Gold Medal Pathway: A call for a National Discussion in Canada about NCAA and University Ski Racing

Posted on June 1, 2015 by Ken Read

It’s an impressive record.

This past winter, Canadian alpine ski racers made history: becoming the first NCAA alpine ski racers to win a World Championship medal (silver in the Nations Team Event) while registered full-time at school. This was the icing on the cake for an impressive showing by Canadian athletes:  gold and other podiums in the NCAA Finals, the second best represented nation at those Finals (10 athletes), wins and multiple podiums on the Nor-Am Tour, top 30 results in World Cup and World Championship GS and Slalom – and Canadian NCAA alumnus also made their presence known.

It’s a new trend: a growing number of Canadians who still believe in the dream and are choosing a new pathway to ski racing excellence.

NCAA ski racing has been around for many years and Canadians have been prominent contributors to the success of the Carnivals (east) and Invitationals (west). But few have chosen to blend academia with high performance – to aim for the World Cup.

In the 1970’s, the Irwin brothers (Mike & Bill) moved from the Alberta Ski Team to Montana State and then up to the Canadian World Cup squad with respectable results (I would define a 15th in Crans-Montana as pretty damn good). Patrick Biggs transitioned from the Canadian Development Team to Dartmouth College followed by a return to the Canadian World Cup squad in 2005 and a memorable 10th place in his first World Cup slalom (Chamonix!) follow by multiple World Cup top 30’s.

Four years ago, Trevor Philp took a revolutionary step, choosing the University of Denver over a full-time focus on the Canadian Development Team. One year later, Philp was All-American and also a fully qualified member of the Canadian World Cup squad. Since, he has combined the rigor of pursuing a university degree with a modified program within the Canadian Alpine Ski Team. His success has opened the door to what could be possible.

But the NCAA pathway is still ‘ad hoc’ for most Canadians, with tremendous gaps imposed by NCAA regulations of coach contact, time on snow, access to the best skis and service – which make the choice only for the most determined athlete.

The USSA opened a debate this past winter to reach out to the NCAA coaching community, to examine if NCAA racing was a viable part of the athlete pathway, and if so, how to blend it into US Ski Team development strategies. A fulsome, sometimes testy, but constructive dialogue simmered behind the racing scene throughout the winter. The outcome, announced this spring by USSA CEO Tiger Shaw, is the National University Team, a two-year pilot project to targeted to fill the identified gaps for the 6 named athletes, managed by Peter Lang (formerly of Team America) who will also attend NCAA races both east and west to work closely with the NCAA coaches.

In a sport where the average age keeps rising, every effort needs to be undertaken to retain athletes. To be patient. To give them time to mature physically and emotionally, to gain the critical experience necessary to leap the hurdle into the World Cup. It is also time for Canadian sport to recognize that high performance programs must consider the development of the whole athlete: move beyond a single-minded obsession with podiums, to embrace that there is both social responsibility and also great opportunity to combine education with sport.

It is time to start a national dialogue – to open the doors to Canadian ski racing policy and programming – to include parents, athletes and sport leaders who have experience with NCAA, all who can help frame the discussion.

To be clear, this can be one part of the “Canadian Gold Medal Pathway”. The traditional progression from ski club to Provincial Ski Team to the National Development Group will always be the solid core of our athlete pathway. But with retention of athletes now becoming critical in their junior years and beyond – we need to examine every strategy available.

Fortunately, there has been an enlightened core of coaches working with many Provincial Ski Teams across Canada who see the benefit of supporting NCAA athletes from their region. They include them in off-snow training and on-snow camps to help fill the training gap, while in return gain pace, maturity and leadership to guide younger athletes. Several PSO’s have had such programs in place for many years.

But we, as a ski nation, have no policy. We have no strategy. We have no goals. Our system lacks understanding of what the gaps are and how to effectively bridge them. We’re just “winging it” …. just imagine the potential if we marshaled the talent that is captured within the NCAA crowd!

