With only one medal in the Summer Olympics so far, Canada has already bettered their performance from four years ago at this time. As mentioned in yesterday’s blog, synchronized divers, Emilie Heymans and Jennifer Abel are bronze medal winners. The first of Canada’s medals at these games, this bronze comes three days into the Olympics – four days earlier than Canada’s first medal at the last Summer Olympics in Beijing.
And while Synergy Headquarters is proudly cheering our countrymen and women in the red and white, the nation’s relatively low medal count sparked quite the debate yesterday. For some, Canadian pride is all about supporting the nation’s efforts and providing encouragement to those who represent them. For some others, a supposed lack of competitive drive is unacceptable.
“There is no fun in losing,” said one of our team members during the debate, “It’s great to cheer for Canadian athletes but I don’t think it’s cool to celebrate when they come in ninth or 24th or something. I notice that a lot of the Canadian media will report these results with a sense of pride. Why? We should be devastated when we don’t win.”
“I agree,” chimed in a co-worker, “Living in Canada means we get the benefit of seeing both the Canadian and American Olympic broadcasts. In the United States, the attitude of the media just seems to be a lot different. They expect the best and seem genuinely disappointed when their athletes don’t win medals. They shoot for the top. So should we.”
No one is exactly saying that Canadians don’t shoot for gold. But there is also a feeling that Canadian athletes are simply not financially supported in the ways that their American counterparts are. Does this have something to do with the country’s generally low medal counts during the Summer Games?
“I know some Olympians,” remarked another member of our team, “They often have to pay for their own training in lieu of sponsorship. This means they have less time to devote to training than some other athletes. They have to work to fend for themselves. It doesn’t exactly provide an even playing field.”
Nevertheless, it is expected that Canada will better their 18 medal total from four years ago. The Games, of course, are only four days old and there are many more events to come. Let’s hope the competitive nature of our Synergy staff is shared among the Canadian athletes who are still yet to compete. No matter what, we’ll be cheering for them!
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