OT: Official Olympic thread. Go Canada Go!!!

[pm88]

The concern with the States is this is it for them many if not most of there stars have made it clear this likely will be there last Olympics so 2020 could be a very bad games for them.

I have no doubt they have a bunch of superstar athletes already training for the 2020 games.

With that being said, I think Canada has proven that they can be a threat in their events as well and that they're not just happy to be there.

 

[Knave]

When it comes to Canada at the Olympics I feel like we always end up just barely missing out on a medal podium. I've lost track of the amount of time I've seen Canadian athletes just barely miss out on making it on to the podium over the years. It just seems they need that one extra level which seems to escape them.

It's quite remarkable the amount of world-class athletes the US seems to produce. They're literally a serious contender for just about every event out there.

With that being said, I think with athletes such as De Grasse and Penny Oleksiak Canada can say they have a few superstars of their own moving forward. It's pretty cool seeing the men's indoor volleyball team make some noise as well. I watched their games against the US and Mexico and they have some serious heavy hitters back there.

The highschool to college/NCAA is unmatched in the world.

Australia spends on swimming. England spends on cycling and South Korea spends on archery.

But nobody has an entire sporting system and network that the US does. Hell De Grasse is from that system.

 

[jason2020]

The highschool to college/NCAA is unmatched in the world.

Australia spends on swimming. England spends on cycling and South Korea spends on archery.

But nobody has an entire sporting system and network that the US does. Hell De Grasse is from that system.

De Grasse ran a 100m in 10 flat at 16 long before he had any training.

 

[pm88]

The highschool to college/NCAA is unmatched in the world.

Australia spends on swimming. England spends on cycling and South Korea spends on archery.

But nobody has an entire sporting system and network that the US does. Hell De Grasse is from that system.

Fair enough. I often wonder what Canada would have to do to reach the level of dominance the Americans seemingly seem to have in literally every Olympics I've watched. Is it just more money?

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Fair enough. I often wonder what Canada would have to do to reach the level of dominance the Americans seemingly seem to have in literally every Olympics I've watched. Is it just more money?

Not going to happen.
Population
Colleges, Scholarships, Alumni donations, Sponsors, Coaching, Infrastructure, Climate

 

[SensBrawler]

Fair enough. I often wonder what Canada would have to do to reach the level of dominance the Americans seemingly seem to have in literally every Olympics I've watched. Is it just more money?

And population. Canada has a population of approximately 35 million, while the US has a population of about 325 million. When you have a higher population, you're more likely to have more athletes competing in each sport and therefore, more likely to find great ones.

 

[Knave]

I think we could pick a sport with a lot of events and funnel money I to it, encourage kids to do it and we could have success. I listed a few countries above and what they did with 1 sport they chose.

 

[jason2020]

I think we could pick a sport with a lot of events and funnel money I to it, encourage kids to do it and we could have success. I listed a few countries above and what they did with 1 sport they chose.

De Grasse can make up to $30 million per year with his deal which would make him the highest paid in track and field.

 

[Here I Pageau Again]

Gold for Canada in high jump. Drouin was impressive!

 

[Inkling]

I think we could pick a sport with a lot of events and funnel money I to it, encourage kids to do it and we could have success. I listed a few countries above and what they did with 1 sport they chose.

That's kind of what we did with Own the Podium and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and it resulted in Canada leading the medal table in 2010. We just chose to do it in winter sports.

Countries that host Olympics, in recent times, tend to make the investments to make sure they do well. Look how well Britain is doing this Olympics and how well they did in 2012. Back in 1992 they finished below Canada.

 

[mianjo]

After 4 holes Brooke Henderson was +3, after 8 holes she is -1 and tied for 11th in 1st round of the womens golf at the Olympics.

 

[jason2020]

That's kind of what we did with Own the Podium and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and it resulted in Canada leading the medal table in 2010. We just chose to do it in winter sports.

Countries that host Olympics, in recent times, tend to make the investments to make sure they do well. Look how well Britain is doing this Olympics and how well they did in 2012. Back in 1992 they finished below Canada.

But Brazil does not seem to have made those investments.

 

[SPF6ty9]

De Grasse ran a 100m in 10 flat at 16 long before he had any training.

Wait what? No he didn't, that's a world class time and not even Bolt could come close to that before training seriously. De Grasse didn't run 10 flat until he got to USC and was 20. He did develop there but with his talent his skills would have flourished anywhere, it just made the most sense to go somewhere he could get a good education for free. The scholarship money for athletics in Canadian Universities, especially in sports like track and field, is basically non-existent. People who may struggle to afford an education and have athletic talent can certainly use an NCAA scholarship to get there but it's not an avenue that is closed off to American's only. Many Canadians and others from Mexico, Jamaica, Bahamas have used this route as well and still competed for their home country.

