Own the Podium a Failure?

[Al Czervic]

Looks like the COC has made it offical....the "Own the Podium" program is set for a major review after teh games conclude...(note to Cateye's - add costs of said review to out of control Olympic Games expenses)

Own the Podium program to undergo autopsy

Vancouver Sun...

Canada's moribund $110-million Own the Podium program will undergo a thorough autopsy after the 2010 Winter Games to find out what led to the team's surprisingly weak medal performance so far, Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive Chris Rudge said Monday.
After more than six years of effort and investment -- including $66 million from Canadian taxpayers -- the COC is struggling to explain why its athletes have been unable to win more than 10 medals so far.

To take the pressure off the team as it goes into the final week, Rudge conceded that Canada likely can't "own the podium" or even rent it from the Americans, who have claimed it as their own. "We are going to be short of our goal, I readily admit that," he said. "We'd be living in a fool's paradise if we said we were going to catch the Americans and win."
Canada's 10 medals -- including five gold -- are good for fifth place in the standings. Far higher in the medals table is the U.S., with 24 medals (as of late Monday night), seven of them gold. Germany is second with 21, Norway third with 14 and Russia fourth with 11.
But Rudge also said that with a week to go in the Games, Canada still has a lot of medal chances and no one should give up on the athletes.

"We're not throwing in the towel. You never do that when you are in the middle of a fight, but it's difficult. [The Americans] are way out ahead at this point and it would be unrealistic to state that we are going to catch them."

The job now is to protect those chances Canadians still have to win gold, Rudge said.
"What's important is that every athlete who has a chance to medal does so," he said. "We'll quantify the success of the program in terms of total medals after the Games were over. Our goal is to maximize the opportunities we still have and make sure we continue to give to those athletes still competing the opportunity to reach the podium."

But when it is over, watch out for a full autopsy.

"You don't want to do the autopsy while the patient is still alive," Rudge said. "We will eviscerate this program to the nth degree when we are finished. We have a responsibility to the athletes to do that, to say this is what we did right, this is where we might have let you down. We have a responsibility to the Canadians that funded this program."

Vancouver sports psychologist Saul Miller, author of Performing Under Pressure, said there's nothing wrong with investing money to create a winning national team.

"However, I don't think it's at all in the Canadian character to be saying, 'We're going to own the podium,' " he said. "You better walk your talk if you're going to say something like that. . . . I think it's become an embarrassment to these guys. I don't know what they were smoking to say something like that."

That argument hit home Monday with international media mocking Canada's program, calling it everything from "Moan the Podium" to "Groan the Podium" to "Blown the Podium."
But Rudge defended the concept. "Was it the wrong thing to do to set ambitious goals? I don't think so."

Rudge and other Canadian officials, including chef de mission Nathalie Lambert and Cathy Priestner, the lead author of the report that created OTP, all had varying explanations for why Canada's athletes seemed to be missing the mark.

Lambert suggested that some of the athletes are suffering from "adrenalin dump" or too much excitement and expectation from performing in front of record Canadian crowds. Some are choking because of pressure, some because their competitors simply had more gas in the tank.
But they all agreed on this: Many of the athletes are probably overshooting their abilities, going for gold and then crashing out spectacularly. They also think the lofty ideal of topping the medal standings, while laudable as a national feel-good effort, will have to be achieved over a longer period.

"This was an ambitious goal, there's no doubt, but that's okay. If we now set a foundation for the future, look out world," said Priestner, the executive vice-president of sport for Vancouver's Olympic organizing committee.

"It looks probably like we're going to have to look a little longer-term, but I think the foundation has been built. The depth of our team and where they are at in the world is unprecedented."
The OTP program was credited with helping Canadians win 24 medals at the 2006 Olympics in Turin -- behind only Germany and the U.S.

[Glacier]

The whole medal count is a subject exercise. We give medals for 2nd and 3rd, but not 4th or 5th.

I thought Canada's goal was to go for gold, not silver or bronze. If we were to give medals only based on gold, Canada would be near the top and doing better than they have ever done before; that seems like success to me.

[Mutha]

What a moronic thing to do. Not even the Americans, not always known for being humble, were strutting around before the games predicting that they were going to finish at the top of the medal count. Chris Rudge made Canada look like a nation of arrogant jerks with no concept of the Olympic ideals.

Anyone who even makes it to the Olympics is an amazing athlete who should be very proud of what they've accomplished.

[Cateyes]

Looks like the COC has made it offical....the "Own the Podium" program is set for a major review after teh games conclude...(note to Cateye's - add costs of said review to out of control Olympic Games expenses)

Yawn, nonsensical false equivalence but then that should be no surprise by now.

That 117million is for development of athletes not development of Olympics.

Your arguments are looking more and more desperate.

[steven lloyd]

What a moronic thing to do. Not even the Americans, not always known for being humble, were strutting around before the games predicting that they were going to finish at the top of the medal count. Chris Rudge made Canada look like a nation of arrogant jerks with no concept of the Olympic ideals.