Next year will see at least a dozen or more Canadians move into NCAA racing. A very healthy chunk of our best ski racers are housed in the NCAA system and providing the backbone to Canadian ski racing through their presence on the Nor-Am Tour.

The US Ski Team took the time to listen to their community, observe shifts in age of success on the World Cup, consider retention strategies to keep athletes racing – and is giving it a “college try”.

Can Canada afford not to listen? Our neighbors did. We don’t have the luxury of an endless well of talent. We have precious few talented athletes with the raw potential to aim for international podiums. So we should be fighting hard to keep every one! We should be finding ways to be patient to allow our athletes to mature well past the junior ranks to determine if they truly have this potential.

Let’s get a National debate going. Let’s show faith in our athletes – and in their talent. Our sport system may be pleasantly surprised how much support and new resources might emerge with an open, inclusive and respectful dialogue.

Discussion Points:

  • How a National Team/Provincial Team can support NCAA athletes with dryland and summer on-snow programs
  • Access to elite ski equipment
  • Myth busting: contrary to what some believe, there are no ski techs on NCAA …
  • Focus on quality to develop the bridge between NCAA, Nor-Am and on to World Cup
  • How do we get key North American races on great competition slopes?
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Where, oh where, has the corporate memory gone?

Posted on May 26, 2015 by Ken Read

A recent media release boldly announced a current member of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team as “the most decorated Canadian Alpine ski racer of all-time”.

There’s no question this athlete is very successful with great accomplishments and a respected leader of the team.

But let’s take a close look at the record of Nancy Greene.

Sure, it’s been a quite a while since Nancy thrilled Canadians with her Olympic and World Cup wins, but it was not all that long ago her record was acknowledged by being named Canadian Female Athlete of the 20th century (December, 1999). And it isn’t as if she’s been out of the news – Senator Greene-Raine – is known as a hard-working, respected member of the Senate.

Nancy hasn’t held the record of most World Cup podiums for quite some time. That’s a title that was held until very recently by Steve Podborski at 20. But she does hold the benchmark for most World Cup wins (13), most Olympic medals (2) and most overall World Cup titles (2). In fact, she’s the only Canadian to win an overall title.

Defining who is “most decorated” is a subjective debate.

But I’ll go with Nancy’s record. I bet the entire alpine ski racing community would as well.

Tiger, in my books, you are still the “most decorated”.

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Reflections: Hafjell2015 Alpine Ski World Junior Championship

Posted on March 14, 2015 by Ken Read

00 - Hafjell2015

As competition wrapped up on the sun-bathed slopes of Hafjell, the athletes and coaches of Team Norway celebrated by hoisting the Marc Hodler Trophy which recognizes the most successful team at the Junior Championships. It was an exclamation point for the host nation after seven days of competition on great slopes amongst the best junior athletes in the alpine ski world.

Key highlights for this 27th edition of the Championship were:

  • a record 49 nations participated:
  • Henrik Kristoffersen re-wrote the record book to become the most successful junior athlete with 6 Championship titles, surpassing the soon-retiring Austrian great Benni Raich.
  • The World Juniors hosted an exciting Nations Team Event, won by Norway over Austria, continuing the push towards acceptance of this new event on the Olympic Program
  • Norway recaptured the Marc Hodler Trophy, the “Nations Cup” of the World Juniors. In an exciting final day of competition, Switzerland held a narrow 5-point lead over Norway, but a show of power in both downhills (1-2-10 for the ladies; 2-4-6 in the men) pushed the Norges Skiforbund to a decisive 21-point victory. This marked the fourth time in six years Norway has taken home the overall championship which is scored off top ten results.

The Olympic legacy of 1994 is alive and well. In the 21 years since the Lillehammer Games, Hafjell (technical events) and Kvitfjell (speed events) continue to provide vibrant contribution to the Norwegian Ski Federation.

