Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Update (Day 14)
A day after the women took centre stage in hockey the ladies’ figure skating took centre stage and brought up an interesting conversation at the games.
It is a constant in the world today as the equality between men and women has always been a major topic of debate.
Sports have always been one of the more interesting battlegrounds for that debate as there are distinct differences in terms of physicality and athleticism.
Leaving the differences aside there is a wide belief that the opportunity for both genders should be equal.
That has been a big part of the Olympics over the last decade as the demand for that equality has grown.
For many decades the Olympics were heavily in favour of male sports with most sports being only male and a few featuring female athletes.
The main reasoning for most of that difference was not necessarily a policy against women but rather a response to the lack of investment in women’s sports.
It has only been recently that sports, in general, have been seen as an important part of the development of a person.
Sports can teach any number of lessons and allow boys and girls to become more well-rounded even if they don’t rise to the top of the sport.
That revelation for development took a little longer to relate to girls but it is beginning to become more of an accepted concept.
Girls need sports just as much as boys in order to develop and learn while becoming a well-rounded person.
This idea has led a lot of places to invest more heavily in women’s sports to try to bring them closer to the men’s sports.
It is not an overnight process but it is being done and more places are meeting the leaders in North America.
With that investment these sports are getting better and more talent is being developed which leads directly to the Olympics.
The Games has strict rules in terms of which sports are allowed and which will not be allowed and some of the most important rules have to deal with participation and competition.
No sport will ever be allowed if there are only a few countries that actually have people participating in them.
If there are less than a handful of countries involved in the sport it cannot be considered an Olympic sport simply because it does not promote competition.
That leads to the other point as it isn’t enough that countries participate but they also need to be good.
That is the issue women’s hockey faces as there is very little competition in the games with only two countries ever really having a shot.
Without several good athletes from several countries, many of the sports will not be considered for the games.
That was the problem for a very long time in the Olympics as women’s sports grew in North America at a rapid pace but the rest of the world lagged behind.
With only two nations involved in most of the women’s sports that many wanted the IOC to include it was hard to justify including them.
That is beginning to change and every four years more female athletes are making a bigger impact while many sports are rarely considered unless they have both male and female athletes.
Although the sports are not entirely even yet there are more opportunities than ever for women to participate in the Olympics.
Canada is a great example of what can happen when those female athletes are built from the start of their athletic lives.
Out of the 27 medals won so far for Canada 14 of them had women involved either through a team or simply by themselves.
These aren’t the first games where women have been able to produce for Canada though as it has been happening for the better part of this decade.
More women are involved in sports and more Olympians are created providing more examples of what can be achieved.
The more role models there are the more girls get to see the possibilities allowing more of them to get into sports.
Some will be at the Olympics in the next decade and others will move on to other things but girl’s sports will grow.
Although the rest of the world is slightly behind the USA and Canada they are catching up fast with more women becoming big stars in every country.
The Canadian Story:
Best Olympics Ever
Although there have been some major disappointments for Canadian athletes at the games this year the big picture is a positive one. Day 14 became the day that Canada broke their country record for most medals at an Olympic Games with 27. Three medals were added to the total on Day 14 and with that came the record and with a few more days to come the pre-Olympic goal of 30 total medals seems achievable.
Finishing One-Two
The Canadians started off the day with some major success on the hill in ski-cross as the freestyle skiers took home more medals. It has become a major part of Team Canada and now it is even bigger after Kelsey Serwa and Brittany Phelan finished first and second in ski-cross. The pair of medals allowed Canada to tie the all-time record for Canadian medals.
Perseverance Pays Off
It wasn’t long ago that Kaetlyn Osmond had considered giving up her one true love, figure skating after injuries had her struggling. Her coach convinced her to stay at it and promised that big things were to come and on Day 14 that promise was kept. Osmond could not compete with the two Russians for the top of the podium but she held on to third place to earn a bronze.
Almost Shut-Out
It was another bad day for Canadian Curling as the men’s team played Switzerland for the bronze medal but couldn’t get the win. That leaves Canada with one medal in three Curling events and although that is still a decent showing it is not good for Canada. Curling has never seen Canadians off of the podium in men’s and women’s but this year neither could take home any colour of medal.
Another Disappointment
It was another rough part of Day 14 for Canadian fans as they tuned in to watch the men’s hockey team take on Germany in the semi-finals. The Germans had struggled to start the tournament but began gaining steam and that momentum carried them into the gold medal game. After going up 4-1 the Germans held off the comeback sending Canada to the bronze medal game and risking another major Canadian sport without a medal.
The Sport Addiction 