The Canadian team’s athletes in Paris may be the best the country has ever sent to a Summer Olympics. The Canadian Olympic Committee would like to say the same about the financial support they receive from governments.
A diplomat and spokesperson for an organization that avoids making waves as much as possible, Eric Myles is used to maintaining a moderate, cautious and positive tone at all times. But when it comes to government funding for his sector, the head of Sport for the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), without raising his voice, does not beat around the bush or beat around the bush. “The government has to support this. There are things in funding that haven’t changed in 20 years. It’s unacceptable. The equation doesn’t work,” he exclaimed in an interview with Duty last month.
At a time when we no longer know what to do to curb the increase in health care spending, he cannot understand why it is so difficult to convince federal, provincial and local governments to do more in this area. “When we talk about sports, elite and amateur, we are talking about the health of our youth and the population,” he says. “Sports will not solve everything. But it is certainly a key element.”
The federal government already provided direct support to the 1,900 elite athletes in 90 sports it supports with $1,765 per month for the best athletes and $1,060 for those deemed to be still developing. In its latest budget, it promised to increase this funding by 25 per cent over the next five years, for a total investment of $35 million over five years. An additional $25 million over two years was also promised to support community sport and the work of a Commission on the Future of Sport in Canada to address the issue of athletes’ physical and mental safety.
That’s good, but it’s still far from the additional $104 million the COC had requested to help, among other things, sports federations keep pace with the growth in the number of sports played in the country, the changing role of experts, coach training and doping controls over the past two decades, not to mention the simple rise in the cost of living.
“We’re proud of what we’ve achieved in the past and what we’re about to do in Paris. But to continue, it’s going to take a serious commitment,” says Eric Myles.
Promise of harvest
Canada will send 338 athletes to Paris (316 accredited and 22 alternates), who will be accompanied by 560 coaches and other support team members. As in previous Games, there will be slightly more female athletes than male athletes (193 versus 123). The Quebec contingent will have 58 athletes, including 32 women. The proportion of Quebec athletes will be roughly the same in Paris (17%) as in Tokyo (16%) and Rio (17%).
Taking into account the results obtained during the main international competitions since the last Summer Games in Tokyo, the polling and analysis firm Nielsen has predicted in Canada the 12e rank in Paris, with about twenty medals. This would be slightly less than in Rio (22 medals) and Tokyo (24 medals, including 7 gold) which, each time, constituted a peak for Canada in the Summer Games, if we exclude those of Los Angeles in 1984, which had been boycotted by many countries of the Eastern bloc.
As in previous editions, the COC has chosen not to announce a medal target. However, all indications are that the trend from the last Games will continue, says Eric Myles. “But it’s so close. Fourth and fifth places are often decided by fractions of a second. Predictions become extremely difficult.”
One of the “beauties of the Canadian team” is its great diversity, says the COC’s head of sport. “Some countries are content to target two or three sports. I could name 12 or 15 sports where we could achieve significant results. And I’m not counting the Winter Games.”
Yes, of course, big things are expected of the women’s swim team, led by the very young (17-year-old) but gifted Summer McIntosh, as well as Maggie Mac Neil, Kylie Masse and Marie-Sophie Harvey. Expectations are lower for the men, although they are showing good progress. “We’re not afraid to aim high,” said one of them, Josh Liendo, this week. “Women are an inspiration to us.”
We also hope to do well in athletics, with, among others, strong teams of sprinters, including the well-known Andre De Grasse and the new Quebec sensation, Audrey Leduc, as well as four reigning world champions in the 800 meters (Marco Arop), the decathlon (Pierce LePage) and the unusual hammer throw (Ethan Katzberg and Camryn Rogers).
The importance of winning well
While standing on the podium has special value — and not just symbolism — for countries and athletes who have dreamed of this moment their entire lives, the COC has learned to take into account other factors, such as “the number of top-five and top-eight finishes” and the experience gained by athletes who are likely to return to the Games. “Ultimately, our goal is to allow each athlete to perform at their best at the right time.”
It’s also about taking care of everyone’s physical and mental health, continues the COC’s head of sport. “In Canada, we don’t just care about winning, but winning well.”
The director of sports sciences at the Institut national du sport (INS) du Québec, François Bieuzen, confirms these comments. “The medal at all costs has really become an outdated concept for many years. Not necessarily in all countries, but certainly in Canada. Because, otherwise, it could be simple. All you would have to do would be to dope.”
In any case, the quests for performance and the well-being of athletes “are not incompatible,” he says, quite the contrary. But to do things well, “you have to accept that it can take time.”
Fire !
The many athletes based at the INS saw their preparations for the Paris Games disrupted by the damage caused by a fire this winter at the foot of the Olympic Stadium tower. A few lucky ones, like the members of the Canadian judo team, managed to relocate quickly and comfortably, but it was more complicated for others. “There aren’t many 50-metre pools or 10-metre diving towers in Montreal, and even fewer that aren’t already occupied,” says INS fitness trainer Alexandre Clark.
But we were able to adapt and this incident that happened at the wrong time should not affect the athletes’ performance at the Games, thinks François Bieuzen. “We had to be creative and resilient. But COVID had taught us to be.”