Davey Dan Oli

Just thought I would in a hot potato regarding Canada's dismal performance at the Summer Olympics so far since no one seems to be talking about it on the forums (unless I am blind).


I think this cartoon in the Sun today says it all

dbd33

Perhaps no one is talking about it because it's not very interesting. We're not Canadians (except in law) and don't really know any Canadians so it's not something we'd notice.

kiddy2ns

Hold your head in shame admitting on the internet you read the Scum

Jingsamichty

I'm not even interested in how the Brits are doing.

I love most sports, but I've never got excited by athletics events.

dbd33

We've had the equestrian channel on continuously but the only other sport mentioned on there is sailing. Canada could have won everything else for all we'd know.

gibsonslanding

yeah but wait 'til 2012......wall to wall canadians then

Davey Dan Oli

We get the Winnipeg Scum (not the British comic) for free because of a local business paying for a wrap-around advertising cover, wouldnl't buy it otherwise.

Oakvillian

I've been watching it and reading it where I can.

I vaguely know a couple of the guys on the GB rowing squad, and one of the Canucks' coaches, so I've kept an eye on that. The Canadian men's 8 is tipped for a medal, and the coxless pair is looking reasonable too.

For all the complaining about the first week's Canadian performance, sure, there have been a few disappointments for genuine medal contenders (Shewfelt in the gymnastics, Brent Hayden in the swimming, Alexandre Despatie in the diving). But the performances by most athletes so far have been on a par with expectations, and in many cases they've reached personal bests. The media have been bleating - but not nearly as loudly as they did at the British performance in Sydney 8 years ago.

There's a reasonable shot at medals in the men's 800m, the K1 500m and 1000m flatwater kayak, and a couple of classes in the rowing.

Most of the real criticism I've seen has been of the funding and governing organisations in Canada. The boxers laid into the Canadian Amateur BOxing Association for the hopeless job they've done of promoting, developing and funding their sport. The cycling federation has come in for some of the same criticisms. As ever in these things, there's a success-breeds-success mentality: not just because the youngsters coming up the ranks have a strong and successful role model, but because centrally managed funding regimes tend to reward success with money (but, of course, you need to demonstrate success despite lack of funding before you see any development dollars).

As to the Brits... Somebody made a great quip the other day about the British success in these Games - with the notable exception of the swimming team, most of our medals are predicted to come from sports that you play while sitting down: equestrianism, cycling, rowing and sailing. How very British is that!!

kiddy2ns

Oopps Sorry

R I C H

Having spent a couple of years working with elite Canadian athletes across 14+ sports (winter and summer), it's interesting to note that the $ per head spent on sport here compared to the UK and Australia, for example, isn't all that far behind.

Where Canadian sport struggles is the sheer cost of travel and distance involved for national level competition (this chews into budgets enormously), and a lack of national training facilities in comparison - many sports are fragmented which the provincial system only exacerbates.

Even at elite level, the Canadian social attitude to sport is still very apparent. The participatory model of involvement is still over-riding in many disciplines -there isn't the single minded hunger that the Aussies show. Few sports have anything more than occasional access to bio-mechanists, and other sports scientists, and many provincial level coaches are still unpaid or need second jobs to make it pay.

bazzz

Maybe they just need to employ more homeopaths. Or would fewer be more effective? I always get confused.

Oakvillian

I wasn't aware they employed any. Are you implying that biomechanics and sports science doesn't help improve performance? If so, reference please...

bazzz

I was just having a sly dig at RICH because he was advocating some sort of pseudoscience (can't remember if it was homeopathy, chiropractic, or both) in a previous thread. Hopefully he can just call me a rude name and be done with it as I don't think we want to drag all that up again.

dexdaw

when does the darts start??

bazzz

I was assuming it'd be in the 2012 games to give the Brits a shot at winning something. Although aren't the Dutch the dominant force in this sport now?