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I find this head line very misleading, particularily in the spirit of the games, the Olympic Games. Try a bit of objective journalism.

"failed miserably"...as a Canadian I can't help but be put off by this statement. It's true, we didn't win any "official" medals. But you're forgetting that the 1988 winter olympics had "demonstration sports" which included curling & short-track speed skating - all of which are now official sports and Canada DID medal in these sports (gold in women's curling!). So I wouldn't say that we failed miserably at all. Also, the olympics no longer include demonstration sports, so its unfortunate that the medals can't be made official by means of retroactive reward. Just a little history lesson for you Ollie!

As a Canadian, I'm glad to hear someone call it like it is. We DID fail miserably to win Olympic gold in Calgary and Montreal. Unlike the way GB, China and Australia pumped huge effort and cash into their athletes prior to these nations hosting the Games, in Canada our athletes were living below the poverty line!

This time, it's different and a great deal of cash and training facilities have been created, and having a big ambition to top the medal total table is the right mindset to have.

Let the Games begin!

Let's just say this, there best hopes for medals seem to be in Curling and Ice Hockey, especially in hockey where the sport is like a religion in Canada. I think that if the Canadians fail to win a medal in hockey there will be an investigation. It won't matter what else happens because their national pride will be severally wounded. That's how much hockey means to canada.

We in Canada have been gearing up for these games since the 2006 Olympics.
In 2006 we came 3rd in the total medal count, with 24. One less than 2nd place USA with 25 medals. Germany 1st in the medal count with 29. Let me not mention the population differences.
We Canadians feel we can finish 1st in our home Country's 2010 Olympics.
We are going to "OWN THE PODIUM"

Was there was an increased risk of tragedy at the sliding centre as a result of building a­ super-fast track (faster than most if not all world cup venues) and then restricting access to it for non-Canadian athletes ahead­ of the games?

These sled racers need to learn the best lines and every track is different, in the same way F1 race circuits (for example) have different characterists that must be learned in order to be competitiuve.

Maybe now that someone unfamiliar with the track has been killed IOC should look at the regulations that allow the gamesmanship­ interpretation of rules to favour home athletes.

Ollie, one minor comment - the film you saw on the big screen in Robson Square in the centre of Vancouver is actually called "Nummer Acht - Everything is going to be alright" by Guido Van Der Werve (you can see a still from it here - . It's part of an exhibition of video art that the Vancouver Art Gallery is showing outdoors. There are some real gems amongst the films and I'd recommend anyone in Vancouver to spend a bit of time soaking up the atmosphere and watching the films!

I made a similar comment Ricadus and agree.

My comment:

"The choice of Canada to run this 'Own the Podium' policy, denying other countries access to the tracks was not only shocking for flying in the face of the Olympic spirit, but must now be seriously scrutinised for a potential link between it and accidents, including the terrible fatality today.

These competitors have insufficient time to learn the courses slowly and surely, and in order to compete may well be taking unreasonable risks.

The Press should be all over this"

Ricadus and RPM - while in principle I agree with you that equal access should be the situation, this has been going on at every Olympics that I can remember. I recall in Salt Lake City the US restricting other nations from training on the bobsled and ski runs so as to advantage the US team. This situation is nothing new.

Having watched the video of the luger's crash, I do wonder why there was no padding around that steel girder the poor guy flew into. It would seem a common sense thing to have done prior to opening the run up for training.

highthief - no amount of padding would have saved his life. The only thing that could have helped would be a higher lip.

"Curling and ice hockey are the two sports Canada would traditionally count as strengths..."

There it is again. Don't be doing that. Try:

"Curling and hockey are the two sports ..."
__________

Actually, people tend to forget that Elizabeth Manley did win the Gold at Calgary, but she was done out of it because she had the misfortune to be in one of the "judging" sports. Go back and watch the tapes if you doubt it.
__________


9. Ollie -

Yeah, taking more than our share of practice times isn't right. That's not what Canadians are about.

