There's a reason why the Canadian flag is a popular choice for travelers from around the world to display as their own. Canadians are internationally recognized for their friendly, humble and generally passive nature. As a Canadian there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but for our athletes the last thing we want to be is passive.

To make it clear, for those who are doubtful, we have never been passive. You'd be hard pressed to find one of our athletes who just wanted to participate at the Olympic Games. 

Every athlete who has finished fifth, fifteenth or even twenty-fifth has worked every single day of his or her lives for a chance at Olympic gold, no matter what the cost, no matter what the odds. 

They know that at the Olympics anything can happen.

Who was it that said Canadians have never wanted gold? I definitely would beg to differ. Our Olympic athletes are aggressive, hungry to win and willing to sacrifice it all for this one moment.

With every Olympics the spotlight is finally on our athletes. All of a sudden their aches, pains, even diets make front-page news and Olympic frenzy takes over.

Not only do we own the rights to host these Games, but we are also told we are going to own the podium come February. I appreciate the new and aggressive 'winning' attitude, but being the devil's advocate that I am, this kind of pressure just might have gone too far.

All I keep hearing is how our men's hockey team better come first this year or who is going to win each  medal.  Don't get me wrong, I love when we win.  There's nothing like hearing our national anthem with a proud athlete crying underneath our flag. But when it's all we talk about, when sport turns into only medals and the rest falls to the side, we lose what the Olympics was meant to be.

Knowing you're one of the tracked medal hopefuls is a lot to handle. Recently, the onslaught of Canadian injuries, especially the skiers, has been a major topic of discussion.  Have we put too much pressure on our athletes?

An athlete is trained to know their limits and understand their body so that they can push themselves further than they ever thought possible. But with a country's hopes on their shoulders these limits can start to blur. Athletes tighten up, focus too much on expectations and that's when accidents and injuries happen.

We don't have the slightest clue of what these athletes are going through. They have worked their entire lives for their moment to represent this country at the Olympic Games. They really have put their blood, sweat and tears in it.  For you. For us. For the podium. The crushing feeling of realizing that your Olympic dream is over with months of serious rehabilitation and pain ahead is devastating.

They need our support now more than ever to get them back in the game and to the next Olympics. So let's stop making them feel as if they've not only let themselves down, but all of us.

Get behind our athletes not only for these two weeks in February, but all the years to come, medal or not.