Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Dollars for Gold!
The Olympics only come around every two years (Summer & Winter), and to have them come to your home country is the chance of a lifetime for all of these athletes competing. The "Own the podium" campaign was started when it was first announced that Vancouver would host the 2010 winter games. This program has been taking some heat for being too competitive, and un-Canadian like. Many people believe that it is strictly focusing on the medal count, when really it was a program started to help financially aid Canadian athletes so that they could be at the top of their game to represent their flag when the games rolled around. And yes, a result of this program would be more medals, but of course we want to do well at our own games. If you were to host a party, wouldn't you want to be nicely dressed? The Canadian government wanted to provide these athletes with the experience of a lifetime. It is quite an accomplishment to say you are an Olympian, but to say you won an Olympic medal puts you in a whole other category. We just wanted our athletes to have the best shot at winning in their sport.
But with all this hype has come immense pressure on many of the athletes. We have seen already when an athlete has a disappointing performance; they feel the need to apologize for letting down the nation. When really, there is no need for an apology. It just seems to be a Canadian way to apologize when things go wrong, even if it isn't our fault. But I believe that Canada is turning the corner from neutral, passive nation to a dominating one, in the world of sports! I think it's time the world starts to recognize Canada as a major power in something other than the production of wheat. Why not have it be in sports?
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