Category: Olympics

August 15, 2008

Why Canada Has Not Won Any Olympic Medals

You could tell something was amiss when, during the opening ceremonies, the rest of the world was gloriously dressed to show off their national heritages and Canada entered wearing cheap bargain-bin-looking 1970s track suits that were probably manufactured in China and bought for about a buck each.

Canada's 2008 Olympic team is a national disgrace. Why? September 24th, 1988. That's why. When sprinter Ben Johnson set a new world record of 9.79 seconds in the Men's 100m in Seoul, the celebrations in Canada were akin to that ordinarily reserved for major ice hockey victories, all to the sound of the late great Don Whitman's brilliant call of the victory. Two days later the country was an ugly mixture of shock and disgust as Johnson was stripped of his Gold after testing positive for the anabolic steroid Stanizolol.

Ben Johnson, over the years, went from one absurd failing endeavour to another, never being taken seriously, eventually, literally, moving into his Mom's basement. Worse, he had a terrible habit of running off at the mouth, venting idiotic nonsense to anyone who would listen. After testing positive a second time (in 1993), a Federal cabinet minister publicly declared him a "sickening disgrace to the nation" and invited him to get out of Canada and "move back to Jamaica". Clearly and, as it would turn out, significantly, unmitigated hatred of Johnson ran deep on Parliament Hill.

The year following Ben's being stripped of Gold, 1989, the Canadian federal government created "The Commission of Inquiry Into the Use of Drugs and Banned Practices Intended to Increase Athletic Performance", the scope and size of which was comparable to the Iran-Contra hearings; televised live in its entirety over hundreds of hours. Inquiry head Court Chief Justice Charles Dubin concluded that the problems were rampant, ingrained and in need of a major clean-up.

Given that Canadian politicians move at an Arctic glacial pace, the Federal response took a long time to arrive. But when it did, it was severe and damning. Worse, it lacked any foresight or sympathy for Canada's amateur athletes, the overwhelming majority of whom had never touched a banned substance in their lives. Part One of the solution was the introduction of widespread and improved testing, which made perfect sense, and included Canada "taking the lead" in the World-wide fight against doping in sports; positioning itself as (or at least pretending to be) the leading nation in sports cleanliness. Part Two of the solution was immediately devastating to Canadian athletics and has continued to wreak havoc in increasingly ugly ways with each passing year.

It takes, on average, ten years for an athlete to reach the world stage. Typically an athlete will begin participating in their chosen discipline in their early teens and, if they are lucky, might get the opportunity to participate in an Olympics by the time they reach their early-to-mid twenties. This timeline is central to my argument and what follows baffles me in the sense that it is not being discussed. Part Two of the Federal strategy was to penalize the athletes through a series of funding cuts; no small amount of which was born out of bitterness and anger at the humiliation Ben Johnson caused the nation. The acrimony has not since receded an inch. Canada's elite athletes who had been in the national programs remained largely unaffected by this, already having established themselves and secured the necessary funding to get them through the 1992 and/or 1996 games. Bear in mind that Canada won a total of 10 medals at '88 Seoul, at '92 Barcelona they took home 18, at Atlanta in '96 they took home 22 which placed them 11th among nations in total medals. But the athletes who were winning those medals began their funding cycles generally no later than 1988-92. Then the Feds' reaction to Johnson kicked in; financial support to sport went from $66.7 million in 1987 to $51.1 million in 1997. By 2001 it was cut a further 15% and by 2004 by another 13%. As it stands today we are approaching one-third of the 1987 figure, damning the country's athletic programs for decades to come. More cuts are coming. This all left very little money on the table for athletes who unfortunately now found themselves competing with a greater number of other athletes due to the spark in interest generated by successes in Barcelona and Atlanta; less money, more athletes wanting and needing some; higher cost of living and equipment.

