Renting the Podiium?

Flying out tomorrow! One last post from home...

Canada's slogan for Vancouver was "Own The Podium", and really, you can't argue with the results. Canada won a record 14 Gold medals, even if the title made some modest Canadian's a little uncomfortable.

And, it's nice to see some investment being made in amateur sport in Canada. But, as the investment is aimed mostly at creating medal winners, I'm wondering if this is a good long term investment.

Helping our "star" athletes take that final step to the podium is a great idea, but if we ignore our "up-and-coming" or "in development" athletes, aren't we actually hurting our longer term prospects?

This issue has come to light over the past few weeks as the Canadian trials for many events were held, and it became clear that winning a Canadian title, or meeting the Olympic standards, were not necessarily a guarantee of making the Olympic team.

Sheila Reid, a Newmarket native who ran for Villanova, found this out the hard way after winning the 5000m title, but because of running at altitude in Calgary, was unable to attain the standard required for her to make the Canadian team.

Fortunately, even after her initial appeal was rejected, her secondary appeal under the "Rising Star" exception program was eventually granted, and she will be competing in London.

There have also been other controversies over the selection process for track and field athletes, particularly the Men's 4x100m team, and the Women's 100m Hurdle team.

One of the qualifiers in Women's Hurdles is Phylicia George, who also won the Women's 100m title, but who has chosen to focus on the hurdles for London. My wife, Susan, worked with Phylicia's mother Glenna, so we have been following her progress for a few years, and are thrilled to see her go to London.

While everybody wants to see medal winners, I think we need to make sure we keep supporting those with longer term potential, so that we aren't just chasing short term goals. In part, this is why the "Rising Star" exemption exists, and in Sheila's case, it worked in her favour, so perhaps the system isn't as broken as I thought.

Ultimately though, for me, the Olympics is about the stories and the dreams, and it all begins in one week!