Olympians get performance incentives
For the first time in Canadian history, our Olympic athletes are going to get additional funds based on their overall performance.
The Canadian Olympic Committee announced last week that Canadian medalists in the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics will get $20,000 for a gold medal, and $15,000 - $10,000 for silver and bronze respectively.
I love being able to say this- it's about time.
Canadians are an odd people. We go into each and every Olympics, especially during the Winter Olympics, expecting the homebred talent to not just perform well on the international stage, but to return home weighed down with medals. And, as I said, the Winter Olympics are an especially humbling time for us, especially in recent years, as we've seen underperforming hockey teams, and a drop in the number of ski medals. In fact, the only exceptionally bright part of those Winter Games are our speed skating and curling teams, both of which are expected to bring home medals year after year.
But what our inevitable disappointment all comes down to is a lack of overall support. Not just support during those brief four weeks, I'm referring to the support for the four-years leading up to the games. Because as much as we expect them to do well, we don't always give them the tools they need to succeed.
Most amateur athletes are barely scraping by, be it that they're burdened with tuition costs, rent and training fees, or if they've got a family to take care of, the majority tend to work either a full-time or part-time job. And that's on top of daily training, which is definitely nothing to sneeze at when you're competing at the Olympic level.
Personally, I find it hard to feel sorry for the hockey team when they lose now, because unlike the rest of the Canadian athletes, these guys are making the big dollars. And let's be honest, since the rules changed to allow our pro-players to participate in hockey and basketball at the Olympics, I haven't seen any marked increase in the game's quality. In fact, the games were much more entertaining when it was amateurs, people we'd never heard of who were making an effort worthy of representing the national team, people who earned their spot on the team through hard work in the national system, as opposed to ‘big name NHL'ers.'
And while this bonus for the amateur athletes is definitely long past due, to put it in perspective a Belarusian athlete will get a house in Minsk, the Belarus capital, along with $100,000 if they win a gold medal.
So needless to say that next to that our ‘gift' looks pretty small. However, it is most definitely a step in the right direction for the COC.
The Canadian Olympic Committee announced last week that Canadian medalists in the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics will get $20,000 for a gold medal, and $15,000 - $10,000 for silver and bronze respectively.
I love being able to say this- it's about time.
Canadians are an odd people. We go into each and every Olympics, especially during the Winter Olympics, expecting the homebred talent to not just perform well on the international stage, but to return home weighed down with medals. And, as I said, the Winter Olympics are an especially humbling time for us, especially in recent years, as we've seen underperforming hockey teams, and a drop in the number of ski medals. In fact, the only exceptionally bright part of those Winter Games are our speed skating and curling teams, both of which are expected to bring home medals year after year.
But what our inevitable disappointment all comes down to is a lack of overall support. Not just support during those brief four weeks, I'm referring to the support for the four-years leading up to the games. Because as much as we expect them to do well, we don't always give them the tools they need to succeed.
Most amateur athletes are barely scraping by, be it that they're burdened with tuition costs, rent and training fees, or if they've got a family to take care of, the majority tend to work either a full-time or part-time job. And that's on top of daily training, which is definitely nothing to sneeze at when you're competing at the Olympic level.
Personally, I find it hard to feel sorry for the hockey team when they lose now, because unlike the rest of the Canadian athletes, these guys are making the big dollars. And let's be honest, since the rules changed to allow our pro-players to participate in hockey and basketball at the Olympics, I haven't seen any marked increase in the game's quality. In fact, the games were much more entertaining when it was amateurs, people we'd never heard of who were making an effort worthy of representing the national team, people who earned their spot on the team through hard work in the national system, as opposed to ‘big name NHL'ers.'
And while this bonus for the amateur athletes is definitely long past due, to put it in perspective a Belarusian athlete will get a house in Minsk, the Belarus capital, along with $100,000 if they win a gold medal.
So needless to say that next to that our ‘gift' looks pretty small. However, it is most definitely a step in the right direction for the COC.
