Athens Games haven’t been Canada’s shining moment

ATHENS — The Canadian men’s rowing eight, unbeaten for two years when it arrived in Athens as gold-medal favorites, had just finished fifth in the Olympic final, nine seconds behind the victorious Americans.

As hundreds of maple leaf-draped fans drifted in a collective stupor around the Olympic Rowing Center in suburban Schinias, an announcement blared over the public-address system.

“The Canadian men’s eight is asked to come to the mixed zone for interviews,” it stated, “if you want to.”

No one could blame Canada’s athletes if they don’t feel much like talking. Through 12 days of collapses, crashes and controversies, the nation’s Olympic theme has been “Woe, Canada.”

“People are jumping off bridges back in Canada,” said Michael Farber, a Sports Illustrated writer and Canadian resident.

Big favorites like the rowers, hurdler Perdita Felicien and diver Emilie Heymans have fallen on their faces – literally in the case of Felicien, who tripped over the first obstacle in Tuesday’s 100-meter hurdles.

“It’s an incredible shock to me,” Dave Richardson, Canada’s rowing coach, said after the eight’s collapse. “I never imagined they wouldn’t win a medal.”

There was more. Gymnast Kyle Shewfelt lost an individual medal in the vault with a subpar final effort. And none of the Canadian swimmers surpassed their personal-bests in eight days of competition.

Only two of the 267 team members who marched into the Olympic Stadium behind the Maple Leaf flag two weeks ago have won gold medals – Shewfelt in the floor exercise and cyclist Lori-Ann Muenzer in the women’s sprint.

By way of comparison, Australia, another former British colony whose culture, population and devotion to sports make it a good measuring stick for Canada, had 14 golds and 38 overall.

Canada’s overall medal count of seven left the Canadian team behind Cuba, Bulgaria and, back home, the eight-ball.

“We’re excited about many of the performances,” said David Bedford, Canada’s chef de mission, “and disappointed about many of the others.”

Predictably the failures sparked an outcry and a flurry of activity in a nation that must exist in the enormous shadow of the United States.

Newspaper editorials, Olympic officials and, according to a Department of Canadian Heritage poll, 77 percent of Canadians want to see more money spent on producing and sustaining Olympic athletes.

“With Canada hosting the Olympic Winter Games in 2010 (Vancouver), the time is now to invest in Canadian athletes,” Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) chairman Michael Chamber said earlier this year. “The current low level of government investment in sport will not achieve the Olympic results Canadians desire and our athletes deserve.”

According to figures provided by the COC, Sports Canada, the government overseer of 55 national sports organizations, gets an annual public contribution of $90 million. And this May, perhaps foreseeing the calamities that awaited them here, Canada provided a one-time addition of $30 million.