From an events perspective, Kvitfjell has become a fixture on the men’s World Cup Tour, hosting annual downhill and superG races. Hafjell has hosted World Cup events and the World Cup Final and will be the host alpine skiing venue for the 2016 Youth Olympics.

The two mountain resorts were named National Training Centres following the 1994 Games, with Hafjell established as the National Technical Training Centre (slalom and giant slalom) and Kvitfjell the National Speed Training Centre (downhill and superG).

But Hafjell has gone a step further.

As Kvitfjell is more remote (a good 50-minute drive north and with limited local accommodation) and the track has some limitations for athlete development since it is a World Cup level, Hafjell also included a speed track in the scope of their training options, which offers an annual “speed week” for up-and-coming youngsters in the Norwegian alpine system. Race hill familiarity was clearly evident in the downhill which closed out the Championships – successful leveraging home court advantage for the host nation – and pragmatic planning which converted the Team Title.

Twenty years out from 1994, the organizers knew Hafjell was due for an upgrade. These Championships saw a widening of the race tracks to permit greater ease for safety setup, broader scope for racing and training and a modest shift from the “old” Olympic race venues to more modern race hills (remember, 1994 was the “pre-shaped ski era”) that are less intrusive to the public slopes and offer quick turnaround for higher capacity to train.

Off-slope, the combination of hosting the World Juniors and Youth Olympics facilitated an investment from the Norwegian government and Olympic Committee in technology to upgrade timing and communications systems.

I’ve long admired the deep sport culture of Norway. It’s a society of doers – getting out to engage in sport of all kinds. I feel a sense of kinship with the alpine ski community of the country, as the central passion of Norwegians is for another sport (their cross-country heroes). Alpine skiing is important to them, but more a sport of widespread participation (like Canada). But they appreciate their ski racing legends and champions.

I have a profound respect for people who put athletes first – who think about every level of progression from the ski club to the elite, and work tirelessly with the sport experts on the snow to meet the needs of sport, built on a foundation of inspiring excellence.

So what stood out for me at this week in Hafjell, was this manifestation of sport culture: a thoughtful blend of investment for today that would reap the benefits well into the future for athletes. Dag Winquist (Race Chair) and his team focused on providing excellent racing venues. His on-hill team was led by experienced Chiefs Peter Gerdol (men) and Rolle Johanson (ladies) who work daily within the training environment of the National Centre and understand the ongoing needs to smoothly operate the venue to the benefit of high level competition and the athlete development pathway. The short-term needs of hosting an event did not compromise or overshadow the long-term support for the next generation of Norwegian athletes. This team spoke often about how important the Championship and Youth Olympics were in revitalising the resort and their planning for the future. They intend to keep Hafjell an alpine ski racing factory: a vibrant site for the development of future Norwegian athletes from all over their country for decades to come – with great training slopes in all events, frequent competitions and all at reasonable cost.

Heya Norge! Tusen takk. Job well done. Your custodianship of the Junior Championships has seen our sport move forward.

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Celebrating the Hahnenkamm: Memories of Kitzbühel

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Ken Read

It started as an afternoon hike.

Our planned day of training on the Hintertux glacier had been rained out. Nine o’clock that September morning the rain was teeming down. There was no point in attempting skiing. So what to do?

Steve Podborski and I decided to make the most of the situation and not waste the day. Kitzbühel was just around the corner, only a 90-minute drive away. The puzzle of this, the most famous and testing of downhills had eluded us. We were now into our seventh season on the World Cup and between us the best we’d accomplished was a mere 8th place. Perhaps a closer inspection – a hike up the Streif – might familiarize us a little better to the nuances of the challenge.

That afternoon hike proved to be time well spent in solving the riddle of the ultimate test on snow.

Kitzbühel is ski racing. The name stirs images of thrill and disaster. In the world of the “White Circus” no downhill track is more storied. This 900-year old Tyrolean village is to ski racing, what Wimbledon is to tennis, Henley to rowing or St. Andrews to golf.

