August 29, 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE

Canada lagging behind world, Olympic officials warn

The country's worst Olympic performance since 1988 should be a warning of things to come, according to Canadian Olympic officials.

"The world is leaving us behind at a very quick rate," said Mark Lowry, executive director of sport for the Canadian Olympic Committee.

Canadian team officials were hoping to match the 14 medals from the Sydney Games in Athens.

But Canada managed only 12 (three gold, six silver and three bronze), the lowest total since winning 10 at Seoul.

Canada had 34 athletes or crews ranked in the top five in the world in 2003, but only nine won medals.

None of the four defending world champions made it to the podium.

"That's not good enough," Lowry said. "It's simply not acceptable to be in a position and have athletes within striking distance and they are not able to achieve."

The COC is not alone in being concerned about the state of Canada's sports funding. International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge plans to travel to Canada before the end of the year to discuss amateur sport funding with federal and provincial governments.

Rogge made the announcement Sunday at his closing news conference of the 2004 Athens Games.

"It's very high on my agenda," Rogge said of the proposed visit.

Along with a visit to Vancouver in advance of the 2010 Winter Olympics, Rogge plans to talk to politicians in Ottawa to get sport funding on the federal government's agenda prior to 2010.

Canada has hosted both the Summer Games (Montreal 1976) and Winter Games (Calgary 1988) once before. Both times Canadian athletes were unable to win a gold medal.

Rogge pointed to sport funding as one of the ways to change such results. He said he is going through the same process with the Italian government prior to the 2006 Turin Olympics.

However, the IOC president said he didn't think such meetings were necessary with Chinese officials.

China, which hosts the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, has performed above projections at the 2004 Games. The country entered Sunday, the final competition day, with 63 total medals, third overall.

with files from Canadian Press

Written by CBC Sports Online staff

reprinted with permission