CANADA
Games
|
Gold
|
Silver
|
Bronze
|
Total
|
92 -
Barcelona
|
7
|
4
|
7
|
18
|
98 –
Atlanta
|
3
|
11
|
8
|
22
|
00 –
Sydney
|
3
|
3
|
8
|
14
|
04 –
Athens
|
3
|
6
|
3
|
12
|
08 –
Beijing
|
3
|
9
|
6
|
18
|
12 – London*
|
0
|
2
|
5
|
7
|
* As of Day 6: Canada has medaled twice in synchronized
diving (3 m spring board and 10 m), judo, weight lifting, silver medals in the men's and women's eight, and a bronze in the pool (100 M freestyle).
The team went to London 2012 with a projected total of 22 medals, which according to commentators is not unreasonable given that Canadian athletes have gotten more funding and attention since we found out Vancouver would be hosting the 2010 winter games.
Without the pressure of having the world on your home turf, I think Canadians are generally content to hang out around the middle of the pack. We know we can't compete with the likes of Team USA or China. Each country had 19 medals on day 3 with China leading in the gold medal count (10). And, to be honest, we're not pushing our athletes to challenge those superhuman automatons. We cheer on our athletes to "do their best." We're genuinely pleased when they come home with a silver (Gasp! That's almost gold!! ) or bronze medal. We are also guilty of salivating at what might have been in an alternative reality. Missy Franklin has Canadian parents, dual citizenship, and loves Nova Scotia. She's basically on Team Canada. right?
I wonder what it must be like to be an athlete from Team Great Britain at these games. Surely, the crushing pressure to perform must be unbearable. How does a much-hyped athlete like Victoria Pendleton, for example, cope with disqualification?! And amid: confusion (from viewers in the New World mostly) about what went on during the Opening Ceremony as well as the organizational debacle of empty seats, the Brits don't need something else to grip over. This is how the Brits historically and currently sit:
GREAT BRITAIN
Games
|
Gold
|
Silver
|
Bronze
|
Total
|
92 -
Barcelona
|
5
|
3
|
12
|
20
|
98 –
Atlanta
|
1
|
8
|
6
|
15
|
00 –
Sydney
|
11
|
10
|
7
|
28
|
04 –
Athens
|
9
|
9
|
12
|
30
|
08 –
Beijing
|
19
|
13
|
15
|
47
|
12 – London*
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
*On day 3 (when I started this post), Team GB has medalled in the pool (Rebecca Addlinton, bronze in the 200 m freestyle), in the road race( Lizzie Armitstead, silver), men's team gymnastics (bronze), and equestrian (silver, team that included Zara Phillips). Now day 6, the medal count has erupted to 16 with FIVE gold medals!! Sir Chris Hoy claimed in FIFTH gold medal in the velodrome and road cyclist Mr. Sideburns (Bradley Wiggins) won the individual time trials on day 5!
There's no panic for Team GB ... yet. Though, sports commentators have noticed that the disparity in performance as compared to Beijing. The team still doesn't have a gold medal! And if we have learned anything about the British tendency/ nature to whinge about things, we should be able to see the wave of criticism about to crash into the shore. I can only this item of British pop culture (which is really how Canadians approach sport competition .... in every case except for the Stanley Cup finals between Vancouver and Boston...) at a moment like this:
You know which Brit is winning big at London 2012? Boris Johnson
@SloaneScholar1
I've been slow off the mark (sports pun there, har har) compared to my colleague, so the lack of gold medals for Team GB (previously alluded to) has been wiped away in 2-3 days of competition, standing at this moment at a glorious five. The first came from the Dickensian-named national hero Bradley Wiggins, who celebrated his victory by pursuing that other British national sport: "getting wasted."
Team GB boosters have scaled back their predictions of 70 medals somewhat, but on the whole the Brits seem on track for a great showing at the Games. The British media and public have since breathed an almost audible sigh of relief and can now get back to the usual hand-wringing about all manner of other issues. Will the weather hold up? The transport? Is London running too smoothly? Did Bumbling Boris scare the tourists all away with his talk of metropolitan chaos and thus utterly ruin businesses?
Canadians, meanwhile, as SloaneScholar1 noted, are pretty much content with a "respectable showing." Hey - Prince Harry visited Canada House ("everyone swoons")! What else does a nation need??
I believe that we still are basking in the reflected glory of Vancouver 2010 during which we *ahem* won more gold medals than ANY previous nation at a Winter Olympics (un-Canadian moment of boasting there). Not only that, but the final competition of the Games saw the famous men's ice hockey "golden goal" against the USA - the one moment that will live in the memory of Canadians of my generation. I was in the streets of Vancouver that day and it was, in a word, incredible.
To put it in perspective for the Brits: It would be like scoring a winning goal in extra time. On the last day of competition. To win a football gold medal. In Wembley Stadium. Against the Germans.
One truly wishes Team GB something approaching this ecstasy and a great remainder of the Games.
@idlehistorian
@SloaneScholar1
I've been slow off the mark (sports pun there, har har) compared to my colleague, so the lack of gold medals for Team GB (previously alluded to) has been wiped away in 2-3 days of competition, standing at this moment at a glorious five. The first came from the Dickensian-named national hero Bradley Wiggins, who celebrated his victory by pursuing that other British national sport: "getting wasted."
Team GB boosters have scaled back their predictions of 70 medals somewhat, but on the whole the Brits seem on track for a great showing at the Games. The British media and public have since breathed an almost audible sigh of relief and can now get back to the usual hand-wringing about all manner of other issues. Will the weather hold up? The transport? Is London running too smoothly? Did Bumbling Boris scare the tourists all away with his talk of metropolitan chaos and thus utterly ruin businesses?
Canadians, meanwhile, as SloaneScholar1 noted, are pretty much content with a "respectable showing." Hey - Prince Harry visited Canada House ("everyone swoons")! What else does a nation need??
I believe that we still are basking in the reflected glory of Vancouver 2010 during which we *ahem* won more gold medals than ANY previous nation at a Winter Olympics (un-Canadian moment of boasting there). Not only that, but the final competition of the Games saw the famous men's ice hockey "golden goal" against the USA - the one moment that will live in the memory of Canadians of my generation. I was in the streets of Vancouver that day and it was, in a word, incredible.
To put it in perspective for the Brits: It would be like scoring a winning goal in extra time. On the last day of competition. To win a football gold medal. In Wembley Stadium. Against the Germans.
One truly wishes Team GB something approaching this ecstasy and a great remainder of the Games.
@idlehistorian
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