The Hahnenkamm-berg rises sharply out of the south edge of the village. Distinctive red cliffs cap the peak from which it derives its’ name – the rooster’s comb or Hahnenkamm. Snaking down the north-facing flank is the “Strief”, virtually unchanged since 1930, which drops into the natural giant amphitheatre that forms the finish of the downhill and easily hosts raucous crowds that exceed 100,000.

At a mere 860 vertical metres, it isn’t the highest downhill. And it certainly is not a very good recreational ski run. But no other race track in the world offers such a complete test. The Streif measures every aspect of ski racing skill. This challenge draws the world’s best who have gathered once again this week to test their limits.

Kitzbühel is tradition. A classic downhill, with two sections of the track are far narrower that the recommended 30 metre minimum width – a remnant of earlier days of ski racing. The town treasures its’ connection to sport, honouring the race and the mountain in a museum in the top terminal of the Hahnenkamm-bahn. Gondolas of the lift are emblazoned with names of Hahnenkamm champions.

Kitzbühel is intimidation. Out of the start, you face the toughest 35 seconds anywhere. An intense plunge that draws you through names that have joined the lore of the sport – the precipitous “Mausfalle” (mousetrap) followed by a sharp compression and roundhouse turn into the convex “Steilhang” (steep wall) before scooting out onto the Bruckenshuss, a narrow cattrack for 15 seconds of calm respite. Then the “Alte Schneise” (old cut) rudely shakes you out of any reverie and thrusts you through the jumps and narrow twisting turns of the “Seidlalm” and “Larchenhang” (Larch Wall). Another short flat, even a slight uphill section lulls the senses before all hell breaks loose. A quick “S Turn” sets up the “Hausebergkante” (Hauseberg Jump) and the remaining 40 seconds are nothing more than a blur as rote reaction carries you through jumps, compressions, a 70% sidehill and into the “Zielschuss” with speeds that exceed 150kph.

And please note: I use the term “intimidation”, not fear. Yes, there are the normal butterflies of competition and anticipation of a profound athletic test. But no one at the start is afraid – such athletes who harbour fears are long gone from the sport. The World Cup is not for the faint of heart – the fraternity of speed pilots revel in the challenge and excitement.

Kitzbühel is pacing. Each challenging section, which presents the most intense ski racing to be found anywhere in the world, it’s easy to let down your guard and relax. Which can be the crucial mistake. Any distraction only results in disaster. It takes just under 2 minutes to complete the full decent from peak to valley. To win requires complete focus, from start to finish.

Kitzbühel is the highlight of the season. Even the Olympics and World Championships pale against the pure athletic challenge. This is the unofficial World Championship of downhill racing. Ask any ski racer from around the globe what downhill is the toughest. Without exception, the Strief on the Hahnenkamm at Kitzbühel is the choice.

Tradition, history, location, speed and a sense of impending disaster can certainly draw a crowd. The Streif is the ultimate test. The most extreme ski racing you could find anywhere. Not a death defying challenge or a foolish plunge towards disaster, Kitzbühel simply pushes the athlete to the limit, both physically and mentally.

I’m proud to wear the mountain chamois pin, as a winner of the Hahnenkamm. It’s a badge that states one day in January 1980 it all came together. The moment of convergence: years of training, the experience of so many coaches imparted over a career, the relentless effort of sport administrators and countless hours invested by volunteers – coupled with respect for the mountain. All this combined with the understanding that success in downhill comes with the confidence to relax and let the skis do the work – to flow with the mountain.

On that day, the Streif was easy. The Hahnenkamm became a life-long friend.

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The Lauberhorn: The Classic Season Opens

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Ken Read

This week the FIS Alpine World Cup returns to Wengen, Switzerland for the 85th running of the famous Lauberhorn-rennen.

