roots level. Minor hockey is strong, but sports like soccer, basketball and football are a joke. In the United States the quarterback of your high school football team is the best known guy in school. At my HS I didn’t even know who our QB was. PE program funding has been cut and athletics take a backseat to … well just about everything.
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Not enough money is spent on helping the athletes that respresent the country at the Olympics. I’d like to know just how much money some of these guys are living off of each year. I would bet many of them are below the poverty level
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Most Canadians just don’t give a crap about amatuer athletics in their own country - except every 2 years when the Olympics come around - and even then they’re soon forgotten after. For example, I sat with Mark Tewksbury at a Blue Jays game a few months ago, and not a single person came up to him or noticed him as anyone special. I doubt I could find a single person on the streets of Toronto who would know who Pierre Browne is. Hell, people think that Marnie McBean and Kathleen Heddle are going to win gold in Athens and they’re retired! :rolleyes: Awareness is just so low, and politicians aren’t under much pressure to increase grants for athletes or increase funding to develop young athletes.
I’m sure Charlie has a much better explanation that I do, but the above 3 are pretty close I think.
I had spoken with CBC about their coverage of the Olympics as well.
I was asked by a producer what I thought of the Winter Olympic coverage in Salt Lake… there was stunned silence when I said it sucked. Every day I was inundated with “the road to Gold” a series only about the hockey teams’ games leading to the gold medal round.
I told him that there are athletes that languish in obscurity & poverty waiting for the Olympic year & now CBC was even cutting that to bring us more on our millionaire hockey team. To add insult to injury, Molson breweries gave $1 million each to men’s & women’s hockey teams… the men’s team donated it to charity (better than keeping it) but not to the other Olympic athlets that are poor in order to train.
It is not as easy as saying it’s the government, I feel it includes corporate Canada, & the media.
Even Perdita Felicien went to a US college.
I wish I could answer the problem with a solution…
We can no longer say it’s because we are a small (population) nation … think Australia. But many athletes, including myself have asked “why the hell am I bothering here?” when faced with another bill in order to represent my country. A sad state for such a great country with such great athletes…