FINAL!!! Canada has 18 medals! 3 Gold 9 Silver 6 Bronze

[Lone Rider]

When has ANY government from Quebec ever not screw up? The bureaucrats in this province have to be among the worse in all of Canada. They screwed up real bad back in 1976 & it served as a model (a bad one at that) for future Olympic organizations in how NOT to organize Olympic games.

Doc, I fully and totally agree with this statement. The Quebec government is a big bureaucratic machine feeding off itself. They totally messed up these olympics, which hindered for several years Canada's participation in the Olympics. Thank god that Calgary saved Canada in 1988.

I would be very surprised to see Canada get the summer games again. Not in my lifetime anyway.

LR

 

[eastender]

Not Accurate

Doc, I fully and totally agree with this statement. The Quebec government is a big bureaucratic machine feeding off itself. They totally messed up these olympics, which hindered for several years Canada's participation in the Olympics. Thank god that Calgary saved Canada in 1988.

I would be very surprised to see Canada get the summer games again. Not in my lifetime anyway.

LR

Your comments are far from accurate.

After boycotting the 1980 Moscow Games, Canada did very well in the 1984 Los Angles Summer Games - Sylvie Bernier and others winning medals, showing the benefits of the 1976 games and installations. In 1988 in Seoul, the Ben Johnson scandal and the resulting fallout set back the gains that had been achieved previously.

Nothing to do with Quebec politics.

 

[JustBob]

When has ANY government from Quebec ever not screw up? The bureaucrats in this province have to be among the worse in all of Canada. They screwed up real bad back in 1976 & it served as a model (a bad one at that) for future Olympic organizations in how NOT to organize Olympic games.

Wrong, unless you reduce "organizing Olympic games" to cost overruns of the facilities. The games themselves were a resounding success and had a tremendous impact in sports structure and development not only in Quebec, but all over Canada.

But thanks for making this thread political...

 

[EagerBeaver]

While it's true that Togo has a medal and Canada does not, as of this writing there are other, far more populous countries than Canada that also have only one medal so far, the same as Togo, including:

India (1 billion population)
Mexico (106 million)
Egypt (75 million)
Argentina (40 million)

So what is their excuse?

 

[metoo4]

Sadly, we can wonder if the ones without medals aren't the ones who play fare, medalist being the ones who found a way to go under the detection radar. How else can records get beaten over and over? The human machine has it's limit when it comes to how it can perform without "help"...

Of course I could be totally wrong but still, the doubt is there.

 

[EagerBeaver]

metoo4,

On the other hand, the sophistication of training has increased as well. In the sports of track and field and swimming, record times seem to be getting lower and lower and lower. In the men's 100 meter sprint, I believe the world record is 9.79 seconds, but how much lower can it really go? Obviously, it cannot be run in 0.1, or under 1 second, so at some point, a limit must be reached.

The swimming records being broken are another matter. The sport has taken a quantum leap from 1972 when Mark Spitz won 7 gold medals breaking 7 world records in the process. Do you realize that Spitz would not have qualified for ANY Olympic team this year with those world record times he had in 1972? Indeed, when Spitz tried out for the US team in 1992 as a 41 year old, he recorded times comparable to or better than what he did as a 22 year old in 1972 - and still failed to qualify for the US team! The sport had passed him by. Bigger and better athletes, better training, better facilities, better coaching, and better diets, are all part of it. I don't think we can say they are all doing steroids especially with the testing regimens that have been implemented. Although in the sport of cycling, doping seems to continue to be a problem.

 

[voyageur11]

Because they are representing their country

 

[eastender]

Perceptions

Why should governments be in the business of trying to win medals? What business does the government have in being involved in Olympics period? If you want to dedicate your life to hammerthrow or cycling or syncronized swimming, what does this have to do with government and why should I or my corporation put up the cash?

Governments get involved with sports because they like being associated with success. If athletes win a few medals other government programs benefit from the success by association mentality.

Also a question of votes. Municipal governments subsidize youth hockey in the province of Quebec because it generates votes. Once all the calculations are made after the subsidies come in minor hockey associations pay as little as $10.00 an hour for ice time. Costs about $70.00 - $75.00 in municipal labour for ice time.Remember directly or indirectly a minor hockey association can influence upwards of 5,000 maybe 10,000 municipal voters.

Corporations - Coca Cola is a major Olympic sponsor. Not the healthiest drink on the market but its association with athletic prowess and healthy activities helps the bottom line.

 

[rollingstone]

While it's true that Togo has a medal and Canada does not, as of this writing there are other, far more populous countries than Canada that also have only one medal so far, the same as Togo, including:

India (1 billion population)
Mexico (106 million)
Egypt (75 million)
Argentina (40 million)

So what is their excuse?

I'll speak for Egypt. It may be a poor nation, but better off than quite a few other countries that have more medals. The biggest issue is the education system there that is very very grueling (more so than the US) and cuts upcoming athletes absolutely no slack. The Athens 96kg Wrestling champ (Egypt's only gold in Athens) had dropped out of school when he was in junior high to focus on his sport, and it paid off with a gold medal in Athens. The local press ridiculed him for lacking an education. He couldn't get job that would let him continue training as he should, and virtually no support from the government. He did get a pathetic reward of $5,000 from the government for his gold medal though (this is a nation where the soccer team got about $2 million each for winning the African Nations Cup, between government rewards and private contributions from businessmen). Instead of spending the last 4 years training and competing, it was spent arguing with the local wrestling federation over pay and sustaining a livelihood. The result is that he was eliminated from the first round this time.