Three sentinels of the Bernese Oberland – the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau – stand silent guard over the scene, their stony faces providing a spectacular backdrop. Nestled some 1,000 metres below, the Lauberhorn peak would be considered a towering mountain in many countries. But in this part of Switzerland, anything below 3,000 metres is considered a foothill.

The Swiss have worked this land for centuries. Each summer, herds of cows are moved to the grassy slopes of the high mountains. Herders’ huts dot the alpine landscape. This pastoral beauty and stunning backdrop first drew British tourists at the turn of the century. As alpine skiing grew in popularity, the open slopes caught the attention of the Ski Club of Great Britain, turning Wengen into a wintersport mecca.

Since 1930, the Lauberhorn Ski-rennen of Wengen has been a fixture on the international ski racing calendar. Not the oldest of the ‘classics’ – an honour is reserved for the Arlberg-Kandahar which was first held in 1928, nor considered the most challenging – a coveted title of Kitzbühel’s Hahnenkamm.

The Lauberhorn is tradition. It is the longest running race of its kind: 85 continuous years. Unlike their alpine counterparts the Swiss saw no reason to suspend this annual test of ski racing skill during the war years between 1939 and 1945.

What really sets the Lauberhorn apart from its peers is the track. The ‘classic’ designation provides an exemption from usual downhill regulations, Kitzbühel being the only other racetrack in the world with such a privilege. Sections like the Hundschopf (dog’s ears) a – a 5-metre wide passage between two rock pinnacles and Wasserstation – a section where the course actually goes through a tunnel under the famous cog-railway of the Jungfrau Region, are truly unique.

It is also the longest downhill of its kind, winding nearly 4.5 km. over a vertical drop of 1,028 metres. The course record is still 2:24.23, set by Italian veteran Kristian Ghedina in 1997. A mark that is some 25+ seconds longer than the average World Cup downhill.

During the 1950’s and 60’s the Lauberhorn was the most prestigious international ski race. The entire ski racing elite gathered for this formidable test of skill and endurance. This was ski racing’s equivalent of the ironman.

My first memories of Wengen date from the mid-1970’s. The length of the course was a test of endurance and concentration. When the average downhill was complete at the 2-minute mark, another 30+ seconds of racing loomed ahead – the Osterreicherloch (Austrian Hole), Wegscheide) and Zeil-S – some of the toughest skiing on the run..

Spectacular crashes have left an enduring legacy, with names on the track – the Minch Kante, named for Swiss downhiller Joos Minch; Canadian Corner, in honour of Dave Irwin’s spectacular exit in 1975; and the Österreicher Loch (Austrian Hole), which claimed four top Austrian downhillers including Toni Sailer in 1954. Sadly, this legacy is also marred by tragedy. In 1991, Austrian rookie Gernot Reinstadler was killed in the final schuss of Inner-Wengen.

Weather is really the primary nemesis of the Lauberhorn. In 47 years on the World Cup Tour, the race has been cancelled, moved or lowered to the reserve start nearly a third of the time. The problem lies with the two reasons that drew interest to Wengen in the first place. The spectacular mountains act as a scoop for bad weather, leaving the region highly susceptible to the föhn, Europe’s notorious bad-weather wind. The open slopes are a disaster when cloud, wind or fog descends, leaving visibility marginal. But even a partial Lauberhorn is still a classic test.

The Lauberhorn is usually held either one week before or after the Hahnenkamm – a profound contrast from racing on the edge (Kitzbühel) to testing the subtleties of downhill ski racing (Wengen). Pacing is what sets the Lauberhorn downhill apart from all others. Moving from high-speed wide-open sections (up to 160 kph on the Hanegg-schuss!) to narrow, agonizingly slow passages.

This is a downhill that will always hold a special spot in my heart. I was a rookie when Franz Klammer blitzed the course record by 34 seconds. The champions list reads like a who’s who of ski racing – Killy, Schranz, Girardelli, Mueller, Walchhofer, Eberharder, Miller to name but a few of the most prominent on the downhill podium.