Canada slipped to 14 medals at Sydney '00, down to 12 at Athens '04 and is presently stalled at 0 so far in Beijing. Yet the chief executive officer of the Canadian Olympic Committee had the audacity to suggest that Canada was aiming to finish as high as 14th in the world medal-wise. He'd have done better to predict finishing 14 places below Tajikistan and Azerbaijan. With each passing Olympiad the funded athletes grew fewer, aged and retired. Of course, the athletes currently competing in Beijing have got there on a shoe-string. Consider the case of Whitewater Kayaker David Ford who spent $80,000 out of his own pocket, wiping himself out, because the Government cut off his funding. Despite finishing fourth in Athens, he was told that "his sport lacked cultural significance in Canada" (as opposed to, say, Table Tennis, Badminton or Synchronized Diving), that he was too old and the Canadian government didn't "feel" that he'd be as good as he was at Athens. Consider also the case of Martin Gilbert, cyclist, whose bike was irreparably broken during recent a practice session. Gilbert contacted all three Canadian manufacturers, all but begging them for a bike so he could represent his country in China, yet all refused; one company offered to sell one at cost - still amounting to several thousand dollars which Gilbert didn't have. The Feds, effectively, didn't return his calls. Fortunately the Malaysian team has offered to loan him a back-up. My how things have changed. There was a time we used to lend things to Malaysia (like billions of dollars, for example). Now, hat in hand, we have to ask others for something as simple as a bicycle. Meanwhile the British team are driving bikes designed by Formula One racing team McLaren.

Wherever you are, Ben Johnson, I hope you're sitting in front of a television watching every moment of this colossal failure. And I hope you have brain cells enough to recognize how much of it rests on your worthless steroid-forged shoulders. Until you came along, the results of no lone athlete's actions had ever come remotely close to devastating an entire nation's amateur athletic program. Way to go.

August 13, 2008

Michael Phelps Uses Sonar

I almost wish John Madden was around to cover the Olympics so he could beat this story to death.

During the 200 meter fly final Tuesday night (Wednesday morning, in Beijing), Michael Phelps had some problems with his goggles that all the advanced technology in the world couldn't fix.
Amazingly, Phelps won the fly despite his goggles filling with water as he approached the 150-meter mark in the race. Once getting to the finishing blocks, he flung off his cap and goggles in disgust and vigorously rubbed his eyes, despite having set a record in the race.

"I couldn't see," Phelps said. "I was trying to see the 'T' on the bottom [of the pool] to try and judge my turn and the finish. I was more or less just sort of counting strokes. I sort of know how many strokes I take in a 50, and I was hoping I was going to be dead on and I was going to be able to hit the wall perfectly. I was able to get my hand on the wall first and it was a best time, but I think I was just disappointed that I know I can go faster than that."
As swamper and former high school swimmer (the Michael Phelps of his rec pool) govmentchedda points out, "that's like driving a race car with a beach towel flapping around on your windshield."

August 12, 2008

As Swimming Records Fall, Should We Doubt?

Sunday's well publicized 'best ever' relay race featured five teams that broke the standing world record for that event.

These professional swimmers we have around the world, like Michael Phelps, are setting new standards for what it means to be the best.

And given our history with baseball and cycling, etc, it's easy to just simply say these athletes are doing things to their bodies that enhance their performance.

I have gone around and joked privately about how I couldn't wait until three years from now when the US Congress begins hearings on the 2008 Olympic 'doping' scandal.

But that may not just be the case.

Take, for instance, this NY Times article detailing the technological advances in swimming - and why that may the end of reasoning as to why these records are falling the way they are.

No one piece can be excerpted that retains it message, but it's short so read the whole thing.

Performance enhancing within one's body should be against the rules. Performance enhancing outside the body should allowed into the discussion, regulated, and embraced when approved.

It's quite simple really. If there's something out there that creates a decision for athletes to choose between doing something unusual or abnormal to their body that may hurt them later one day, but would be required to allow them to to compete at the highest level now, that's where the line should be drawn.

But if making a bigger pool or and better swimsuit gives up such exciting performances as what we saw Sunday night - and there's truly nothing more to it - then let there be annual professional swimming championship in our homes!

