Yeah, I don't think we did too well in the per capita rankings to be honest. Per capita should favour small rich countries. Although we aren't a small country, there are countries with similar or better rankings than us that are much better. We do make up for it by doing well at the winters (I may make an excel spreadsheet tomorrow to do some analysis), but there are countries above us in medals per capita that I think we either should be above, or could learn from:
If you do - do you mind sending me your data? I love this stuff. i do agree with you, the ultimate kickback comes in the winter time. (though there are some sports there, that makes me wonder why we're not as good - ie: cross country skiing, skiing, etc.
It is getting pretty clear what one of the keys to Olympic success is: SPECIALIZATION. Some countries may only be able to do it in one sport, but I think we could pull of two (as well as two winter ones). I would say the other keys are population (can't do anything about that), economics, and women's sport (it is about half the medals, but many countries don't focus on it.) We are good in women's sport, good in economics, decent in population, but we haven't done to well in specialization.
I think that is becoming OTP's plan. Instead of being decent at everything, they are starting to focus on the specialization of sports. That's why people are so upset with Rowing Canada because they got the brunt of the money -Rowing, Track, Swimming were the big three - and Track paid off, swimming paid off,, and Rowing was dead on arrival.
They are also targeting women, according to the HP-CEO. that's why our women's wrestling team is so deep, the coach for swim canada specialized in sprints + training women and so on.
Our top 4 sports in all time medals are athletics (56), swimming (46), rowing (40), and canoe/kayak (24). However if you rank nationals all time performance in those sports we are 15th (or 13th if you eliminate or merge predecessor states) in athletics, 10/9th in swimming, 6/5th in rowing, and 8/7th in canoe/kayak. In athletics and swimming the US absolutely dominates everyone, and we are still quite far behind the second tier countries (especially in athletics). However in rowing and canoe/kayak we are not to far behind the second tier (a bit more so in canoe/kayak, however the top of the medal table is mostly former communist nations whose best days at the Olympics are in the past. Considering the past success, the multitude of medals, and the potential for one athlete to win multiple medals I think all together that makes rowing and canoe/kayak good targets for specialization despite the dismal performance this year (on a side note, does anyone know if it is possible we can improve in the much canoe slalom?).
To your last question - we should. I don't know we don't add to the white-water portions, but - for flat water, yes, def. I do think part of the issue is a lot of turnover happened between london and Rio, those who stayed are old. (Van Koverdan), and well let's be honest, de Jong choked. But he ain't a spring chicken in the sport either. I want to say it's just a fluke (please be a fluke). They also nixed a race class, so i wonder if that messed up training for some people.
I think that we should develop a hierarchy of sports based on number of potential medals, recent success, historical success, and number of female participants to determine what gets funding. Bonus funding should then be provided for good results.
I would like to see the most money go to athletics, swimming, rowing, and canoe kayak. Not as sure with a second tier of funding but I would say it should include diving and maybe wrestling.
That's why i said, while the HP-CEO is expecting the funding to be cut for rowing, if it were me, I would actually give them more money. accept it was a dud, do some investigation of what went wrong (and WHY Jennerich/Obee didn't want to be a part of them, something is there) . and then re-develop the programme.
1:Sculls first - focusing on that, makes a charge at germany.
2: depth in the 8 and the 4. the USA have been dominate at 8s for almost 12 years now. part of it is the college/Princeton bubble, but Canada isn't that far off.
We are focusing on athletics but I noticed we either did sprints, or distance, nothing too much in the middle distances (for either sex), so I'd also put money into that.
Wrestling has been well funded. I actually think, Canada's won a medal in it in every games since ... wow. 1992. yes. okay. since 1992, Canada has won at least 1 medal in the sport. (and actually since 2000, has won a Gold every other games, 2000, 2008, 2012.)
Diving... is weird. China's been such a powerhouse (moreso after 1996). putting too much into the programme only guarantees you 6 medals. (springboard/platform syncro, springboard/platform men's bronze, and springboard/platform women's bronze). It's very rare for china to not do well - While that is 6 medals more.....
I would be targeting Gymnastics
big time in my opinion. A lot of countries that used to be powerhouses aren't doing that well (Ukraine, Romania). the USA only started coming into power from 1996 had a major dip, and when they created the Women's National Development programme and basically trained everyone at the Karoyli ranch, that's when their dominance really took off - that and they seem to train powerful gymnasts and not waifs.).
I'd also put a touch more into Equestrian (both Jumping and 3 day eventing). that's potential 4 medals a side there. And archery.
so yeah these would be my sports to concentrate on.
Major Emphasis:
Swimming, Athletics, Rowing/Canoe/Kayak, Cycling, Wrestling
Secondary Focus:
Gymnastics, Archery, Diving, Equestrian
Third focus.
team sports. <<--- i think that is key as well to also help the fitness portions in schools and all. if all our national programmes on the team level are good - then it filters down to grassroots and school, and that is key.
) because they probably could have gotten bronze this year. They could (and would have imo) beat Serbia.
Games funding is Games funding, but if it was summer we could have another velodrome , etc. 
