is it just me, or is NBC doing an phenominal job this year to jinx every "lock" they've called today? I don't think a single "lock for gold" athlete has won today. Every end of the event has been something like "did you think _____ would be the name on top?" or "well it was ______ until the event started" or whatever.
looks like Scott's talents have rubbed off on the other sports
The biggest jinx is Canada's "Own the Podium" drive. Not only does it give the appearance of poor sportsmanship, but it is bad karma and it has put far too much pressure on the Canadian athletes.
Trust me, the dialogue right now about that idea is quite fascinating and very interesting in terms of national character.Originally Posted by chuckm
I liked Apollo's take on it. He said "Canadians might own the podium but we intend to borrow it for two weeks."
it reminds me of Skate Canada's Dore in the 80s with his "Medals, Medals, Medals" mantra that Kurt Browning "laughingly" wrote about in his autobiography
We may only have 11 medals but over half of them are gold...
Canada is 5th in the medal standings, passed by the US, Germany, Norway and Russia, who have won 79 medals cumulatively, 23 of them gold. Overall, there have been 177 medals awarded, 59 of them gold. Therefore, other countries have won 90% of the overall medals, and 90% of the gold medals as well.
It was a mistake to have such a slogan as "own the podium", for the reasons mentioned in my earlier post. It is really impossible for any one country to dominate the Olympic podium today anyway.
Last edited by chuckm; 02-24-2010 at 12:38 PM.
Canada pulled out four medals today - including another gold - which ties us with the US and Germany for gold medals won. So in a sense, yes we are owning the podium - at least part of the top of it
Last edited by i love to skate; 02-25-2010 at 09:11 AM.
The US has twice the medals as Canada, and Germany has almost as many. As I said, NO ONE COUNTRY can claim to dominate the podium, Canada included.
Looking only at GOLD medals gives short shrift to the Canadians who won silver and bronze. One of the TV commentators remarked that Canadians are so focused on winning gold that if the win medals of a lesser color, they feel they've failed somehow. He said the Canadians are under tremendous pressure to win, more so than any other athletes.
Oh, stop being so serious. I was simply trying to have a bit of fun! Whatever the result, these Games have been fantastic, they have poured money into the city of Vancouver, and all Canadians are very proud of all our athletes. As for the gold initiative, what should the Canadians have done, stated "yes we are going for 3rd place".
We needed to focus on the gold because we had never won one on home soil - and guess what we now have 7 (which ties our record for most gold at the Winter Olympics). We still have a chance for 5 or more as well! Canada is no longer satisfied with losing and I love this new attitude compared to our old one. A perfect example of this is Chris Del Bosco:
"Move over Jon Montgomery, you now are in a tie for the coolest Canadian at the Games. It took Chris Del Bosco, a former member of the U.S. alpine team, to show us how sports should be played. Del Bosco, who has dual citizenship, gave up a bronze medal Sunday in ski cross by going all out for gold. In so doing, he crashed and finished fourth. What Del Bosco did is not the Canadian way. He showed us that owning the podium means more than standing on it".
http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/B...155/story.html
Last edited by i love to skate; 02-25-2010 at 11:42 AM.
No, one does not announce that one is going for third place. But most Olympians are hoping for a medal, any medal, and if it's gold, great. But ANY Olympic medal is a mark of greatness.
The US will have won a total of 37 medals, not only the highest total the US has won at any winter Olympics but the highest total ANY country has won at a Winter Olympics.
Anyway, I would have thought the Canadians would have been a closer competitor in medals won, considering that the "own the podium" drive included barring athletes from other nations from the various venues prior to the start of the games. No other nation logged the practice time that Canadian athletes did. Given that, the Canadian medal total should have been higher than it was.
Yes, that is a great achievement. Canada has tied the number of gold medals won at ANY Winter Olympics and has a chance to pass that record today. Wouldn't you say that is a pretty amazing achievement as well?
We set a record for the number of medals we have won at any Olympics. Canada met the IOC requirements for amounts of training runs and practice time for athletes from other countries. Complaining that Canada "barred other athletes" from having more practice time than is required just sounds like whining.
See my post on the luge thread....Salt Lake did the same thing. What was the US gold medal count in Salt Lake? Also, your facts are erroneous since most sports held a World Cup event at the venues in advance, including the luge.No other nation logged the practice time that Canadian athletes did. Given that, the Canadian medal total should have been higher than it was.
The only thing wrong with "own the podium" was the slogan because it encited people from other countries to hope Canadians would fail. But 13 gold (and possibly 14) from a country who never even won a gold medal on home soil before is no failure.
What own the podium did was cause Canadians to bond over the rest of the world hoping we'd fail. I've never felt so patriotic in my life. And I'm so glad I come from a country where we cheer for athletes, not against. Just another thing to add to what it means to be Canadian, I guess, along with manners
PS: Many Olympic games have defined the leading country by which country had the most golds. VANOC opted to count all medals equally. Had it been made most golds, like many other Olympics including Beijing, Canada would be first and the US would be third.
So 37 medals is less than 26 medals? Canadian math.
13 gold is more than 9 gold
It is also common knowledge that many Olympics determine medal tallys by gold medals.
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