Snowboarding
A Snowboarding Controversy, Canada Style
Despite living in a country that’s got plenty of snow and mountains, Canada’s medal haul has sucked ass more than once at the Winter Olympics. When we hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics, for example, we didn’t even win a gold medal. So, once Vancouver/Whistler was awarded the 2010 Winter Olympics, it was decided a national program should be put in place to ensure a gold medal haul in 2010.
The result was Own the Podium, a program launched in 2003 to make sure we don’t suck in 2010. The program focuses on developing (and sometimes funding) athletes who appear to have a shot at winning an Olympic medal. So far, the results have been promising: Canada actually did pretty well in the 2006 Winter Olympics (24 medals, the country’s best), and we’re winning lots of World Cup tune-up events.
The controversy I’m referring to surrounds, of course, the snowboarders; specifically, the half-pipe riders. Many national half-pipers were reportedly unwilling to ditch their current schedules - which include video shoots, endorsement commitments and select half-pipe events - for the structured, more rigorous requirements of a program funded by Own the Podium. The Canadian Snowboard Federation (which gets financial and technical support from Own the Podium) wanted dedication to a structured program in exchange for funding; the riders wanted freedom, but funding too. What to do?
Well, with the riders performing well in World Cup events, it looks like a compromise has been reached. If the Canadian Snowboard Federation can get a bump in funding from Own the Podium, they’ll fund half-pipers requiring more schedule flexibility as well.
BTW, trivia question: First Canadian to win a medal in snowboarding? Ross Rebagliati, of course.
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