 

[BonkTastic]

But Brazil does not seem to have made those investments.

This statement can be applied to a lot of scenarios.

 

[jason2020]

Wait what? No he didn't, that's a world class time and not even Bolt could come close to that before training seriously. De Grasse didn't run 10 flat until he got to USC and was 20. He did develop there but with his talent his skills would have flourished anywhere, it just made the most sense to go somewhere he could get a good education for free. The scholarship money for athletics in Canadian Universities, especially in sports like track and field, is basically non-existent. People who may struggle to afford an education and have athletic talent can certainly use an NCAA scholarship to get there but it's not an avenue that is closed off to American's only. Many Canadians and others from Mexico, Jamaica, Bahamas have used this route as well and still competed for their home country.

Research it I did not make this up.

 

[mianjo]

Brooke is now -2 and tied for 9th 2 shots behind the leader.

 

[mianjo]

Henderson ended one under and is tied for 19th 4 strokes behind the leader.

 

[Stylizer1]

Research it I did not make this up.

Can you show where you found this info?

As per Wiki:

De Grasse's legal 100 m time of 9.97 to win the Pac-12 championship in May 2015 was the first time he ran under 10 seconds.

 

[littleD]

De Grasse can make up to $30 million per year with his deal which would make him the highest paid in track and field.

De Grasse isn't reaching $30 million with a couple bronze medals in the 100m. $30 million is Usain Bolt money. De Grasse's Puma deal is $11 million multi-year deal and "could reach up to $30 million with bonuses.".

If he was an American not named Justin Gatlin who was ready to take over Bolt's dominance? I could see him hit a massive yearly number right away. Canadian Tire and Tim Hortons don't pay that well though.

 

[Knave]

De Grasse had a great 200m semifinal but again... Bolt looks like he's on a mission and he beat De Grasse with ease.

But in this event - De Grasse should take silver judging by those times and the way he eased up.

Tokyo should be the De Grasse show barring some newcomer dramatically shaking things up.

 

[Flamingo]

That's kind of what we did with Own the Podium and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and it resulted in Canada leading the medal table in 2010. We just chose to do it in winter sports.

Countries that host Olympics, in recent times, tend to make the investments to make sure they do well. Look how well Britain is doing this Olympics and how well they did in 2012. Back in 1992 they finished below Canada.

Own the Podium is still the plan (whether or not it's called by the same name). It's a shift in the way Canada funds amateur athletes. It's a bit controversial, since some athletes that compete in fields with a large amount of international competition have lost funding as a result.

 

[Flamingo]

De Grasse had a great 200m semifinal but again... Bolt looks like he's on a mission and he beat De Grasse with ease.

But in this event - De Grasse should take silver judging by those times and the way he eased up.

Tokyo should be the De Grasse show barring some newcomer dramatically shaking things up.

Looks like De Grasse can challenge Bold in the final, IMO. I'm a bit concerned that the late push in the semi-final could have gassed him a bit for the final. But we'll see... maybe he has the legs and Bolt doesn't.

 

[BonkTastic]

So Russia lost their Relay gold medals due to doping.

Considering where the Russian Athletic Association is at right now, what are the odds we see more Russian medals stripped during these games?

 

[Jorge Garcia]

I think we could pick a sport with a lot of events and funnel money I to it, encourage kids to do it and we could have success. I listed a few countries above and what they did with 1 sport they chose.

If you really want to win a lot of medals, pick individual sports that give out ridiculous numbers of medals, like swimming and gymnastics. Swimming gives out 96 medals, for various distances, stroke styles, relays, medleys and medley relays. And the same handful of athletes can contest them all. Could Phelps win 20-odd gold medals in any other sport? Not a chance.
Likewise, just pick a minivan full of teenagers, train them to be gymnasts, and reap a rich harvest of medal chances in all the categories and subcategories of that puzzlingly popular sport. (And become adept at politics to keep the judges on side.)
By contrast, look at the resources required in hockey. Run tryout and training camps, choose a team of 25 world-class millionaire athletes who are accustomed to the best of everything in training and travel, assemble an elite coaching, training and medical staff, and acquire and transport a boxcar full of very costly equipment. Play numerous games, perhaps in different cities, over two weeks. If all goes well, you'll win one medal.

 

[SPF6ty9]

Research it I did not make this up.

He ran 10.90 in his first race, which is still incredible before starting to train. But the difference between that and 10.0 is significant (about 10m at the elite level). DeGrasse should have a good battle with Merritt for silver in the 200. Will be interesting to see if they run him this morning in the relay heats, they could use him to qualify but it could sap some energy for the 200 finals.

This boxing "scandal" with the Irish guy flipping off the judges is a pretty good reason for why I hate sports that involve judges. Everything is too subjective. Sounds like the guy who "won" the fight is too beat up to continue the competition so will be interesting what happens now.