Not much was expected of the American men's gymnastics team. Absent their two top performers due to injury, they were supposed to get crushed by the Chinese, Japanese, and two or three other countries.
Yet as seems to so often happen, the Americans rose to the challenge on Monday night and shocked everyone by claiming a bronze. Each competitor stepped up and nailed his routine. No nerves. No letdown.
The Chinese, meanwhile, were under huge pressure to win at home in arguably the most important medal to the locals after table tennis. Failure would be unacceptable. To their credit, they responded brilliantly and matched or exceeded every hope. Not only did they win gold, but they did it in spectacular and flawless fashion.
On the flip side, we have more than a few Canadian athletes who've posted disappointing performances, far below their best outcome, at these Olympics. Whether the magnitude of the event or whatever, instead of coming up big when they needed to, they shrunk in the spotlight. Yet afterwards, athlete after athlete mentions that they're happy with their effort and are enjoying the Olympic experience.
Question is, are the Americans and Chinese doing well simply because of the massive dollars spent on training, or is it an attitude thing? Are their results simply bought, or does the expectation that they're in Beijing to win -- or at least challenge for a medal in every event rather than just experience the Games -- make the biggest difference? This after all isn't house league, it's world-class competition.
If the Canadian public demanded medals rather than merely good efforts, would we be seeing better results or will nothing ever change until funding matches the top countries?
Honestly, there's no doubt the latter is a gigantic factor. But it's hard not to think the former might not be a significant part of the equation, too.
-- Scott
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