Canadians have played a role in the Lauberhorn. Maybe not as prominent as Kitzbühel’s Hahnenkamm, but enough to have our name on the track and a special section in the Lauberhorn web site. From Jim Hunter’s bronze in 1976 through to a silver by Manny Osbourne-Paradis in 2010, Canadians have been on the podium five times.

Can we make it six?

The Lauberhorn web site: http://www.lauberhorn.ch/

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Where is the line between performance advantages and doping?

Posted on April 17, 2014 by Ken Read

We see a remarkable performance in sport, but are left with a nagging doubts.

Mere weeks ago, we marveled at the rise of a nation who had invested heavily in their sport infrastructure and athletes to leverage hosting the Games – and to emerge in the final days to lead in gold and total medals. Another nation demonstrated blanket domination of one sport.

And now suspicions emerge about the moral edge. No, it is not cheating in the literal sense, but when enormous human, technical and financial resources are invested based on the outcomes of the Games, is it fair? Is it ethical? Have we lost our way?

All too often, when it appears to be unbelievable, it is.

Thank you to Matthew Beaudin and Velonews for the courage to speak out.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/04/analysis/magazine-excerpt-spirit-letter_324610

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Racing downhill has been my lifelong passion. From my earliest memories on snow, I distinctly recall the adrenaline from speed.

My Dad recounted the story hundreds of times to his friends of a young 5-year old schussing the slopes to whoops’ of delight. Nothing was more fun than challenging a hill and trying to figure out the fastest way to the bottom.

If anything, the real task as I developed as a ski racer was to harness this unbridled enthusiasm. To move from pure passion to reasoned enjoyment. To learn the discipline of stopping in the finish and reflect thoroughly on a just completed run – examining the flaws and breakthroughs – before releasing the tap to savour the thrill of a wild run down the mountain.

From my early days learning the craft of downhill racing with my coach Mike Wiegele on the slopes of Lake Louise, to stepping up to challenge The Streif at Kitzbuhel, it was never a question of managing fear, or even nervousness.

Think of it this way: take young men, give them a secure, totally prepared track on some of the wildest mountains you can find and tell them to let loose. What on earth could be better? It’s like creating the best thrill-seeking ride and giving you the controls. How could you not think this is the greatest sport on earth?

So to hear over and over again about “nervousness” governing how to negotiate a downhill is just not reality of the sport for guys. We love downhill. The moment the run is complete, we want to get right back up there and do it again.

The Hahnenkamm at Kitzbuhel is not “fearsome”. Intimidating, yes. But not scary. Putting your neck out on the edge to try to win at Kitzbuhel pushes boundaries. This brings the edginess of competition. But never confuse butterflies with fear.

Every athlete leaving the start gate at Kitz wants to be there. This is the crowning achievement of our sport. This is our Super Bowl. We know taking risks to win is part of the equation. Knowing when and where to push the limit.

But this is why we do it. This is why we are in the Game. This is why we keep coming back year after year, run after run. We love it. We revel in it. The thrill of speed pushes us to be better, work harder and dig deep. It’s a small club of athletes that can say they have raced The Streif. We are proud of our fraternity. Winners or just having raced, we share an intimate thrill of challenging the toughest downhill in the world.

But nervous about racing downhill?

Please. Never.

______________________________________

“Talent is a precious gift. Treat it with respect”.

Ken Read

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Ken Read | Leave a comment

The Defenders

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Ken Read

Outrageous. Impossible. Presumptuous.

Plenty of colourful adjectives were used to describe Canada’s ambitious goal to top the medal ranking in Vancouver. But no one can argue the outcome. We did own the podium. Fourteen gold medals: a Winter Games record.

Four years on, what is the prognosis for an encore? Looking to Sochi, Team Canada returns to the Olympics with a powerhouse contingent, including world champions in eight sports and medal potential in virtually every Olympic event. A potent combination of depth and newcomers fuelled by sustained funding from Own The Podium (OTP).

