As I write today, I am well aware that many writers who will submit their two cents (and maybe that's even too high a value!) on Canada's performance at the London 2012 Olympics. Though no expert on athletic performance, government policy, or financial analysis, a moderate knowledge and understanding of each of these areas combined with thoughtful leadership reflection should lead us to at least three conclusions.
1. Imperfection does not mean failure
The "own the podium" funding that has enabled various Canadian athletes to participate (or attend without a lifetime loan) has been widely criticized due to Canada's weak performance in the medal count (18), especially marked by only one gold medal. While I do not want to justify the results by referring to the number of "personal bests" and "top 10 results" (its called "own the podium" for a reason!), it was not a disasterous Olympics. In fact, it matched the medal count of Beijing (2008) and Barcelona (1992), Canada's third highest total. In Atlanta (1996), Canada won 22 medals and in the boycotted games of Los Angeles (1984) Canada collected 44 medals. It is better than the 12 in Athens (2004) and 14 in Sydney (2000), so though they did not finish in the top 12 as was their goal, unlucky #13 really is not far off. The "own the podium" campaign did not show the incremental change desired, but it was not an abysmal failure.
2. Becoming Successful takes Time
These facts lead naturally into the second important lesson: a successful program takes time. It cannot be tried for one or two Olympics and then judged as either a success or failure. For this kind of world-class skill development to happen, it should be evaluated on at least three "seasons" of Olympics (3 winter games and 3 summer games). If we are still sitting at between 15-20 medals after the 2020 Olympics, then the question of the program's worth and financial viability need to be addressed. However, to assess the program after a "good" Winter Olympics (Vancouver) and a "mediocre" Summer Olympics would be a poor evaluation instrument.
The second part of the "own the podium" program, apart from government funding, is how successful the corporate partners feel their brand has been promoted as a result of their financial support. Personally, I am much more liable to visit a RONA store because of their funding of Canadian sports (eg. CFL football & Olympics) than a Home Depot or other building store. If, as I suspect to be the true, the corporate partners are satisfied that their financial investment is promoting their business successfully, this will encourage other major corporate sponsors to join in and thus the program can improve with minimal government finances increasing. However, if you nuke the program just as its gaining momentum, you will set yourself back years the next time an initiative starts for whatever cause. You have to build on success slowly before "big time success" can happen.
3. There is more to life than sports
Certainly, I enjoy sports as much if not more than most people. Yet there is more to life than sports. I would not want my first two points to suggest that I think the federal government should dramatically increase their funding of sports and specifically the "own the podium" program exponentially to the detriment of other programs, especially those relating to health, education and poverty. Nonetheless, there are many strange things that receive government funding that I would not personally support, so I think ongoing funding for athletes to compete at a world-class level is a good investment for both national pride as well as for individual success reasons.
Similarly, just because an athlete did not bring home a medal, does not mean that man or woman is not a significant role model in their community, large or small, with the upcoming generation. Fortunately, I do not know of any Canadian athletes in these games who were a discredit to themselves, the Canadian team, the country or their community by their words or actions. We had no athletes disqualified because of drug testing and none kicked out for "bad tweets." Overall, as is usually the case, our Canadian athletics were models of sportsmanship and this speaks well of the program and the country as a whole.
By contrast, if we had athletes that had "owned the podium" and then demonstrated an arrogance or worse, cheating, one would have more reason to question the mentality that the "own the podium" has fostered. However, these are absent and we as Canadians are both grateful and proud.
