Can't remember who it was, but someone wondered aloud this am, how we were doing in near misses, vs medals. So I noticed this quote this am in a clipping service I get:
Nathalie Lambert, the chef de mission for the Canadian team, also said the large pro-Canadian crowds at venues have made some Canadian athletes nervous, prompting them to push too hard and fall short. However, she pointed out that Canada has 42 top eight finishes in Vancouver so far, compared to 27 at the Turin Winter Games in 2006.
Although Lister, one would presume (given all the talk about sports psychologists within the Own the Podium program) that any athlete at this level would be prepared not just in terms of physical, but in this aspect of training. I agree however, that many performances across many levels are above par for our country. Lastly, I think the premise of Own the Podium (Loan the Podium? Rent the Podium? Sublet the Podium? Buy a Whistler time share?--we have heard them all) is to try to bring athlete funding in line with other countries committed to athlete funding at a different level, such as Germany. Any way, here is one who won--great day last Thursday at the Oval (OK so I missed Friday's ride).
I think another of the good quotes in that article was:
"He added that the USOC also did not set a goal of finishing first at the Olympics. "We didn't want that pressure on our athletes," he said. "When you focus on [performance] the outcome of a medal is more likely to happen. If you focus on the medal, then you have other distractions."
We tell athletes to focus on the process, not the outcome, a rule which 'OTP' seems to violate. Maybe it should be 'Own The Process'? That sounds more acceptable to Canadians, eh?
