Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 1, 2004
Post Olympic Blues
Canada’s athletes trailed back from Athens on Monday into the teeth of a national inquest over their performance at the Olympics which garnered just 12 medals.
The modest haul, two fewer than the Canadian team managed in Sydney in 2000, and good for only 21st on the medal table, set off a media inquest that blared from radio and television.
“Unless we make major changes in how we support and train our athletes, we will likely be suffering through the same national angst after the 2008 Games,” the Toronto Star warned in an editorial.
The Canadian Olympic Committee made an immediate request for more money to support athletes, calling for a US$5300 increase in government money for senior athletes to a minimum of US$20,000 a year.
It also said it would review the country’s approach to the Games, in an analysis which coincided with press reports that Dave Johnson, national swimming coach, would be sacked after his teams dire performance in Athens. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)