Supporting Our Athletes

I wrote this post down a while back, but never got around to posting it. The incident is old news, but the point (no pun intended) is valid.

There was an unfortunate show of poor sportsmanship, by one of our Canadian fencers at the 2008 Olympics. No need to mention her name again or describe her actions. Her outburst was by no means justified, but I can easily see some of the external factors she had to deal with. The positive side effect of all this was that, through her post-competition interview, the masses were able to learn what an elite athlete has to go through when her country can’t adequately fund her sport. To continue at the elite level, she had to live and train abroad if she wished to continue at the world level.

I feel that Canada has failed her more than she may have diminished our image, as the larger issue was our Country’s support (or lack thereof) of amateur sport. I’m proud that we are improving by leaps and bounds in this department, through projects such as the “Own the Podium”. And I don’t think we have to (or are even able to) dump endless resources into it like some countries do, as there are more important social issues to address. I just hope we continue seeing the value of amateur sport long after the hype (and funding) of 2010 has passed.

It’s very difficult to quantify the effect in monetary terms, but the effects are many. Our athletes can inspire us in many facets of life, promoting health and fitness, which in turn prevents many other health issues, and through competition they can bring the world together where common ground and mutual respect can grow.

Harry

The (not so secret) Olympic Equation

I remember back when I was watching the opening ceremonies, I bet my wife that China would end up with 49 gold medals. In the end it was 51 with some gymnastics controversy, so I’m going to pretend I was bang-on (kidding). The U.S. won the overall medal count which was also no surprise to most people... but how do they do it? The U.S. is said to be the most overweight , sedentary and unhealthy countries in the world. We (Canadians) like to think we are so active and healthy, but childhood obesity is steadily increasing for many years now.

So what’s the equation for Olympic success?

POPULATION SIZE + FUNDING + the athletes = Olympic Success

Joking aside, I realize I’m not the first person to come up with this, as almost anyone involved with sports at any level is aware of this. I just felt the urge to write it down. And it’s because of this reality, that I am most inspired by the Olympic athletes that make it with very little support.