As I write this column on Thursday morning, we're into day six of competition at the Athens Olympics.
So far our Canadian athletes have brought home one medal, a bronze, thanks to North Vancouver's Blythe Hartley and Emille Heymans' solid performance in the 10-metre synchronized diving competition.
The performance so far by our contingent is sub-par at best.
We're being left behind by powers Australia and the U.S.
It's not because our athletes aren't trying, mind you. Several Canadian records have fallen in the pool, and many of our athletes have achieved personal best finishes. But when it comes to getting on the podium, the results just aren't there.
I live for sports and I love Olympic competition. Remember how nuts this country went when our men's hockey team won gold in Salt Lake? This is national pride we're talking about here. Canada is a relatively wealthy country that is being left behind in the dust.
So where does the blame lie? I believe it rests squarely on the shoulders of our Canadian Olympic Committee and especially our federal government.
We simply are not giving our Olympic program the kind of money it needs to compete with the big boys.
Let's look at the numbers.
At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Canada wound up with 14 medals, compared to 97 for the Americans and 58 for the Aussies.
Australia, that hosted the games, spent $280 million on their athletes, while Canada spent $70 million. This time around, Canada has spent roughly $68 million on its Olympic program, and we've sent the smallest team, roughly 267 athletes, in more than a decade of Olympic competition.
By comparison, both Australia and the U.S. have almost twice the number of athletes and are both sitting high and mighty atop the medal standings.
You can achieve those high results when you spend the money to make sure you have a solid Olympic program.
The Canadian standards have also been raised, meaning our athletes have to qualify even higher in their own country in order to even go to the games.
Many of our athletes were left off the team this year. Despite the fact they had met International Olympic standards, they didn't meet Canadian standards, which meant many quality athletes who might have done well in Athens are watching the games at home in their living rooms.
We don't even have a marathon runner in arguably the biggest marquee event of the Olympics, thanks to these new rules.
It also doesn't help when Canada's new Minister of Sport offers up this little nugget of encouragement:
Just prior to the start of the games, Stephen Owen was quoted in a national newspaper cautioning against a fixation on medals. Owen said it doesn't really matter if we win any medals. We'll achieve our goals if quality of life and public health are increased.
While I agree that this is important, for Stephen Owen to not encourage athletes to bring home the gold clearly states where the government's priorities are with our Olympic program. They don't seem to care.
Nothing to me says pride in your country more than watching athletes compete in sport and win medals. Winning Olympic medals serves as huge inspiration for our young Canadian athletes.
The 2010 Winter Olympics are coming to Vancouver. That gives the feds five-plus years to start shelling out more money to train more athletes. Imagine how embarrassing it's going to be to see Canada with a pitiful total when the games are in our own back yard!
More money means more medals. It seems pretty simple to me.
