This is by no way a hit against Canadian athletes…but Canadians athletes seem to do well in events where (human) judging is used as opposed to (electronic) distance or time…
I know our athletes (who have medelled) in events such as gymnastics…trampoline…dyving and other events where scores are based on a FEW judges perspective) do work extremely hard and are very talented but why does it seem that Canadian athletes cannot perform to the same standards as athletes from other nations in “traditional” events…
yes we have some athletes that do excel at “traditional events” where (higher…faster…farther) is the goal but we seem only able to compete internationally (for the most part) in events where variable routines and technical judging is used…
You’re absoloutly right it seems. We medalled in Gymnastics, Diving and Trampoline, but at the same time these athletes were at the top of their respective sports. I believe that we just aern’t at the level of others in traditional events. We still medalled in some, silver in the rowing 4’s, gold in the K1, but it comes down to the fact that we just don’t get the money, i hate to be going away from the original topic but it’s true, canada has no funding for athletes, and yet we expect 30 medals every games, medals will come with money. Take Australia, a country with a population closer to canada’s finishing around 4th or 5th i believe in the medals with world powers Russia, USA and China, they have massive funding for their athletes because their governments took initiative that they want medals at the games.
We’re kings of the events that have yet to be discovered. Remember when we were winning in Synchro swimming (when they couldn’t award bronzes because you need 4 teams for that)? Now we’re shut out of the medals there too.
What do you think will happen when the Chinese politbureau reviews the Athens results. Do you seriously think they’ll let these kind of medals get away from them at home next time? Think again.
The only snowball we have rolling downhill is the growth of bureaucrats. Now, if we could hold THEM underwater for long enough, maybe we could get somewhere!
Honestly, they are going to be investing millions into 2008. They won I think 2 track medals, hurdles (gold) and 10,000 and they’ve said it themselves they want so much more. They’ll invest millions however us canadians get less than a million. I remember oddly enough watching a CBC piece on Charlie, correct me if i’m wrong but back after Soeul you mentionned that Athletics Canada would only give a couple hundred thousand for training, and expected to be world powers by Sydney. They can’t have elite athletes without elite training, and it costs money.
Take hockey. I live in Mississauga and every year there’s always a new rink being built up. Our mayor is never hesitant to give the hockey orginizations some municipal funding. But in less known sports, Basketball, Football, they become hesitant, and yet they wonder why we don’t produce the best athletes in sports we don’t fund!
Its very unclear, but im just trying to get it out how dissapointing Athens was for Canada, and hopefully promote more funding for Beijing, and finally see some results.
Of course, we can carry this arguement to its logical conclusion:
True, Sports in Canada don’t need more money- just a wiser distribution of the funds. That means from the bureaucrats to the athletes!
CBC doesn’t need more funds, just a re-distribution from frivolous activities- like out-bidding private networks with OUR money to cover sporting events rather than their original mandate- covering the news from a Canadian perspective.
The CBC can and does fulfill a role as a watchdog over private enterprise, making criticisms that private broadcasters can’t, since they rely on the advertising dollars these very targets generate.
Likewise, the CBC will criticise athletes and coaches- but never a fellow government agency like Sport Canada, since blowing the whistle on government waste and featherbedding could emperil their own funding.
This watchdog role can only be filled by private broadcasting- but they won’t ever get the chance as the CBC will use public funds to shut them out for as long as they can get away with it.
Sport Minister Owne just announced my $$/ month for carded athletes… an extra $4800/year. No word on re-evaluating distribution which means you still have mediocre athletes in some sports getting $$ when elite athletes in other sports get nothing. Not impressed. Athletes do need more/month but also there has noit been an adjustment in the allocation for years. Some sports are now leading the world while others have fallen.
While this is something, this does NOT in any way begin to fix the issues at hand.
First off, carded athletes have already achieved a pretty high standard. they didn’t get any assistance from the federal infrastructure to get there. In fact, the EXACT OPPOSITE.
The fed infrastructure creates, or, at least allows the proliferation of funding groups, who’s supposed role is to fund amateur sports in some ill-defined way. A Classic example is the famously disastrous COA Olympic Lottery: When asked what it was supposed to be in aid of, a spokesman said: “To support the athletes of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.”- JUST WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN? Does “athletes of yesterday” mean the bloated staff running the thing?
Groups like this use a righteous cause to compete directly against the athletes for funding dollars, suck those dollars off the table and into a giant black hole of first class expenses, leaving nothing for the third class citizen/athletes.
This Aegean Stable of salaries, Adrian Clarkson-like expenses, numbered companies, and bullshit goals should be swept aside.
How true Charlie.
The Dairy Farmers also gives $10,000 to athletes who are between 6 & 15 in the World Champs… in our sport that means you can be on the podium at the Worlds & get less $$ than the ones who come 12th… a bizzare situation. What I do know (& I realize this is not giving a solution) is that I have had to many times over the last few years, sit down & think long & hard about whether I can afford this or not … no, this is not a unique situation…
but the presumtion is that as I get older, it is easier & it has recently dawned on me (okay, I’m a little slow & blonde) that it gets harder… it is much more expensive to put a career on hold in your 30’s than if you are working part time at Home Depot at 22 years old, I don’t just miss my boyfirend when on the road for weeks, I miss my son & then of course it takes longer to recover from work outs even with anally followed nutritional program.
I am in a whining mood, forgive me, but I am at one of those times again when I must assess whether I can afford to represent my country for the next 1 1/2 years to Torino…
My debts are mounting & Mr Owen is not helping.
Okay, I have vented… I’ll get over it… apologies to you guys.
I do not know who you are or what sport you refer to as Charlie is out and I read your post.
I can tell you that most of the great things in my life have come to me because of sport. At 38 I can say that I gave my event the 100mh all I had under the circumstances that I had. When I met Charlie almost on my 21st birthday I had every intention of him coaching me from that moment on. For reasons beyond my control February of 1988 was not the time in history that would allow me to continue running until I was 26 years old. My accomplishments will never be enough in my mind but I was national indoor champion in the 60mh, on the national team 3x and in 1996 was 3rd at the Olympic trials beating one of the Olympic team members. ( she went on to run in Atlanta as she had made the standard and I did not)It is all ancient history now but Charlie is my husband of 15 years, we have a wonderful healthy son who we both adore and I work as a personal fitness trainer with some of the most fabulous people in Toronto. Perhaps I see the world differently but Charlie always reminded me that the pursuit of something you love and are passionate about is not always going to be profitable or make sense at the moment. It is your job to not give up, give yourself a chance and try everything you can to do what you love and feel strongly about. I know it is difficult and sometimes lonely… and so I do not bore you further good luck, keep your chin up and remember nothing in life worth while is ever easy.
Cheers,
Angela Coon
Angela, you don’t know how much I needed to hear that today of all days. We all know as athletes that we all come through times like these & it is easy to think it’s not worth it or arrogant or self centred to pursue being the best in the world…add that to the guilt of having a child I have to leave to compete (until I read in a school paper that I taught him to never quit).
I love my sport. It & my son saw me through both parents dying & a host of “real life” experiences come with time.
Thank you… really. I don’t plan on quitting
But we sure beat the pants off of those poor Slovakians in hockey last night!