Anyone who even makes it to the Olympics is an amazing athlete who should be very proud of what they've accomplished.

Agreed. Whether we’ve made fools of ourselves or not with this stupid “Own the Podium” exercise, every Canadian athlete should be very proud of their accomplishments, and as Canadians, we should be proud of their efforts whether they’ve won a medal (any colour) or not.

[NAB]

Hmmmmm... Ottawa signals budgetary restraint on this issue, but tax and spend Gordo goes the other way. Are we sure this guy isn't an NDPee'er in disguise??? ;-)
Nab

*****************************************

The federal government is signalling it will refuse additional funding for the Own the Podium program, but Sports Minister Gary Lunn says Ottawa will try to persuade Canadian companies and individuals to fill an $11-million gap in the elite-athlete training program after the Winter Games end.

Mr. Lunn, while declining to discuss the contents of next week's federal budget, said Canadians can't always turn to governments for extra cash. “You shouldn't just always reach to government and say ‘Oh, it's your problem.'”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has advised cabinet ministers not to expect extra funding for the coming fiscal year as the government readies for restraint to whittle down Ottawa's big budget deficit, Mr. Lunn said. “The Prime Minister has made it very clear: There is no new money in this budget. Full stop. We have got to get our deficit back down to zero.”

That apparent rejection deals a sharp blow to the Canadian Olympic Committee, which says the Own the Podium program will have to be scaled back if Ottawa does not chip in up to $11-million a year to compensate for a loss of revenue from business and provincial governments after the Winter Games.

Own the Podium was set up in 2005 as a five-year program to place first at the Vancouver Olympics and in the top three at the Paralympics. Ottawa paid half of its $22-million annual budget, with the remaining $11-million provided by provincial governments and corporations through VANOC. Most of those funds are expected to disappear after the Winter Games conclude.

The elite athletes' program has come under increasing criticism over the past week as it became clear that Canada would fall short of its goal of 30 medals at the Olympics in Vancouver. COC chief executive officer Chris Rudge said yesterday he is hopeful that Own The Podium will receive something “to help keep that pot full.”

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell said Tuesday the province will continue its funding beyond the 2010 Games, but he did not put a dollar-figure on that commitment.

Full article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... le1479282/
--

[NAB]

...also... There is now some suggestion that "Own the Podium" might have been more effective with games held in some other country rather than in Canada.

http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/blogs/brucea ... re-is.html

Nab

[NAB]

Nope. As of now there is no question Canada owns the podium, and that the program was a success.

Nab

[Cateyes]

Nope. As of now there is no question Canada owns the podium, and that the program was a success.

Nab

Yup, I would say it was a resounding success. Always have regardless of the ultimate medal count. The athletes all seem to think so and they are the people I listen to.

[WhatThe]

Total success. One shy from predictions (I think). The most gold and most gold for any host country. Well done!

[Captain Awesome]

I personally think the whole concept of owning the podium is kinda inane. We should we investing in youth sports, raising our own talents here in Canada, inspiring more and more kids to get into sports (and Olympics are perfect for it), promote healthy life style and family fitness. Only then we'll be constantly planting seeds of tomorrows victories and at the same time solve a lot of our social problems. Then medals will follow.

When kids have hobbies and sports to enjoy, they're more likely to succeed in their field. Sports build confidence that people need to succeed in life. People who are enjoying their sports advancements don't do drugs, don't live on streets, and don't steal for living.

[Ironhorse1]

When the Europeans talk about "owning the podium," they mean getting the most amount of Gold medals. We owned the top of the podium. We didn't produce the most amount of medalists, but we produced the most amount of champions.

[steven lloyd]

I personally think the whole concept of owning the podium is kinda inane. We should we investing in youth sports, raising our own talents here in Canada, inspiring more and more kids to get into sports (and Olympics are perfect for it), promote healthy life style and family fitness. Only then we'll be constantly planting seeds of tomorrows victories and at the same time solve a lot of our social problems. Then medals will follow.

When kids have hobbies and sports to enjoy, they're more likely to succeed in their field. Sports build confidence that people need to succeed in life. People who are enjoying their sports advancements don't do drugs, don't live on streets, and don't steal for living.

especially the emphasized part!

[Advocate]

CANADA OWNS THE GOLD PODIUM!!!!!!!

AND THE WORLD RECORD FOR GOLD MEDALS - ON HOME TURF TOO!

own the podium a SUCCESS!

[GordonH]

I personally think the whole concept of owning the podium is kinda inane. We should we investing in youth sports, raising our own talents here in Canada, inspiring more and more kids to get into sports (and Olympics are perfect for it), promote healthy life style and family fitness. Only then we'll be constantly planting seeds of tomorrows victories and at the same time solve a lot of our social problems. Then medals will follow.

When kids have hobbies and sports to enjoy, they're more likely to succeed in their field. Sports build confidence that people need to succeed in life. People who are enjoying their sports advancements don't do drugs, don't live on streets, and don't steal for living.

especially the emphasized part!

Well said Captain Awesome