Canada playing dirty ahead of Vancouver 2010 but can Britain complain?
THERE'S a fine line between gamesmanship and unsporting behaviour and it appears Canada are currently skating on very thin ice.
CHRISTMAS SPIRIT? Canada are being a touch on the miserly side in their pursuit of success at Vancouver 2010 (Getty Images)
There's no doubting that being hosts has its perks but, in a bid to ensure Canada does not complete a hat-trick of gold medal-less Olympic Games on home soil - after Montreal 1976 and Calgary 1988 proved rathered fruitless, Vancouver 2010 organisers are playing dirty.
And the "all's fair in love and the Olympics" attitude hasn't gone down well.
The British Olympic Association have not been shy in voicing their displeasure and they are not the only ones. American speedskater Catherine Raney has indeed told the New York Times that Canada are "playing nasty".
Take skeleton bob as a prime example. The governing body the FIBT state that each nation must be allowed a week to train on the track at the Whistler Sliding Centre (Great Britain are there at present).
The track is the most challenging in the world. It is not only the fastest, but also the most technically difficult in the world and has only been on the World Cup circuit for a year.
Practice clearly has its advantages and Canada are exploiting that to the full. Only those decked out in maple leaves are permitted to use the track outside the minimum allotted time, leaving the rest of the world just a fleeting visit before the Games begin.
Now it must be said Canada are well within their rights to do so, even if they might not make many friends along with the way.
But for the BOA, it gets worse.
Team GB are due to be based in Calgary, the only other Canadian city with an ice track, prior to Vancouver 2010.
But Great Britain have been informed they are not allowed to use said track.
The hosts have made an exception though. Russia have not been given the cold shoulder and can train on the Calgary track. Is it mere coincidence they host the subsequent Winter Olympics in Sochi?
And it doesn't stop there. The BOA have gone to the IOC too, after they were banned from placing cameras at certain positions at the curling venue.
But this is not just some form of imperialist backlash against Blighty. Great Britain are not the only ones to feel the wrath of Canada's single-minded pursuit of success - the USA have not been pleased by their treatment both on the skeleton track and on the ice skating rink.
Now we must remember that Canada are simply exploiting home advantage as opposed to out-and-out rule-breaking but they are certainly not high on many NOC Christmas card lists at present.
But before we go casting aspersions, let us cast our minds forward two years. Director of elite performance for the BOA Sir Clive Woodward has been tasked with squeezing every last drop out of home advantage for London 2012.
And Sir Clive, as he proved in leading the England rugby team to World Cup glory in 2003, is not one to leave many stones unturned.
Canada may be deviating from the Olympic spirit and, by banning cameras and training sessions, are being a touch on the juvenile side about it - as Pierre de Coubertin once said, ‘the important thing is not to win, but to take part.'
But then, with less than 1000 days to go until London 2012, those in glass houses.....
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The hosts have made an
The hosts have made an exception though. Russia have not been given the cold shoulder and can train on the Calgary track.
kksh
The hosts have made an
The hosts have made an exception though. Russia have not been given the cold shoulder and can train on the Calgary track.
As a Canadian I say why not
As a Canadian I say why not try win gold I am certain British athletes do no attend world sporting events without the intent of bring back anything less than a gold so why should Canadian athletes. Also as a side note the UK is the next country set to host the Olympics wouldn't you feel it best that you reserve judgement until your time in the global spotlight pass's.
2012 Olympics
I hope Woodward doesnt take this kind of approach and enters more into the spirit of how the Olympics should be conducted. Perhaps someone involved in Cricket rather than rugby should have been chosen for the job, since its supposed to epitomise a sense of fair play.. It seems everytime the Olympics is staged it becomes proressively more commercialized and involved in pettiness.
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The Canadian Olympic
The Canadian Olympic Association chose Vancouver as the Canadian candidate city over Calgary, which sought to re-host the games and Quebec City, which had lost the 2002 Olympic bid in 1995.
Go home and cry to the queen
Go home and cry to the queen with your ONE medal! The British press has nothing else to cover so they figure they might as well bash Canada. That way when 2012 rolls around they can say "see look how much better the London games are..."
Couldn't agree more
Couldn't agree more
playing dirty?!!
If we're 'playing nasty' as this article suggests, that implies that we're breaking the rules, which this article makes a point of saying throughout that we're not actually doing. Even worse, it starts off on the word of an American competitor who (prepare to be shocked) has a complaint. When do they NOT have a complaint about something, despite being the overall leaders so far in the games (as usual)? GB is nearly matching their sense of entitlement, which is itself is worthy of an Olympic medal. That takes some effort.
As this article suggests, GB is going to milk every opportunity for home advantage in 2012, and will be scrutinizing IOC rulebooks in the years leading up to the games to ensure that competitor nations are denied full access to facilities without actually breaking any regulations. At least we make no bones about the fact that we're exploiting our advantage while we can while still adhering to the standards set by the IOC. GB is perfectly happy to complain now and then reap the benefits in London from doing exactly the same thing, and will surely be mightily defiant when anyone (especially the Americans) have anything negative to say about it! Who's juvenile now?
PS I heard from my sister's brother's girlfriend's lab partner that the Americans said that Williams' (GB) fancy helmet spoiler is illegal. Who's your best friend now?
GO CANADA GO
As a Canadian, I say grow up! We're playing by the rules that every Olympic athlete currently competing, agreed to. Sports are all about advantages and disadvantages. The fact that foreign competitors are even allowed to practice on a Canadian track takes away almost any home advantage we have. Should Canada take a back seat and allow the competition extra time to practice while our athletes sit on the side lines in their own country?. Were finally serious about our athletes and winning gold. So I say GO CANADA GO!
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Frankly as a Canadian I say
Frankly as a Canadian I say Tough . Calgary has the First indoor facility used for Long Track Speed Skating in the Olympics and it was both Los Angeles 1984 and Calgary 1988 that realized the new business model that provided the current situation. The Olympic movement would have been a long memory if it was not for Lake Placid 1980 and Los Angeles 1984 taking on Olympic Games that no one else wanted including the entire Continent of Europe. Calgary 1988 provided a bit more breathing room for the winter side being one of three Olympics run in the Black to that date.
Calgary's Olympic Oval is very heavily booked by Foreign Skaters as well as Canadians and hence that may be the problem for British Skaters coming late to the party. Calgary has the fastest and best ice in the world due to altitude.
The Profits of 100 million US dollars for those 88' games also have growth to not only take care of our legacy facilities but also upgraded ice making equipment to new more efficient levels.
The UK has owned Canada 1 billion dollars since the end of World War 2 without a dime being paid back yet you are borrowing to stage the London 2012 Olympics. A games costing over 20 billion US dollars. Why does the UK feel entitled as a debtor who refuses to pay war time debts to the former Colonies ?
Our Billions spent to host the world please stop the whining that you don't have free rein of the venues that we have completed 2 years ahead of time which is without precedent in the organization of a winter olympics.
Last time Canada staged the Winter Games all we had were complaints from the Europeans about this or that about different venues . Perhaps our people have become wiser to preventing the crying from the Continent that abandoned the Olympics on Three separate times only to have the Americans come to the rescue.
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