U.S. landlord of Olympic podium so far
Canada plays catch-up in effort to win most Olympic medals
Last Updated: Saturday, February 20, 2010 | 5:33 AM ET
The Canadian Press
Manuel Osborne-Paradis shows his disappointment following his run in the men's super G on Friday. (Mathew McCarthy/Canadian Press)Canada isn't owning the podium at the Vancouver Olympics. The United States is.
While the U.S. galloped through the opening days of the Winter Games, the host Canadians merely trotted.
Canada will have to open up on the backstretch to achieve its goal of winning more medals than any other country at the Games. The Own the Podium program spent $117 million on Canadian athletes over the last five years to reach that target.
Canadian team officials had expected the home team to start slowly and pick up steam in the back half, but were taken aback at the pace of the Americans as Saturday's Games midpoint approached.
The U.S. topped the medal count with 20 Friday, followed by Germany with 13, the Norwegians with 10 and Canada with eight.
Can Canada catch the U.S. by the end of the Games on Feb. 28?
"It's going to be tough," Canadian Olympic Committee CEO Chris Rudge said Friday. "I'm not going to be Pollyanna-ish about this. It's a moot point whether or not we'll be at the top still. We know our best events are to come.
"We know that in the last four to five days of the Games, we'll probably have a nine-to-11 medal potential. That's our wheelhouse."
Canada had 11 medals by the first Friday of the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, en route to a record 24 and third overall in medal standings. In 2010, they are off the pace.
"We'd predicted by this weekend the Americans would have 20 and we would have 10," Own the Podium head Roger Jackson said. "We're down a couple more I would like. If we were at 10, I'd be much happier."
Germany finished first overall in the medal count with 29 in Turin. If the U.S. intake is any indication, Canada needs to win at least 30 to be in the hunt for the overall title.
Rudge opened the door Friday to the possibility Canada might not achieve its goal, saying it was important to set a high standard for Canada at its own Games rather than aim for mediocrity.
"The goal was No. 1," he said. "If we fall a little bit short, but we do better than we've ever done in the past, I think it's fair to say having set the bold target will have had an influence on what we achieved."
Canada banking on strong finish
Canada has traditionally taken time to build up steam at Olympic Games. At the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, Canadians didn't win their first medal until the halfway point. They ended up winning 18.
"We're always a back-end country," Rudge said.
The first-half highlights in Vancouver have been Canada's first Olympic gold on home soil by moguls skier Alexandre Bilodeau of Rosemère, Que., plus gold medals from Maelle Ricker of North Vancouver in snowboard cross, Christine Nesbitt of London, Ont., in long-track speedskating and Friday's gold medal in men's skeleton by Jon Montgomery of Russell, Man.
A bronze from Ottawa long-track speedskater Kristina Groves in the 3,000 metres could be considered gravy as that distance is not her strength.
Among the lowlights were the alpine men's speed team getting shut out of the medals in both the downhill and super-G races. Figure skater Patrick Chan of Toronto and speedskater Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C., in the 1,500 metres won silver medals at last year's world championships, yet did not win Olympic medals.
Mellisa Hollingsworth of Eckville, Alta., is the World Cup leader in women's skeleton, but finished fifth Friday.
And Canada also missed opportunities to win more than one medal in a single event. Moguls skier Kristi Richards of Summerland, B.C., qualified fourth for the women's moguls final, but crashed and did not join silver medallist Jennifer Heil on the podium.
Short-track speedskater Jessica Gregg of Edmonton made the four-skater final in the women's 500 metres, but was fourth.
4th-place finishes Canadian trademark
Groves missed joining Nesbitt on the podium by 6-100ths of a second in the 1,000 metres. Canada had 13 fourth-place finishes in Turin and collected four of them over the first eight days of these Games.
"We've always been a fourth to be reckoned with and we continue to be," quipped Rudge.
Added Jackson: "You have to be tough enough to get those fourths to third if you want to lead the overall medal total."
In events where Canada's potential medallists didn't deliver, either the Germans or Americans capitalized. The U.S. won a pair of medals in Morrison's event, as well as a men's figure skating gold.
On Friday, the Americans won two medals in the men's super-G. Hollingsworth finishing off the women's skeleton podium Friday made room for a second German on it.
"It just shows how vulnerable we are when we go against the very big powers that have a lot more tradition and depth than we had," Jackson said. "It is a challenge."
In some sports, Canada has one medal hopeful to three or four for the Americans. That may be because the programs built for the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City are coming into maturity. Five years wasn't enough time for OTP to develop similar depth.
"In terms of athlete development, you need much more," Rudge said. "It's impossible to do it in five or six years. Athlete development at this level needs a 10-year horizon."
Expect Canada to keep chipping away with a medal or two a day as it crests the hill over the weekend. Then buckle your seatbelt because it's going to be a wild ride to the finish, starting Wednesday.
"We've got a long way to go yet," Jackson said. "We're now entering into the week where Canadian athletes need to perform. The opportunities are there for us to do well."
Long-track speedskater Clara Hughes will attempt to defend her gold in the 5,000 metres Wednesday. The women's bobsled and short-track relay teams will also be in the medal hunt that day.
The women's hockey final, the women's figure-skating free skate and men's aerials are Canada's best medal chances Thursday before a potential medal bonanza next Friday and Saturday.
As expected, the speedskaters will be the main players in Canada's rush to the finish. Short track has three medal chances Friday and Cheryl Bernard's Calgary curling team is expected to add another that day.
Kevin Martin's curling rink plans to be in a medal game Saturday.
The men's and women's team pursuit in long-track speedskating should produce a pair of medals that day, too, and snowboarder Jasey-Jay Anderson is a medal hopeful in men's parallel giant slalom.
Only two medal events — the men's hockey final and the men's 50-kilometre cross-country skiing race — are scheduled before next Sunday's closing ceremonies. If Canada is in the final, the hosts are guaranteed a medal in men's hockey, although only gold will do for Canadian fans.
While Canada has virtually no chance in the cross-country ski race, it is a significant race because Calgary's Brian McKeever, a visually impaired athlete, will make history as the first winter athlete to compete in both the Olympics and Paralympics.
