Rio 2016 Olympic Update (Day 7)
Canadians are not necessarily disappointed after almost a week in the Olympics but they are not necessarily thrilled either.
There is little doubt that Canada is a winter sport nation as half of the year is spent in colder weather.
That is why Team Canada is usually among the top five in every Winter Olympics as they rack up those medals with the facilities and the weather to train those sports.
When it comes to the summer Olympics the same cannot be said as many of the Canadian athletes must move south in order to compete with the top athletes who get to train all year round in warm weather.
That advantage can really hurt Canadians when it comes to the Summer Olympics and as a result, they often fall short of being much of a factor when it comes to the medal standings.
Still, though the Canadians do have some fantastic athletes that can compete with the best in the world.
It just isn’t as many as their neighbours to the south who have that advantage of training all year round in at least the southern part of their country.
The Canadians have had success in the past winning a total of 44 medals in 1984 but since then they have hovered somewhere in between 10-20 medals every year.
It is not the greatest performance from a major country but it is understandable when thinking about the restrictions for summer athletes compared to some of the major countries.
There are athletes who will always help in that medal count as they all show up to compete and many can put themselves among the best in the world.
A trend in who those athletes are is beginning to form for Canada though and it is a bit unusual for the sports world.
For every country, the biggest stars and the most medals have always come from the men who often count among the biggest names throughout North America and who tend to win more medals, usually due to more support.
In the 2012 London Olympics half of the medals won by the Canadians came from the women including the only Gold Medal won by Rosie MacLennan.
So far this year the women are at it again as the ten medals won by Canada in the first week of the games has all come thanks to the women on Team Canada.
That includes two golds from the superstar of the Olympics Penny Oleksiak and a repeat gold performance from Rosie MacLennan.
Even before the Olympics began it was assumed that the women were going to lead the way for the team.
After all, the Canadian women qualified for rugby sevens, basketball, soccer and artistic gymnastics while the men had no team in any of these sports.
The women were poised to lead the way and so far they have as they continue to put up medal performances and continue to be the leaders of this team.
Some may say that it is largely due to the fact that the women have slightly less competition.
With many countries around the world not funding women’s sports even a fraction of how much they fund men’s it is assumed that countries like Canada would get the better training and better funding.
In a way that is correct but the fact is that Canadian women are taking their chance to prove that women can do great things.
In London, the most inspirational moment was a bronze medal from the women’s soccer team after being ref’d out of a gold medal appearance.
This year the rugby sevens team may take their place for now after taking the first medal in rugby sevens at the Olympics.
Meanwhile, the soccer team has moved on to the semi-finals as they will play for a medal while the women’s basketball team is in the quarter-finals.
In the pool, the women have taken more medals than years before with a new generation of Canadian swimmers taking their place in the history of the Olympics.
The women are dominating for the Canadians right now and that can only mean good things for Canadian sport.
This could be a decade where women in sports take over and inspire an entire generation of women to get active and close the gap between women’s and men’s sports.
The Canadian Story:
Wide Open Race
The Canadian Women’s Soccer Team are guaranteed to play for a medal once again and this year their biggest challenge is gone as Team USA was eliminated leaving a host of good teams, each with a chance at the gold
Another Medal in the Pool
Although Penny Oleksiak is the star of the pool for Canada there have been others who have come through including Emily Caldwell who took home a bronze to earn the sixth Canadian medal in the pool
Falling Short
There were high expectations for the first Canadian on the track as Brianne Theisen-Eaton was supposed to win a Heptathlon medal but after four events she sits in sixth place with a lot of room to make up
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Day 7 Medal Results: |
Day 8 Medal Events: |
| Archery Men’s Individual 1. Ku Bon-chan (KOR) 2. Jean-Charles Valladont (FRA) 3. Brady Ellison (USA) Athletics Cycling (Track) Equestrian Fencing Judo Rowing Shooting Swimming Tennis Trampoline Weightlifting |
Athletics Men’s 10,000m Men’s Discus Throw Men’s Long Jump Women’s 100m Women’s Heptathlon Boxing Cycling (Track) Fencing Rowing Shooting Swimming Tennis Trampoline Weightlifting |
The Sport Addiction 