July 4, 2004
By ROB LONGLEY, TORONTO SUN

COC expecting to win up to 18 medals at Athens Games

The goals are modest and hopefully realistic for a Canadian Olympic team looking to rebound from the disappointment of Sydney four years ago. With only a week to go for athletes to lock up spots for next month's Athens Games, the Canadian Olympic Committee is cautiously optimistic for an improved medal haul.

After slipping from 22 medals at the 1996 Games in Atlanta to just 14 four years ago, the COC has taken heat in the past from those demanding improvement.

"The first thing we said is that our goal is to win more than we did in Sydney," said Caroline Assalian, the director of high performance and games for the Canadian Olympic Association. "Obviously we want to do better than 14. Realistically, we would hope to be in the range of 16 to 18 medals this time.

"The dropoff from Atlanta to Sydney was a significant one and one we would like to reverse it."

Assalian said the COC has decided not to get too aggressive with medal total predictions.

"The athletes have told us there is enough pressure," Assalian said. "They want to perform and we don't want to add any more pressure that might get in the way of that."

Meanwhile, the COC is estimating the Canadian team will consist of 275 athletes, down from earlier projections that were as high as 310.

With controversial tougher qualifying standards, which require athletes to have a top-12 world ranking, plus the failure of several teams to qualify, that number has been downsized.

The final day for Canadian athletes to qualify is next Sunday with the deadline for individual sports' federations to name teams the following day.

This is a crucial week for many would-be Olympians. The Canadian swim trials will be held in Etobicoke beginning Tuesday while the track and field trials get under way Friday in Victoria, B.C.

In Edmonton, the final berths on the Canadian triathlon team will be decided following a World Cup event next Sunday.

MEDAL COUNT

Total medals won by Canada at recent Summer Olympics (with host site in parenthesis):

2000 (Sydney) 14

1996 (Atlanta) 22

1992 (Barcelona) 18

1988 (Seoul) 10

1984 (Los Angeles) 44

reprinted with permission