Getting to podium has been a challenge
BEIJING - As host of the 2010 Winter Olympics, Canada has drawn up an ambitious medal-winning plan called "Own The Podium." That would be a welcome change for Canadian fans, whose summer athletes have avoided the podium altogether in a medal-less first week in Beijing.
The drought is provoking dismay back in Canada, even reaching the top levels of government. At a news conference in Newfoundland this week, the first question posed to Prime Minister Stephen Harper was about the Olympic shutout.
"We'll remain optimistic," said Harper, echoing Canadian team leaders' mantra that Week 2 will be better.
"We've always been a second-half team," Canadian Olympic Committee chairman Michael Chambers said in Beijing.
There have been near-misses. Christine Girard finished fourth in her weightlifting class - hoisting just 3 more kilograms would have earned a bronze. Mike Brown missed a bronze in the 200-meter breaststroke by .09 seconds.
As of last night, 54 countries - including Togo and Tajikistan - had won medals. Canada is arguably the most prominent sporting nation among the 150 with none.
As the Games opened, Canadian officials predicted their team would finish in the top 16, likely with more than the 12 medals it won in Athens four years ago. Now, Canadians aren't so sure.
"We're getting beaten by Togo," said an editorial in the National Post, a daily circulating across Canada. "A country as young, prosperous, healthy, and intelligent as Canada should be doing better."
Several commentators have blamed inadequate financial support. The Globe and Mail, a Toronto-based daily, said Australia, despite a smaller population, consistently outperforms Canada in the Summer Olympics thanks in part to more generous government funding.
Canada did expand funding three years ago for athletes eying the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. A smaller sum later was earmarked for summer athletes, not soon enough to provide a major boost for Beijing.
"Not to say it puts us on equal footing with Australia," said former Olympic kayaker Peter Giles, the Canadians' assistant chef de mission in Beijing. "But I think it will pay off in 2012."
Indeed, Giles said Canada aims to among the top 12 nations four years from now in London.
Cherie Humphrey, 36, of Toronto, said funding wasn't the only problem.
"That's just the Canadian way - to whine!" she said. "Let's face it, as competitors we've never been at the top of the list. Until we adopt a winning mentality and some patriotism, we will always be content just being in mediocrity." 