Own the podium is a success in my mind. Yes we wont beat the Americans in the medal count. We may not even beat our medal count from 4 years ago.
The success is that we as a nation are talking about winning medals at these games. In the past it has been surprising when we have medaled. In these games we are expecting medals. Our athletes are getting more the personal bests they are getting top 10 top 5 finishes. Our overall performance is greater then in the past. You can’t just look at medals but look at overall standings. If we didn’t lose half the women’s skiing program to injuries three months before the games we would be sitting with more medals. They had been projected to win 7 themselves.
However I believe that the success of Own the Podium is not the medal count but how Canadians have engaged these games. Record viewership something like 93% of Canadians have watched the games at some point. The crowds to get in to the pavilions are bigger then any one had predicted. The fact there is a conversation going on about what is Canadian Identity should be attributed to Own the Podium. I am one who would argue that the funding should increase or at least continue. Yes there are many things money should go towards, but encouraging people to live a more health life style and pursue something bigger then themselves is important.
Also look in to the stories of our medal winner. Everyone has a story. Some examples snowboarding for your brother, skating together since you were 7, skating for your mom, an auctioneer who wants to represent Canada at the games he will do anything, or know these are your last games winter and summer and win a bronze which is as good as gold. You don’t have to compete at the Olympics to chase your dreams. All of us have stories from our own lives that if told while winning a medal at the Olympics would be inspiring. So really what is stopping you from stepping out of what you are familiar with and chasing a dream or too.
So yeah in my opinion we should continue with Own the Podium.
graham
February 27, 2010 at 8:00 AM
It is interesting to note, as well, that canada is the only country (at least from my quick scan of the standings) that has more gold medals than silver and more silver medals than bronze. It seems that canada is first or second or nothing at all (in terms of medaling). Other countries (such as the USA) is leading the total medal count because they have so many bronze medals (more third place finishes than first place finishes). Moreover, although we may not win the total medal count, Canada is leading the way in gold medals. So in many ways ‘own the podium’ could still be considered a success – even though I tend to agree that maybe it has been overemphasized (but they had to hype the athletes being the host country and all).