Canada' pathetic olymics dilletantes

[The Terrible Sweal]

If an athlete wins the 'World Championships' in his or her sport, but then when the Olympics comes he or she chokes like a novice whore, is the problem poor funding?? (I think not. He or she got to be 'world champion' with the existing funding, right?)

Meanwhile, if a COC official says 'next time there will be fourty less medal available because China is going to win them all', is this:

1) an unsupportable admission of defeat from someone in that position

2) a very poor reason to throw good money after bad

3) both of the above?

I choose #3.

Fundamentally, what is a Gold Medal worth? Is it worth one less MRI machine? One less farm saved? One less university chair?

It's time to face the fact that a gold medal is actually totally worthless, except to the person winning it.

[Slavik44]

If an athlete wins the 'World Championships' in his or her sport, but then when the Olympics comes he or she chokes like a novice whore, is the problem poor funding?? (I think not. He or she got to be 'world champion' with the existing funding, right?)

Meanwhile, if a COC official says 'next time there will be fourty less medal available because China is going to win them all', is this:

1) an unsupportable admission of defeat from someone in that position

2) a very poor reason to throw good money after bad

3) both of the above?

I choose #3.

Fundamentally, what is a Gold Medal worth? Is it worth one less MRI machine? One less farm saved? One less university chair?

It's time to face the fact that a gold medal is actually totally worthless, except to the person winning it.

Perhaps an olympic medal is relativley worthless but what about a healthy population? 90 million dolalrs is spent on Amature athletics in Canada, about 15% of that goes to olympic or top rate amature athletes. I won't argue for huge amounts of funding for olympic athletes, but increasing the funding of Amature athletics in Canada to 500 Million would have many benifiets, and really 500 million is pocket change in an age of billions. If we could increase the health of our population, reduce obesiety, reduce heart disease, reduce risk of stroke, reduce risk of heart attack, reduce cholesterol, reduce risk for diabetes, reduce risk for certain types of cancer, reduce risk for ostioperosis, boost the bodies immune system, and lower blood pressure. We would find huge support to spend billions on it, but we coudl do it for 500 million. Now giving kids a motivation to do so is important, and a gold medal will undoubtedly contribute to that, even if we gave top athletes 10% of 500 million we could see an increase in "heroes", and see an increase in kids wanting to be the next generation of heroes. It shouldn't be about winning, it shoudln't be about supporting big tiem athletes but it shoudl be about gettign a health population and it won't cost us an arm and a leg, and certianly won't drive us into debt. I say why not strategically fund olympic ahtletes.