NATIONAL PULSE – Canadians cheer for athletes but say no to hosting Games
Soccer spying scandal called “an embarrassment for Canada” by two-in-five; most blame coaches
By ANGUS REID INSTITUTE
August 8, 2024 – While Canadians celebrate a so-far successful Olympics in the pool and at the track, pride in the achievements of athletes wearing the maple leaf does not extend to much desire to see the games return to hometown soil.
New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds nine-in-ten (87%) Canadians saying they’re always proud to watch athletes from Canada compete, most would not want to see their community bid for the Olympics. Indeed, those who would like to see the major city closest to them bid for the games (31%) are outnumbered by more than two-to-one (69%).
At the forefront in the minds of Canadians is the cost of the games. Most (79%) believe the cost of hosting the games outweigh the benefit of them for host cities.
Canadians are also critical of recent Olympic games being marred by scandals and rampant commercialization. Majorities (78% on scandals, 69% on corporate sponsorships) agree both have taken away from what the Olympics should be about – the athletes.
Canada’s own Olympic journey started off on the wrong foot with the news that an assistant coach for the women’s soccer team was caught spying on an opposing team with a drone, in what apparently was an institutional practice dating back years. Most Canadians call this scandal an embarrassment but are split between believing it’s a national one (42%) or just egg on the face for Canada’s soccer federation (38%). Few (12%) believe it’s no big deal for either.
Canada’s women’s team survived a six-point deduction only to be eliminated in the quarterfinals as the players appeared to use the allegations of cheating as bulletin board material to inspire their performance. Most Canadians believe the players themselves weren’t to blame for this scandal, instead laying it on the coaching staff (53%) or more specifically, head coach Bev Priestman (43%), who was sent home from the Olympics.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
As a coach one teaches citizenship and sportsmanship as well as focus on education. My favorite athletes were Ken Dryden and Greg Hawgood. When Dryden was in a foreign country competing for Canada, while waiting to play he went to museums while some of his teammates went to the bar. Greg was an athlete who neither underestimates nor overestimates his abilities but he was always positive and gave 100 percent against the big guys.
The most important thing for me as a coach of young people was to instill a desire to learn, through positive relationships that instills positive attitude both inside and outside of the classroom.
Olympics are a stepping stone for coaches and athletes for future careers in an industry dominated by money where winning is the end goal. The drone incident can be attributed to that and we cannot excuse it by saying everyone cheats. There has to be a better way to determine who cheats and who does not cheat.
Canada’s success at the Olympics can be attributed to individual desire, family sacrifice and tax dollars to build facilities and train coaches. Wealthy nations can do this while poor one’s struggle. Government priorities in support of athletes, China, Cuba and some others also get results.
Who is hauling in the medals at the Paris Olympics? Wealthy nations with high value currencies which they protect trough trade practices which are under attack as we discuss this.
An Ethiopian athletes may win a medal in long distance running, all he/she needs is desire and a descent pair of running shoes or no shoes at all, and an open space to run. For us in Kamloops we have the facilities we just need more Summer McIntosh desire which we have in some cases.
Using sports for political gain tarnishes many medals. When you ban athletes from countries that win many medals an athlete might ask would I have won this if the athlete from the banned nation had participated.
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I’d love to see the Winter Olympics back in Vancouver for a new generation only if we could use the infrastructure which we used in 2010. The costs starting from scratch are enormous, but that would not be the case in Vancouver. With most of the infrastructure and facilities still in place this seems to be a waste not maximizing their use whilst we can. We’d need to build a new olympic village, but doesn’t Vancouver need more apartment sized housing? Ice rinks, skating oval, ski hills, bobsleigh track etc are all operational. This would be the cheapest winter games of the modern era and honestly, didn’t your chest swell just a little bit for those 17 days.
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