There certainly will still be plenty to cheer about. Core Canadian strength remains in freestyle skiing, short track speed skating, curling, hockey, bobsleigh and figure skating. Get used to the laid-back attitudes in the “new-school” events of slopestyle and half pipe where Canadians dominate. And excitement will thrive in cross country, skicross, alpine and luge.

It’s been a spectacular buildup to Sochi. Mikael Kingsbury has won virtually every freestyle moguls event for three seasons. Kallie Humphries has ruled as queen of the bobsleigh track, taking both World Cup and world championship titles. Charles Hamelin continues to dominate in short track speed skating. With each world championship title, Patrick Chan raises the performance bar with world-record point totals. Maelle Ricker and Dominique Maltais have owned women’s snowboardcross.

A crowd of new stars is poised to burst onto the Olympic scene, including reigning world champions Rosalind Groenewoud, (fresh off knee surgery in freestyle slopestyle), Mark McMorris (snowboard slopestyle) and Spencer O’Brien (women’s snowboard slopestyle).

So what has powered Canadian performance post-2010, when conventional wisdom suggests the previous host nation slumps? Sustained funding has been the difference. A total even higher than the well-publicized investment leading into 2010 — $5 million more — bringing the four-year total invested into our medal potential athletes to more than $90 million.

In the post-home Games environment, this investment has enabled Canadian winter sport to keep most of the world-class coaches who guided teams. Experts who work at Canadian Sport Institutes, including physiotherapists and strength and conditioning trainers, remain in place.

And the system has been nimble, able to inject capital quickly when the International Olympic Committee made the single largest addition to the Winter Games program in 2011 (adding 11 new events). Both the Canadian Olympic Committee and Own The Podium stepped up with millions in new dollars for the fledgling new sports that rushed to find coaches and more structured team training from a free-wheeling individual environment.

The goal was to maintain the edge, keep momentum alive. Canadian results since 2010 confirm the wave of podium-potential athletes wearing the Maple Leaf remained robust.

The original vision of Own The Podium was to bring together Canada’s fragmented sport system around one goal: to top the medal tally. Five years of strenuous effort to collaborate produced an ironic, but enthusiastically accepted side benefit: Canada did indeed top the Olympic rankings with 14 gold medals. But who will argue with that outcome?

A University of Alberta study following 2010 confirmed 94 per cent of Canadians felt proud when a Canadian athlete won gold, 84 per cent saw the medal count as important for Canada’s standing in the world and 80.9 per cent supported the Own The Podium investment in our Olympic and Paralympic athletes. No wonder the federal government deemed support for Canadian athletes important, thus increasing the financial investment in the budget of March 1, 2010.

For the first time, as a nation, we committed to our athletes. A vision for excellence was set. Clear goals established. An accountability framework developed and the players committed to a mission to win more medals than any other nation. We embraced excellence. We prepared like athletes.

A quick review of history helps explain where the goal to aim for No.1 came from. In the modern era of the Games, Canada has been steadily moving up the ranks in winter sport and, at the time Vancouver was awarded the right to host the 2010 Olympics, the nation was ranked fifth with 17 medals won in 2002 Salt Lake City. At Turin that number grew to 24 medals. The ongoing argument from sport was how poorly funded our sport programs were in relation to other nations.

With the focus of a home Games, the 13 winter sport organizations approached both funding agencies, and the Olympic and Paralympic leadership, to develop a plan to lift Canadian sport. With the entire leadership in the room on Feb. 3, 2004, an informal poll for potential medals won and cost to do so resulted in a belief we could, as a nation, aim to be No. 1. Own The Podium was born.

OTP lifted our national team programs, investing in new coaches, more training opportunities in better locations, support to more athletes at the elite level and research into ways and means to find precious hundredths where the difference between a medal and no medal is often measured in the smallest ways. It was a game-changer.

It also meant the bar was raised. And many questioned if this was appropriate. Four years ago, the uninformed asked about the “new assertive attitude” in Canadian sport, where “showing up” was no longer acceptable. Was this appropriate? Was it Canadian?

