I'll start by saying that I haven't been watching Olympics long, only about 3 or 4 olympics I've watched, but over time I have noticed the trend has got worse.
Other countries, lets take the USA for instance, win more often than not when their athletes are favoured for events. For example, Lindsey Vonn won her skiing, Shaun White (destroyed) won his snowboarding, and its not just Americans, Germans are the same.
However Canada, throughout their history (with the exception perhaps of Catrina Le May Doan) have been choking in Olympic events with a phenomanal consistency. It's not to say that Canada does not have great athletes, 24 medals were aquired by the team in Turin (which is fantastic considering the incredibly small population well) but the fact remains that Canadian Athletes do much better when not at the Olympics (sounds unrealistic but thats the best way I can put it).
Need examples?
Jeremy Wortherspoon (a brilliant speed skater and world record holder) trips on his gold medal race in 2002.
Team Canada (male hockey) does not qualify for a medal game in Turin.
Jenn Heil fails to defend her gold medal in womens moguls (although she did manage to get a silver but she was by far a favorite).
Today Melisa Hollingsworth, in second place, chokes and crashes on her final run in skeleton and comes fifth.
There are a lot more (kevin martin...) but I don't want to think about them.
I respect all of the athletes. They are brilliant competitors. They perform brilliantly on the world circuit but often cannot translate it to the olympic games. I can't help but wonder if other countries (like america) have some kind of improved psychological training for their atheletes that allow them to deal with race day problems.
I decided to make a thread out of a little bit of my disappointment, wondering if any Canadians have noticed the same trend as me or if any people from any other countries notice this about their own teams as well.
Other countries, lets take the USA for instance, win more often than not when their athletes are favoured for events. For example, Lindsey Vonn won her skiing, Shaun White (destroyed) won his snowboarding, and its not just Americans, Germans are the same.
However Canada, throughout their history (with the exception perhaps of Catrina Le May Doan) have been choking in Olympic events with a phenomanal consistency. It's not to say that Canada does not have great athletes, 24 medals were aquired by the team in Turin (which is fantastic considering the incredibly small population well) but the fact remains that Canadian Athletes do much better when not at the Olympics (sounds unrealistic but thats the best way I can put it).
Need examples?
Jeremy Wortherspoon (a brilliant speed skater and world record holder) trips on his gold medal race in 2002.
Team Canada (male hockey) does not qualify for a medal game in Turin.
Jenn Heil fails to defend her gold medal in womens moguls (although she did manage to get a silver but she was by far a favorite).
Today Melisa Hollingsworth, in second place, chokes and crashes on her final run in skeleton and comes fifth.
There are a lot more (kevin martin...) but I don't want to think about them.
I respect all of the athletes. They are brilliant competitors. They perform brilliantly on the world circuit but often cannot translate it to the olympic games. I can't help but wonder if other countries (like america) have some kind of improved psychological training for their atheletes that allow them to deal with race day problems.
I decided to make a thread out of a little bit of my disappointment, wondering if any Canadians have noticed the same trend as me or if any people from any other countries notice this about their own teams as well.