The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The Olympic flame has barely been extinguished, but already Canadians are calling the 2004 Athens Olympics a disappointment for Canada. More money is needed for amateur sport, they say. More money will help athletes to prepare for the next set of games, and be faster, stronger and higher. But were the athens games really that big of a disappointment that we should open our wallets further, dig deeper into our already empty pockets? I don't think so. Don't get me wrong ? I'm all for sport development ? but I don't think shelling out millions of dollars will help bring home more medals. At the 2000 games in Sydney, Canada earned 14 medals, a respectable total by most standards, after the powerhouses from Russia, China, Australia and the United States count up their haul. In 2004, expectations were for Canada to bring home up to 16 medals, which would have been considered a success, and everyone would be happy. The question I have to ask is this: how much are Canadians willing to pay for those extra four medals? Would an extra $70 million dollars have helped Perdita Felicien jump over hurdles? Many Canadian athletes failed to live up to their billing, but there were just as many who exceeded expectations, with personal best times or sneaking onto the podium. Stephen Owen, Minister of State for Sport, says that Ottawa should be more concerned with providing schools with more money to develop youngsters at the grassroots level, and I can't agree with him more. It makes sense to support young Canadians, who are faced with less activity time than ever before, and obesity is an epidemic. "It seems a pretty obvious conclusion to draw that if you've got less organized sport available on a regular basis right through the school system, eventually that's going to be reflected in less high-performance athletes," Owen was quoted in Monday's Globe and Mail. Maybe Canada's next Igali in wrestling is sitting at home playing video games because his school doesn't have the funding for a proper wrestling program, or worse yet, sitting on a hospital waiting list because there aren't enough doctors, nurses or technicians available to provide proper and prompt care. Yes, there are much more important things to be spending Canada's money on. Overall, I think Canadians should be proud of the accomplishments of their athletes. Here are the Canadian medalists: Gold Adam van Koeverden (Canoe) Lori-Ann Muenzer (Cycling) Kyle Shewfelt (Gymnastics) Silver Marie-Helene Premont (Cycling) Tonya Verbeek (Wrestling) Alex Despatie (Diving) Karen Cockburn (Trampoline) Mike Wolfs and Ross Macdonald (Sailing) Baerg, Herschmiller, Wetzel, Williams (Rowing Fours) Bronze Caroline Brunet (Canoe) Adam Van Koeverden (Canoe) Emilie Heymans and Blythe Hartley (Synchro Diving) Also, Chantal Petitclerc won a gold in wheelchair racing which was a demonstration sport and not counted against Canada's Olympic medal total.
