Do You Think Canada Chokes Alot

[marcwagz]

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.

 

[DurkaDurka]

Considering the improvements made over the last 2 Olympics I would say we are in our way up. Remember Calgary? 5 medals total I think, we have been on the way up since. Also keep in mind our relatively low population when compared to the Germans, US, Russia etc.

 

[Nuggler]

Do You Think Canada Chokes Alot"

Only when swallowing.

 

[Johnnny]

didnt we win a gold again today?

 

[#juan]

Considering the improvements made over the last 2 Olympics I would say we are in our way up. Remember Calgary? 5 medals total I think, we have been on the way up since. Also keep in mind our relatively low population when compared to the Germans, US, Russia etc.

You are right DurkaDurka
Canada has 8 medals and has a chance for another 6 or eight.. We aren't going to catch the U.S., who have close to twenty medals, but we will beat a lot of countries with a lot more people than we have, countries that traditionally beat us in medal production. I'm guessing we will finish second behind the U.S..

 

[JLM]

You are right DurkaDurka
Canada has 8 medals and has a chance for another 6 or eight.. We aren't going to catch the U.S., who have close to twenty medals, but we will beat a lot of countries with a lot more people than we have, countries that traditionally beat us in medal production. I'm guessing we will finish second behind the U.S..

I think that's a fairly safe bet, we should take all the medals in curling and hockey. I bet if there was ice fishing, we'd even beat the U.S. Do they have snow shoe races? :lol::lol:

 

[Johnnny]

I think that's a fairly safe bet, we should take all the medals in curling and hockey. I bet if there was ice fishing, we'd even beat the U.S. Do they have snow shoe races? :lol::lol:

to qualify for representing our country would be the olympics right there:canada:

 

[JLM]

to qualify for representing our country would be the olympics right there:canada:

You've lost me.

 

[Johnnny]

The amount of ice fishermen up here is insane, i can only imagine northern quebec and out west. The amount of folks trying to make it to a team canada Ice fishing team would be alot, and mabye one of the more popular tryouts lol

It would be the only olympic event you can drink a can of beer during

 

[JLM]

The amount of ice fishermen up here is insane, i can only imagine northern quebec and out west. The amount of folks trying to make it to a team canada Ice fishing team would be alot, and mabye one of the more popular tryouts lol

It would be the only olympic event you can drink a can of beer during

hot rum toddy would be more suitable. :lol::lol:

 

[Liberalman]

America has better drug enhancement masking products which makes it virtualy impossible to detect the drugs.

Canada just believes in honesty

 

[Mowich]

Disappointed? Not in the least. I am very proud of every single Canadian athlete - medal winner or not. Compared to countries with twice the population we have, China and the US come to mind, Canada is doing just fine thank you.

No one can do better than their very best and our athletes are giving it their all.

It may be all about the medals for some people but for me it is about representing our country to the best of their ability and our teams are doing just that.

Instead of looking at the downside, maybe we should look at the upside. We are doing better at these Olympic games than we have ever done.

GO, CANADA, GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! :canada: :canada:

 

[Mowich]

I think that's a fairly safe bet, we should take all the medals in curling and hockey. I bet if there was ice fishing, we'd even beat the U.S. Do they have snow shoe races? :lol::lol:

I am really proud of our Canadian Women's Curling Team. This is the first time that Cheryl and her team have played in the Olympics and they are showing such poise and good sportsmanship that they simply shine compared to some of the other teams with Olympic experience.

Kevin Martin and his guys are playing good steady games, some glitches but for the most part they are staying cool and making the plays.

Biggest surprise in curling is the rink of Davie Murdoch from Great Britain - this team is having a tough time, leaving me to wonder what will happen tomorrow when they meet Kevin Martin. They are having another shaky start playing China right now.

GO, CANADA, GO!

 

[talloola]

ya win some ya lose some, it's as simple as that, for
everyone.

 

[Mowich]

ya win some ya lose some, it's as simple as that, for
everyone.

And everyone has their off days too, talloola. The hype that surrounds the Olympics is enormous and I am sure that the pressure to WIN gets to some of the less seasoned athletes.

 

[#juan]

The amount of ice fishermen up here is insane, i can only imagine northern quebec and out west. The amount of folks trying to make it to a team Canada Ice fishing team would be alot, and mabye one of the more popular tryouts lol

It would be the only Olympic event you can drink a can of beer during

You drink cold beer while ice fishing? I always brought a thermos of hot toddy or hot buttered rum.

 

[countryboy]

And everyone has their off days too, talloola. The hype that surrounds the Olympics is enormous and I am sure that the pressure to WIN gets to some of the less seasoned athletes.

Apparently Austria is not too happy with their medal count thus far.

 

[JLM]

Apparently Austria is not too happy with their medal count thus far.

They have nothing to complain about, they are right behind Canada. I think it's more of a matter of their ego being too big than their medal count being too small. .:lol::lol:

 

[Johnnny]

What the hell happened to canada last ngiht, we got alot of 4th and 5ths we were flopping all over the place

 

[Ogu]

Canada Chokes Alot

I too believe that Canada has under-achieved in thses Olympics. The reasons are many, in my opinion.
First of all, the idiot that came up with the "Own the Podium" slogan should be deported back the USA or whatever his real actual country of origin is. It is not consistent with our Canadian image - of us being capable athletes with quiet strength and a humble mastery that makes us respected around the world. Instead, this laughable saying has done more to motivate non-Canadians than any of the track records coming into these Olympics! It has literally taken away any home advantage there might have been! Yes......we do own the podium but the medals are somehow eluding us.
The mental preparation in any sporting event is just as important as the physical aspect. This is where I believe Canadians consistently come up short. "Winning" is a learned thing - as is losing. Getting into the vein of winning - and there-by intimidating the oppostion - is part and parcel of success in sports. This comes from both mental and physical superiority - not slogans.
As for our beloved men's hockey team, I am nothing short of disgusted in team managers feeling that this is a venue for returning favours to those that contributed to their NHL success. Stevie I. - whom I have always repsected both on and off the ice, has done a much better job than those before him but will someone PLEASE tell me what the h_ _ _ Pronger is doing on the 2010 team?!?!?!? I may be wrong but I believe he was on the ice for 3 of the 4 goals and was a big part of the embarassing 3 man collosion! He makes us a 4 man line-up when on the ice! He is overtly lost out there while the younger guns literally spin circles around him. In all due respect to Mr. Pronger, it's not his fault.
Between this and Brodeur's "baseball" antics, we handed the USA the game on a silver platter - not to take away from Mr. Miller. He was indeed excellent. Still, I feel aweful for our guys that contributed to the lop-sided 45-23 S.O.N. !!!
That said, Canadians need to get support with the psychological side of sports and in this Olympics specifically, in how to handle the increased pressure that comes from being expected to win at home.
As for performance enhancing drugs, it's no doubt they're out there but unless you catch folk at it, you're spinning your wheels. Just ask, Mr. Johnson. Yeah......he was the only gold-medalist using drugs, and I'm Santa.