June 23, 2008

So I'm Flipping Through the Channels...

looking for something to watch. Preferably something sporting, but possibly "Real Genius" or "The Mummy." The menu at the bottom of my digital cable display reads "US Olympic Team Trials." How very sporting. So I click, expecting to see some swimming or track and field. The program is at commercial. So I bide my time, drinking a Gatorade to replenish some of the dehydration brought on by an epic pool party and a round of golf in the preceding twenty-four hours.

I was fully prepared to over-muscled men or good looking girls in swim suits. Instead, I got a combination of the two -- a group of over-muscled girls. And yet, I was strangely intrigued. Or ,I should say, my wife was, and so I became intrigued by association.

Normally, especially since some of the actresses in this fine play are of age (Alicia Sacramone, Chelsea Memmel), owing to a rule that does not allow girls younger then fourteen to participate for a spot in the team, I wouldn't have any issue watching young women bound around wearing skimpy outfits, especially since I didn't even have to keep a supply of singles handy. Except that this wasn't normal.

This wasn't normal at all.

Continue reading "So I'm Flipping Through the Channels..." »

September 3, 2007

Can We Go Ahead and Plan on Basketball Gold in 2008 Then?

The US just ripped its North, Central, and South American bretheren limb from limb the last few weeks, securing its spot in Beijing. It did so with a balanced team that actually featured shooters, ball-handlers, and some concept of the need for defense. So, everything is locked in for a return to to the top of the international bragging rights pile next year, right?

Not so fast, says Michael Wilbon in today's Washington Post:

"In Las Vegas, the U.S. team faced no serious competition. In Beijing, the U.S. team will be in a very competitive field that will include Spain, Lithuania, Croatia, Italy, Greece and China. Oh, and don't forget the real Argentina, which played the Americas tournament without starters Andres Nocioni, Manu Gin?bili and Fabricio Oberto, all of whom figure to be in the lineup next August when Argentina defends its Olympic championship.


Unlike the last two weeks, there will be plenty of teams in China whose players believe they can beat the United States. Not only has the intimidation factor been lost forever, international teams now can't wait to play Team USA, no matter who's in uniform. Colangelo is aware of this, which is part of the reason he wants to hold a team-building, chemistry-enhancing minicamp of sorts in July before the August Olympic Games. Qualifying is a nice first step, but Colangelo and Coach K know exactly where international coaches are probing for weakness. While the 127-100 victory over Mexico looked like just another blowout to most folks at home following the results, the fact that Mexico scored 51 in a half is what got the attention of the rest of the world."

OK, so maybe the US is still working on the "play defense" part of the equation. As for the rest of it, Wilbon raises solid points.

Then again, the notion that the US will have to work to win gold, and knows they have to work to win gold? Kind of makes them more endearing. At the least, the arrogance of the past few US national teams should be a relic from the past.

June 5, 2007

London's Olympics have gone pink

The London 2012 organising committee released their official logo on Monday. It's apparently pink (ish), and is supposed to "to inspire young people around the world through sport and the Olympic values."
The new design, which cost £400,000, has received a mixed response, but Lord Coe was adamant it put across the image and message that he wanted the London Games to deliver to the world.

"It's not a logo, it's a brand that will take us forward for the next five years," he told BBC Five Live.

January 9, 2007

Non-news from the United States Olympic Committee

I love it when there's this big presentation and press release about the fantastic super-exciting news that the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) is going to bid on the Olympics 10-15 years from now.

Wow. Really? That is just so not going to impact my life today.

First of all, the Olympics are mostly a bunch of boring hype highlighted only by the Jim McKay puppet ABC trots out. I mean, he is remarkably lifelike. Secondly, the USOC bids on pretty much every Olympic games. So this is non-news. Finally, this is for 2016. There will be two more World Cups, nine more World Series, and 10 more Super Bowls between now and then. My four year-old will probably be starting high school.

But hey, the staff of the USOC has gotta eat, right?

In January 2003, a group of sports-loving friends launched The Sports Frog. In the time since, we have become an oasis for intelligent sports discussion on the Web. That's right, we said oasis. If you are here for the first time be sure to swing by The Swamp and join the conversation.
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