My Argument Would Be Similar to His...

A question for Canadians

Because this is what happens when we ignore athletes for three years and 50 weeks

~by Ed Willes, Vancouver Province, August 26, 2004

ATHENS – Shortly after his crew’s crushing loss in the men’s eight final at the Schinias Rowing Centre on Sunday, Andrew Hoskins came out to face the music.

He refused to endorse any of the excuses that were being offered by the assembled newsfolk.

No, the pressure of being the pre-race favourites didn’t get to the boat. No, his crew wasn’t rattled by their second-place finish to the Americans in their first heat of the regatta, their first loss in over two years.

But just before the scrum broke, Hoskins volunteered one thing and, because his commentary was unsolicited, it was likely something he’s been thinking about for some time.

“I don’t how you get people interested in what we’re doing,” Hoskins said. “But if you want to have success, you have to be committed for more than two weeks every four years. If you’re not, this is what you can expect.”

Like most of the Canadian athletes in Athens, Hoskins and his rowers train and compete in complete anonymity for three years and 50 weeks of every Olympics cycle. Then the Olympics come around and, for two weeks, they’re the starting quarterbacks on a Super Bowl team.

If you’re looking for an explanation for Canada’s dreadful showing at these Olympics, that’s a pretty good place to start.

In virtually every other country participating in Athens, Hoskins’ seat on the two-time world champion men’s eight would make him a star. In Canada, it means he has to forestall career, family and education decisions and live a life of impoverishment in order to compete in his sport.

Then, in the two weeks of the Olympics, everyone wants a piece of him. They want to tell his story. They want to share in his victory. When the eight failed, they wanted an explanation.

And it’s the same story all over the Canadian Olympic team. You’ve got members of the media who haven’t been near these sports for 206 weeks who are suddenly passing judgment on these athletes. You’ve got corporations who won’t go near them for three years who suddenly want to be identified with them and the Olympic brand. You’ve got politicians who are keen to show up for the photo-ops, less keen to appear when funds are needed.

It’s a ridiculous system and, over the last two Olympics, it’s produced ridiculous results. There’s also little indication it’s going to improve anytime soon. So where do we go from Athens?

Well, as Hoskins suggests, we have to answer one simple question first: Are we a sporting country? If we are, that means we have to change. The private sector has to step up and invest in the athletes when the spotlight isn’t on them. The government has to make athletics a priority and that means, among other things, stressing physical education in our schools. The media has to show up for national and world championships in non-Olympic years and treat like events.

<>Maybe that way, the athletes won’t get spooked when the hordes descend on them at the big show.

Now, it could be we’ve already had that conversation and decided our priority is the Winter Olympics. That’s fine but if that’s the case, we then have to re-adjust our goals in the Summer Games and understand we are competing against countries that take these sports seriously.

In Australia, the stars of the swimming program make millions. In Canada, rower Chris Jarvis, who’s diabetic, is thrilled to be sponsored by a medical company which manufactures strips for testing his blood sugar.

It’s not exactly a level playing field.

Then again, you’ve probably figured that out by now.