March 1, 2010 - What a difference a week makes. Canadian shortcomings in the opening days of the Vancouver Winter Games have been consigned to the dustbin of history, and we're on top of the world after a Week Two medal surge that cured an early bout of nationwide angst brought on by the unrealistic expectations created by the federal government's "Own the Podium" initiative.
"Own the Podium" was everything Canadians by reputation are not – presumptuous, boastful and brash to the point of arrogance. That we managed to reap our greatest medal harvest is more of a testament to the resolve of the athletes who were burdened with undue demands than it is a credit to the bureaucrats who publicly set an Olympic goal that was equal parts pretentious and cockamamie.
And while every medal is technically worth its weight in gold, silver or bronze, some carry more weight than others in the Canadian public perception. Let's be brutally honest: without gold in men's hockey, everything else would have amounted to a giant bowl of gravy without the meat. A fine thick gravy, but the sizzle without the steak.
Events have a way of returning everything to its proper perspective, and figure skater Joannie Rochette underscored the triviality of the "Own the Podium" initiative, if not its folly. Rochette's bronze medal performance in the immediate aftermath of her mother's sudden passing demonstrated courage, poise and dignity that no amount of government funding could have engendered, and was without question the proudest Canadian moment of the Games.
Even if Canada didn't ultimately "Own the Podium," we were at the very least prominent members of a podium cooperative in Vancouver. Having salvaged our national pride on the global athletic stage, maybe we can now steer our collective attention and resources to such mundane but equally urgent initiatives as "Own the Deficit," "Own the Health Care Crisis" and "Own the Crumbling Urban Infrastructure."