The latest example was their Olympic Gymnast whose school refused to postpone his exams because he was at a scheduled training camp. Our only hope for gold right now is a 19 yr old girl who is ranked 1 or 2 worldwide in the Modern Pentathlon. She would be the first Egyptian woman to win a medal if she succeeds. I only hope she will succeed and go on to 2012 instead of getting married and starting a family.

Finally you can keep quoting population figures but keep in mind its not the nation with the bigger population that can perform, its the nation with the professionals who can pick out the best potential athlete and nurture him/her from among the millions (or even billions) of people. This is one of the things the Chinese have been getting right.

 

[rollingstone]

Sadly, we can wonder if the ones without medals aren't the ones who play fare, medalist being the ones who found a way to go under the detection radar. How else can records get beaten over and over? The human machine has it's limit when it comes to how it can perform without "help"...

Of course I could be totally wrong but still, the doubt is there.

The 4X100m swimming relay is a great example of this. The US slashed 4 seconds off of the record, and the top 5 teams in that event came under it. Many are attributing it to the new Speedo Skin Suit. Teams like Germany became frustrated because they have a contract with Adidas, and Adidas said they would have to pay a hefty penalty if they chose to switch to Speedo.

 

[EagerBeaver]

rollingstone,

In 1972 when Mark Spitz won 7 gold medals, world records were broken in all 7 events, and he was wearing Speedo bathing suits back then. Here is a picture of Spitz in 1972 in his Speedo with his 7 golds:

http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/wysiwyg/image/spitz.jpg

Not exactly a souped up body. By the ways, Spitz had better technique than Phelps. Phelps' technique in the breaststroke in particular is not the greatest. But Phelps is much bigger and stronger than Spitz was.

 

[rollingstone]

EB,

You have to keep in mind though that we're talking about 4 seconds here, in an event like that its huge. And the next 4 teams in the ranking beat that time too. For the German team to think about switching gear and leaving their sponsor, there has to be something to the new suit.

By the way, Spitz did make an interesting comment on Phelps and his medal chase. When Spitz swam in 1972 there was no 50m freestyle event, and if there was he would have won it (hence 8 medals instead of 7).

 

[EagerBeaver]

And Spitz is right, because his best event was the 100 freestyle. As a matter of interest at that time I was involved in youth swimming, swam competitively and my event was 100 freestyle.

Spitz was voted one of the 5 greatest Olympians of all time, and he's also probably one of the 3 greatest Jewish athletes of all time, along with Sandy Koufax (baseball) and David (slingshot).

 

[bond_james_bond]

Actually, I admire Canada for NOT placing much emphasis on the Olympics.

Maybe there are more important things, like cancer research, than sporting events.

 

[korbel]

Korbel,

the US has 10 times the population therefore, they have 10 times the opportunity to develop or find top athletes in their country. Its partially about statistics.

LR

Hello,

Lone Rider,

Then by that logic you should have 1/10 the medals. Look I am not trying to pick on Canada at all. I just don't think some of the points made here are the critical factors some seem to say they are. It's just plain mystifying to me that a country like Canada has none yet. I realize there are climate, financial, commitment, population, coaching, training, sports preference and infrastructure issues: but with all that it is still quite mystifying. In a technologically modern country of about 33,500,000 people with a very decent economy it doesn't make sense.

That's all,

Korbel

 

[voyageur11]

At the 2004 olympic Canada won something like 12 medals all in the second week of the games. Just wait and see Canada will do better soon

 

[cargo]

Talk about politic. The canadian sports federation are just a bunch of political nomination who just spend money for their own benefit A high percentage of money save for sport are in fact spend for this bureaucratic entity. It's a shame how Canada use their athlete. They supply very few money on them and if the athlete win gold medal, they will use them, almost abuse, to spread their patriotic proudness.

I, too, will be happy if they don't get any medal. Maybe they will learn to treat better their ambassador.

 

[Lone Rider]

metoo4,

On the other hand, the sophistication of training has increased as well. In the sports of track and field and swimming, record times seem to be getting lower and lower and lower. In the men's 100 meter sprint, I believe the world record is 9.79 seconds, but how much lower can it really go? Obviously, it cannot be run in 0.1, or under 1 second, so at some point, a limit must be reached.

Just a note, the 100 m record is 9.72.

Hello,

Lone Rider,

Then by that logic you should have 1/10 the medals. Look I am not trying to pick on Canada at all. I just don't think some of the points made here are the critical factors some seem to say they are. It's just plain mystifying to me that a country like Canada has none yet. I realize there are climate, financial, commitment, population, coaching, training, sports preference and infrastructure issues: but with all that it is still quite mystifying. In a technologically modern country of about 33,500,000 people with a very decent economy it doesn't make sense.

That's all,

Korbel

I agree with this. Canada can do better but reality is, we send off our best athletes into professionnal sports, which makes alot of sense. We have a fantastic pool of hockey players for instance.

This country simply does not support enough our athletes.

LR

 

[voyageur11]

At the 2004 olympic Canada won something like 12 medals all in the second week of the games. Just wait and see Canada will do better soon

Told you 3 medals this morning

 

[Mod 8]

I have modified the thread title to show the new medal count. I will update it to reflect any further changes in the medal count.

M8