Germany outdoing Canada in medal count

Great week for Canucks, but Germans pulling away in overall World Cup medals

Last Updated: Monday, January 18, 2010 | 7:51 PM ET

Dan Robson, CBC Sports

Canada's Lyndon Rush and Lascelles Brown slide to victory during a two-man bobsleigh competition at the World Cup in Switzerland on Jan. 16. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Using the unscientific formula of translating World Cup medals into probable Olympic podium results, Germany is in firm position to kick our nation's hinterbacke in Vancouver next month.

Granted, Canadian athletes performed exceptionally well last week, bringing home 11 shiny new World Cup medals. The nation's overall medal count now sits at 111, good for second overall (with 40 gold, 32 silver, and 39 bronze medals).

The United States sits in third with 108 medals (up 10 from the 98 they boasted last week). So yes, they're kind of a problem.

But Canada's real "own the podium" kryptonite belongs to Germany. Last week Deutschland added 24 medals to their first place total, finishing the week with an outstanding 146 overall.

Just to clarify, 146 minus 111, equals … quite a bit.

Germany's forte appears to be sliding past the competition. The red, black, and gold won nine World Cup medals in luge (three gold, three silver, three bronze), and they added six bobsleigh medals, for good measure (three gold, two silver, one bronze). Germany's other medals came in speedskating, snowboarding, alpine skiing and biathlon.

Still, Canadian fans had much to cheer about over the past week.

The incredible Jennifer Heil won two World Cup gold medals in the women's moguls, bringing her season total to four.

Canadian snowboarder Michael Lambert won World Cup gold in the parallel giant slalom in Switzerland, while veteran Jasey-Jay Anderson won gold in the same race at a World Cup event in Austria earlier in the week.

Canada's Chris Del Bosco and Kelsey Serwa both won World Cup gold medals in skicross, an event that will make its Olympic debut in Vancouver and in which Canada looks particularly strong.

Meanwhile, Canada's Lyndon Rush and Lascelles Brown politely shared their first World Cup gold medals in the two-man bobsleigh with Germany's Andre Lange and Kevin Kuske. (The teams finished in a dead heat in St. Moritz, Switzerland).

Other notable Canadian performances came from alpine skier Manny Osborne-Paradis and skeleton racer Mellisa Hollingsworth, who both took silver in their respective World Cup events.

At the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Germany led the count with 29 medals. The United States tallied 25 to finish second overall.

Canada came in third with 24 — regarded as our best Olympic showing to date (Canada won 44 medals at the boycotted 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles). Austria and Russia rounded out the top five countries in 2006, with 23 and 22 medals respectively.

Granted, hopeful Canucks, translating World Cup medals into Olympic results is an uncertain science.

Regardless, we've mere weeks to know if Canada will "own the podium" — or kindly step aside, and let Germany have it.

World Cup medal count as of Jan. 18