At the library last night I was reading the Toronto Star (See! I told you he was a Liberal) editorial about the Canadian Olympic team's goal of placing 3rd in the medal. Like most things, I walk the line on this one. I think we have babied our athletes too long by focusing on personal bests, or the dreaded PB, while the athlete finishes 28th. So yes, I am all for setting higher standards. I also know that standards set too high can be demotivating and I thought that 25 medals and 3rd place in the standings were examples of unreasonable expectations. I may have been wrong.
The athletes are confident they can be higher, faster and stronger than ever before because they are better funded — with $20 million more than in Salt Lake — and better supported — with 200 support staff — than any Canadian team before it.Canadians won 136 World Cup medals in their respective sports this winter, which is more than each of the previous two seasons. According to the Canadian Olympic Committee, Canada ranks second behind Germany heading into Turin.
Germany 175 medals this competition season.
Even more impressive is our Vancouver 2010 goal of finishing first in the medal count. That is a huge goal and we will have a good idea in two weeks if the people who set it are Kool-Aid drinkers.
