USA Today; 2010 Olympics setting up to be USA-Canada showdown

[Harvey Specter]

By Vicki Michaelis, USA TODAY
VANCOUVER — It won't be trumped up quite like the USA-Soviet Union showdowns of Cold War days or even the USA-China medals battle in last year's Beijing Games.

IMPROVING: Canada has been getting better at winter games

But the U.S. Olympic team definitely has a new rival, one you might not guess: our easygoing neighbors to the north, the ones who, when it comes to sports, always have seemed content to be best at playing hockey and watching hockey and little else.

The Canadians want to be No. 1 at the Winter Olympics they'll host in Vancouver, starting Feb. 12, 2010. Not just in hockey. They want to lead the overall medal count.

If their results over the last week are any indication, they're well on their way. John Kucera became the first Canadian skier to win a downhill world title. Figure skaters won a gold medal and three silvers in the Four Continents championships. Canada brought home three golds and a silver from the World Allround Speed Skating Championships. Canadians won five of six golds in World Cup freestyle skiing held at the 2010 venue.

Even they acknowledge it's rather un-Canadian of them. "There's sort of a natural humility that's sort of embedded in the Canadian DNA," says John Furlong, CEO of the Vancouver Olympic organizing committee. "We get up on the podium and we wonder if we belong there. I think we're kind of getting past that."

Their newfound ambition also could end up being rather un-neighborly of them.

Nearly every Canadian medal could mean one fewer for the USA, since the countries are competitive in many of the same winter sports. They finished second and third in medals in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino behind Germany, with the USA leading 25-24.

"They'll certainly impact our results," U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Jim Scherr says of the Canadians in 2010.

Compound the Canadian threat with the ever-widening distribution of medals among all countries, as well as lackluster recent results from all but a handful of potential 2010 U.S. Olympians, and the U.S. outlook for Vancouver is subdued at best.

"Overall, I think we'll field a very strong team," Scherr says. "But to maintain the 25 medals we had in Torino, it's going to be much harder."

USA surged as host in 2002

When the USA last hosted the Winter Olympics, in 2002 in Salt Lake City, it used home-ice advantage as a springboard to 34 medals, nearly tripling its highest-ever winter medal haul of 13.

The 2002 total, just one off No. 1 Germany's 35, seemed to herald the USA's Winter Olympics coming-out. The U.S. winter athletes appeared ready to start matching the success of their summer counterparts, who have led the medal count in the last four Summer Olympics.

The Vancouver Games could be the comedown, the potential of world champion Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn (who added downhill gold Monday), nearly invincible speedskater Shani Davis, luger Erin Hamlin's historic world title last weekend and the USA's usual pack of superior snowboarders notwithstanding.

In world championships in Winter Olympic sports last season, U.S. athletes won 15 medals, fifth among nearly 30 countries. Germany led with 43, Norway was second with 29 and Canada third with 26. Russia won 19. Eleven countries had at least 10.

The USA has little hope of derailing Germany, Norway and, to some extent, Russia, because they are dominant in medal-rich sports such as biathlon and cross-country skiing. Germany rules the bobsled and luge tracks.

That leaves Canada, which, like the USA, historically has had success in figure skating, long-track speedskating and hockey and has built its medal potential by excelling in newer Olympic sports such as short-track speedskating, freestyle skiing and skeleton.

"Practically everywhere we're strong, the Canadians are, too," says Chris Vadala, senior director of sport partnerships at the USOC.

Canada will have a home crowd to please and an ignominious history to reverse. The Canadian team didn't win one gold medal in either Olympics the country already has hosted — the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary — and in Calgary won five medals overall.

"Trust me, I know all about that," says Brian Orser, who, after winning silver in men's figure skating in the 1984 Olympics, entered the 1988 Games as Canada's best gold medal hope but finished second again, behind the USA's Brian Boitano. "It haunts me. I'm sure whoever is our first gold medalist here in Vancouver is going to be a superhero."

Among the events on the first day of competition for the 2010 Games are the men's downhill and the women's moguls, where Canadian Jennifer Heil is the reigning Olympic champion.

"They've built a whole base of athletes like we had going into Salt Lake City, that, if everything hits and there's a little magic, with a home-court advantage, they could have a pretty substantial performance and possibly rival Germany," Scherr says.

New ambition

Canada's history of coming up short on home soil led to pointed discussions and planning almost immediately after Vancouver won the 2010 bid in 2003.

"We essentially said, 'We can't let this happen again,'" Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) chief executive officer Chris Rudge says. "At the end of the day, in a country, an Olympic Games will only be seen to be successful if the home team does well."

In consultation with Jim Page, the USOC's managing director of sport performance in 2002, the Canadians created the Own the Podium program.

"It was built on the tenets," Scherr says, of the USOC's Podium 2002 program for the Salt Lake City Games. The USOC invested an extra $18 million over the four years leading into the 2002 Games for equipment, coaches and athlete stipends.

The COC, Vancouver organizing committee and government committed a collective $110 million to Own the Podium. The funds were targeted at helping athletes with the most medal potential, similar to the USA's approach for 2002.

Canada's plan was questioned at first in the court of public opinion, Rudge says.

"We're a country that historically has suffered from a certain egalitarian angst, where we want to be all things to all people and give everybody a fair chance to get to the top," he says. "And we've always found it difficult to direct our resources to only those that have the best chance to medal and to wave the flag a little bit and say, 'We want to be No. 1.'

"We've often been accused of a certain American jingoism when we've done that in the past. That's not to denigrate Americans. They're the best neighbors anyone could have in the world. But we need more of your attitude."

Now that the Canadians have more of that attitude, they're winning more medals.

Their 24 medals in Torino were a 41% increase over their 17 in 2002. They haven't set a specific medal goal for Vancouver, but Rudge figures it will take in the high 20s or low 30s to top Germany. "It's going to be a tough row to hoe to catch them," Rudge says. "That's our objective, and if we only come second and do better than we've ever done, it will still be a great accomplishment."


Of course, in all the striving to be No. 1 next year, the Canadians haven't forgotten their first and enduring love. And some of their most intense matchups in hockey could come against the USA.

The Canadian and U.S. women have met for nearly every world championship and Olympic gold medal. Canada beat the USA in the 2002 Olympic men's final.

The Canadian feeling the most pressure a year from now undoubtedly will be Steve Yzerman, who played for the 2002 team and now is its executive director. He knows all this No. 1 talk will mean less if Canada is not wearing hockey gold at the end.

"I think everybody takes pride when any Canadian comes home successful," Yzerman says. "But hockey is the one sport that kind of unifies the entire country."

Maybe the neighbors haven't changed so much after all.

[InvisibleSoul]

Go Canada...

[FiveDime]

go China!

[Tim Budong]

so thats from the american standpoint that they feel threatened. This is perfect. It makes the Own the Podium program look better

all i can say is the government has to back up this plan especially for the 2010 games. I did a survey last year asking whats more important to canadians. winning the medal count on home soil or winning hockey gold and home soil. well..you'd be surprised, of around 2000ppl, 85% didnt give a shit about skiing or figure skating, hockey gold is all it matters. and some of these participants were seat holders in victoria and ottawa as well!!