What bull. Canadian athletes have always wanted to win. Don’t think it was anything less than gold for Wayne Gretzky in Salt Lake City in 2002, or for freestyler Jean-Luc Brassard in 1994 or for slalom ace Nancy Greene in 1968. The change that OTP funding brought was resources — sustained podium-potential funding. Finally, we put athletes first in Games preparation.

But all is not rosy in 2014.

Moving to an offshore Olympic and Paralympic environment brings new hurdles. Gone are all those precious extra accreditations for support staff, easier and more frequent training at venues, and familiarity with the home environment. The number of eyes on the athletes is reduced, the hands to assist with everything from medical to equipment preparation are fewer. Team logistics are more complicated.

The new events bring new excitement, but also stress. Snowboard and Freestyle doubled in size overnight, putting enormous pressure on the administrative staff as they scrambled to add coaches, sport service providers and technicians to support two new teams of athletes.

And behind the façade of podium results is an enormous drop-off of private sector funding. An estimated $9 million per year dropped out of the system. With OTP funding targeted to medal-potential athletes, the burden of budget-slashing has fallen on development programs, putting future performance at risk. The result is that our talent pipeline is dwindling to a trickle.

A longer-term concern is the lack of investment into future medal contenders. OTP funding ensures medal-potential athletes are well-financed. But up-and-comers moving from the provincial ranks into national teams are finding funding and sponsorship to be ever more scarce, with bills now running to $30,000 per year, just to stay in the game. We may not see the impact of this diminished support in Sochi, but many are sounding a warning that Canada’s performance may dip dramatically at the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea.

The five-year lead-up to the 2010 Games was a steep learning curve for all of Canada’s winter sport leaders. Many embraced the change and the results were evident in Vancouver. Others stuck to old methodology and learned the hard way that not only has sport changed, Canada changed. Planning was ruthless. The mantra was “examine every opportunity.” The delivery was expected to be seamless. There were to be no surprises. Every Canadian athlete was expected to move to the line, start gate or game prepared, confident and with every single aspect of training and competition considered.

This isn’t something new in sport. But to raise the bar takes time, money and commitment. It wasn’t a change in will to win. Canadian sport simply shifted to a deliberate approach to success.

As we head into Sochi, the change even from the run-up to Vancouver is very real. The Canadian Olympic Committee (responsible for all Games preparation and the Games Mission) and OTP (oversight for high-performance planning and technical evaluation of sports) are committed to a seamless approach to the Games. Every targeted sport has detailed high-performance plans embedded within their strategic plan, which is challenged by a panel of experts and updated annually. Athletes should believe every detail is covered, every contingency considered, all the necessary people are in place to provide support.

The trick is to translate world championship performance to Olympic medals. World championships are sprinkled throughout the winter world at venues chosen by international sport federations. The Games are held in one city over a 17-day period and run by an Olympic Organizing Committee that is supervised by the International Olympic Committee which controls accreditation, security, transportation, venue development — seamlessness becomes the critical key.

So can Canada repeat in Sochi? The bare-knuckle assessment would be 28 Olympic medals. This certainly won’t win the total medal tally, but the only real measure the world uses is the IOC ranking list — by gold medal — and this is certainly achievable.

Does it really matter? To thousands of aspiring future Olympians and Paralympians right across our country who pin their dreams on a robust Canadian sport system, our Games performance is critical. To the athletes who represent us in Sochi, they believe in setting goals and being accountable for the investment in their dream. Most of these athletes work daily under the radar of mainstream media who gather at the Games to shine the spotlight on the noble Olympian, missing the cut and thrust of real sport in Canada. Owning the podium is as important for every member of the Canadian team bound for Sochi.

A clear vision to be a leader in winter sport demands we aim for No. 1. We are a winter nation and we have depth, passion and expertise to lift our athletes to the podium.

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