But it isn't that surprising. These games are being run by people who probably should never have been awarded the games in the first place. You often get the feeling that they have the attitudes of "wannabe-Americans". They're the kind of people who don't get "Chariots of Fire": so desperate to win, they can rationalize cheating to do it.

It doesn't speak to our national values. If you have to cheat to win, the game isn't worth playing. You win fair and square, or not at all. (which, by the way, is why we despise the "judging" sports). They are, in that respect, embarrassing.

What the Winter Olympics are supposed to be about, or more properly international sport generally, is the Norwegian Cross-Country Skiing coach who saw that a competitor had broken a ski pole in the middle of the race, and who immediately and without hesitation stepped forward to lend her his pole, even though it meant his own athlete would finish fourth.

It's about the sailors who stopped in the middle of the race to pick up a competitor who had fallen in the water, thereby losing their chance to win.

It's about the expatriate Indian community in Canada providing uniforms and equipment for Indian athletes.

It's about a boxer from Northern Ireland winning gold at the Commonwealth Games in New Zealand, the record player breaking, and the whole auditorium singing "Danny Boy" just the same.

That is what international sport is about.

As a Vancouverite, the death of the young fellow from Georgia deeply affected us all here. It was a tragic accident. I wish people could get their facts straight before making such derogatory comments made by Ricadus and RPM . The head of the Georgian Federation advised the press that this young luger had been training here on the site for 30 days so he was familiar with the track. Also, overall experience in any sport needs to be considered and I think officials are looking at this as well. Unfortunately he made a terrible mistake going into the turn and could not correct it. It doesn't matter what sport you're in, once you go airborne, you're in trouble. The track has been modified and they are starting from the women's start. They have heightened the retaining wall on that corner as well.

Unfortunately, the Olympic motto "Faster, Higher, Stronger" meant for the athlete to give his or her best during competition, and to view this effort as a victory in itself has taken on a whole different meaning today. Because of technology today, the speeds these athletes are reaching whether it’s lugging, skiing, etc. are putting athletes at risk. We’ve seen this especially with women’s ski teams and even the women’s moguls in last night’s competition, the times were very fast. I think this issue needs to be addressed for the safety of all athletes.

We have all seen those wonderful olympic moments, athletes and coaches helping each other and they are heartwarming. It wasn't an olympic moment but it still shows true Canadian character when in 2006, Calgarian Andrew Brash abandoned his second quest for the summit to Mt. Everest to help Australian climber Lincoln Hall, who had been left for dead by his team and other climbers from other countries, who passed by him without even trying to help him. Even though he was only 200 metres from the peak of Everest, Brash worked with other climbers to get Hall down the mountain so please don't say Canadians want to win at all cost, especially when a human life is at stake.

Sorry to return to this blog so late but I think there is a point. About the powers that be in Canada in heaping unrealistic expectations on their athletes. I almost feel sorry for the Canadian Olympians. This should be a time for them to enjoy their home games, show their best and revel in competition agaist their fellow athletes. Not a time of cost-effective performance, benchmarked by bodies who clearly don't understand the heart of sports.

I'm sure that all Canadian athletes try to do their very best but the pressure and expectations of the home games can prove excruciating, the more so if you "fail" to deliver. Even if you finish 2nd, 5th, among the top 10 or 20. All very good achievements, I think, in a field of the very best in each sport.

The only one that Canada really "has to win" is men's hockey. (Hey, Canadians invented the game!) I'll be cheering for Canada all the way - except when they stand in the way of Finnish success. ;-) (I'm a Finn.)

In conclusion, I think that Canada's reputation as "nice" people is still intact. I think people see the broader picture and discout any excesses during these games. The Olympics have not turned Canadians nasty.

PS. I love the red mittens with the maple leaf that all the Canadian spectators seem to be sporting in cheering their own. And all other athletes as well. :-)