Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Own the Podium program making a difference

Increased funding for athletes and sports research to give Canadians an edge
1440ownpodium
Home Advantage The new Pacific Sport Performance Centre in the Whistler Mountain Ski Club cabin was made possible with funding from Own The Podium, as well as strength and conditioning coaches that use the centre to work with Sea to Sky attributes.

The national Own The Podium 2010 program is nearing the halfway point in its mandate to put Canadian athletes on the podium at the 2010 Winter Games, and according to the most recent progress report it is already having an impact on winter sports and athletes.

However, the report acknowledges that Canada still has a long way to go to reach its goal of ranking first in the medal count in the 2010 Olympics, and third at the 2010 Paralympics.

“We’ve just concluded our two years of progress, and we’re entering the beginning of the third year of this five year project,” said Dr. Roger Jackson, CEO of Own The Podium 2010. “And in my opinion this is one of the most important years to demonstrate how well we’re doing.

“There will be 80 countries competing in Vancouver and Whistler, and of the 80 countries we were third in the world in the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. Last year we were second in total medals won in World Cups with 135, as well as second in World Championship medals with 27. In total medals Canada was second only to Germany, but close behind us are the U.S., Russia and Austria.

“The 135 medals is a total we expect will be exceeded by quite a number this year as our athletes get ready to really perform in 2010.”

Own the Podium was launched in 2005 with a proposed budget of $110 million over five years — in addition to the money already contributed to athletes and national sports organizations by Sport Canada, sponsors and provincial funding. To date, annual funding commitments have been met for all sports and initiatives.

In the first year, the program was valued at $19 million, jumping to $21.5 million in 2006-07. The 2007-08 budget has been confirmed at $23.5 million, which includes 18 million for national sports organizations, $2.5 million for the Top Secret sports research and technology program, and $2.5 million for national sports centres, coaching projects, technology projects, and other commitments.

The funding was announced in Calgary on Tuesday as representatives from Canada’s 13 winter sports associations met to review the progress of OTP and discuss plans for the coming season.

Canada’s on-snow athletes will have the chance to train at Olympic venues this winter, including the men’s and women’s downhill courses on Whistler Mountain and the ski and snowboardcross course at Cypress Bowl. That could make all the difference for the team, says Alpine Canada CEO Ken Read.

“Our sports are measured in hundredths of a second, and in the last Olympics in Torino we had the misfortune of three fourth place finishes. At the 2007 (alpine) championships we had one silver medal, and five other athletes within hundredths of a second of the podium,” said Read. “As we move forward we have to find those fractions of a second that make the difference. It all comes down to training, coaching and technology.

“How do we do that? Through projects like Top Secret, looking at different bases and waxes, and the type of snow on the west coast. We also need home advantage. At the men’s national championships last year athletes were able to compete on the Olympic downhill run, and our women’s team will have the same opportunity next spring to start to become familiar with the track.”

The two new programs announced by OTP include a professional development program for high performance coaches, and a series of National Performance Technology Clinics to familiarize coaches with new video analysis software.

Dr. Peter Davis, the head of the Top Secret program for Own the Podium, could not reveal everything that teams are currently working on, but said the video software lets coaches compare two athletes on the same course by overlapping the video of their runs. Coaches can also use the software to analyze their tricks in snowboarding or freestyle skiing, line choices in ski and snowboardcross, and other variables that can help fine-tune an athlete’s performance. According to Davis more than 80 coaches and trainers are being taught to use the software.

Other Top Secret initiatives that were revealed include a new machine made by a Montreal company that will be able to simulate each speed skater’s motions on the rocker skates to sharpen and tune skate blades, as well as a made-in-Canada bobsleigh design.

Jean Dupré, the head of Speed Skating Canada, says OTP has changed everything in Canadian winter sports.

“Organizations are not training athletes the same, they are not strategizing the same way, and in terms of the organizations we are becoming a lot more professional,” he said. “The internal structures are set, the staff is in place — it’s nothing compared to what it was like even five years ago. It was Own The Podium and the infusion of resources into sports that have allowed us to take things to the next level.”

One of the speakers at the presentation was women’s hockey star Hayley Wickenheiser. Own The Podium has provided the women’s team with resources they have never had before. She says the fact that OTP adds pressure to the team to win medals is a good thing.

“I’ve been on both sides of the fence, having competed in the Summer Games playing softball where resources were tough to come by,” she said. “Going over to hockey where everybody expects you to win the gold medal and having that pressure — well I’d rather be on the side of the fence with the pressure to be successful than the other way around. 2010 is an opportunity of a lifetime for athletes and coaches, and for Sport Canada to build a legacy of sport in our country.

“It’s one thing to say we want to be number one, and it’s another to put money and resources behind that to make it possible. We’re seeing a paradigm shift with the way we’re thinking about and approaching our sports years out of the game, and we’re getting results.

“At the same time we’re getting the best sports psychologists, summer training on and off the ice, and everything is covered… Hockey Canada is supporting an Under 18, Under 22 and senior women’s program, and this year we host our first goalie camp and conditioning camp, made possible with Own the Podium funding. Any success we’ve had in hockey stems from the fact that we’re the best prepared nation in the world, and by 2010 the full team will have benefited from it.”

OTP funding for the women’s hockey team has allowed the team to hire a full-time coach and manager, while providing more financial resources and support to athletes.

Whistler’s Anna Fraser Sproule, who is working with the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association as the high performance manager, said Own the Podium may have made the difference for her in 1988.

“I finished fourth (in aerials) in Calgary. The same year I won the World Cup title, and a silver at the World Championships. Every time I get asked a question about my Olympic experience, I can’t help but think ‘what if?’” she said.

“What if I worked with a medical team that knew me, my knees and my sport, and put together a game plan for me so I was in the best shape possible? What if I didn’t tear my (medial collateral ligament) six weeks before the Olympics, or had a sports psychologist to put a plan in place for coming back from injury? What if we had a game plan dealing with the Chinook winds that drastically changed our in-run speeds, and what if my speed had been correct and I didn’t bend my knees on the landing?

“Own The Podium is working to eliminate the ‘what ifs’ for Canadian athletes.”

The next status report on Own the Podium will be in the spring of 2008.