Canadian team tracking for another strong Olympic Games after Tokyo record

Canada's team is poised for a banner Olympic Games in Paris despite safe-sport and financial turmoil since a record performance in Tokyo.

"I believe this is as strong a Team Canada that we've ever seen at the Summer Games," said Canadian Olympic Committee CEO David Shoemaker.

"I think the world needs these Olympic Games. I think Canada needs these Olympic Games. We need something to cheer for. We need to instil pride in flag and country and I can't think of an Olympic team that's better situated to do that than this one."

Preliminary competition got underway Wednesday in Paris ahead of Friday's opening ceremonies that will feature a parade of countries on the River Seine. Decorated sprinter Andre De Grasse and weightlifting champion Maude Charron were named Canada's flag-bearers Wednesday.

With no entries in men's soccer or men's rugby sevens Wednesday, the first Canadians to compete will be archers and the women's soccer team Thursday, when the latter opens defence of its gold medal against New Zealand in St-Etienne.

But the women's soccer team will be minus head coach Bev Priestman for the opener. She voluntarily removed herself Wednesday in the fallout from a team staff member filming a pair of New Zealand practices with a drone.

Assistant coach Jasmine Mander and Canada Soccer analyst Joseph Lombardi were ousted from the team in Paris and sent home.

Canadian athletes claimed 24 medals in Tokyo in 2021 for the most at a non-boycotted Summer Olympics despite months of pandemic pivots in their preparation, and in a Games held in a state of emergency because of a coronavirus spike. Canada's seven gold medals equalled the most at a non-boycotted Games.

"We always go to every Games with a goal of doing better than we did the Games before," said Own The Podium CEO Anne Merklinger.

"We're well positioned as a country heading into Paris. We have a deeper athlete pool, we have more events with a strong athlete pool and we have more sports."

There's also fewer Russian competitors. Only those who can prove to the International Olympic Committee they do not support Russia's invasion of Ukraine will be allowed to compete in Paris as Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs).

Canada's team, led by chef de mission and former Olympic sprinter Bruny Surin, consists of 338 athletes, including alternates, plus 560 coaches, support staff and COC mission staff.

The bulk of Canada's medals will come from the track and the pool. Canada's swim team led by 17-year-old Summer McIntosh is poised to better the half-dozen medals won in both 2016 and 2021. 

Canada's recent surge in world-class throwers bolstered the track team headlined by sprinter Andre De Grasse and reigning Olympic decathlon champion Damian Warner. 

Pierce LePage, ranked first in the world in decathlon, withdrew from Paris because of a herniated disc in his back.

Combat sports, rowing and sprint canoe, track cycling, weightlifting, three-on-three basketball and the new sport of breaking are fertile medal ground. 

Canadians will compete in Olympic three-on-three basketball, breaking and surfing for the first time. The women's soccer team is among six entries in team sports alongside men's and women's basketball, men's volleyball, women's rugby and water polo.

"We know how important team sports are to nation-building," Merklinger said. "We need team sports that represent athletes from all across our country in different communities to inspire their communities and help us be better people, more active people, focus on our health, all the things we know doing well at the Olympic Games manifests itself in our country."

Gracenote, a statistical analysis company for international sports leagues that also tracks Olympic sports heading into Games, projects 21 medals, including seven gold for Canada in Paris. 

The Canadian Olympic and Paralympic committees asked the federal government for a $104-million infusion into national sports organizations in this year's budget. Shoemaker described NSOs "on the brink of crisis."

That money was not forthcoming, although the feds increased the amount of money athletes receive in their monthly cheques that help pay their bills.

"For the most part, our national sports organizations were able to provide enough focus with their funding and the resources to make sure that it did not compromise their ability to send the best possible teams under the best possible circumstances to Paris for these Games," Shoemaker said. "As we said back in the spring, and as we continue to believe, it's the longer term impact of the lack of funding over the course of nearly two decades that we worry about.

"It's our information that we're being outspent by Australia by two times and Great Britain by three times. That will catch up to us at some point."

The Canadian taxpayer is the largest investor in high-performance sport at $266 million annually, according to federal government figures published in early July. Own The Podium makes federal funding recommendations and provides technical expertise to national sports organizations.

Canada has undergone a safe-sport reckoning in the last two years. Athletes spoke of current and historical instances of abuse — mental, verbal, physical and sexual — and how they feared retribution if they complained, to parliamentary committees and the media. Some said their welfare took a back seat to winning medals.

Canada has backed off the practice of setting hard medal and ranking targets at Olympic Games.

"We're talking about winning well," Merklinger said. "How an athlete wins a medal or achieves their performance objectives is as important as the medal itself. That is about making sure that we're always putting people first."

Three years between a Games instead of the traditional four extended the careers of some athletes.

"I feel like Tokyo was last week," said swimmer Mary-Sophie Harvey of Trois-Rivieres, Que. "In a way, it's easier mentally. You have to prepare for three instead of four years." 

Those who made their Olympic debut amid pandemic restrictions in Tokyo look forward to a less sterile experience in Paris, and having their friends and family on site.

"With Tokyo, I have the perfect result," said Charron of Rimouski, Que. "I have the medal. Now with Paris, I'll have the perfect environment."

Canada's team made it through Tokyo without an athlete testing positive for COVID-19. 

The COC recommended athletes wear a mask while indoors for 72 hours after arrival in Paris. 

Australian TV showed that country's swim team arriving at a Paris airport wearing masks and the Australian women's water polo team confirmed Wednesday that five athletes tested positive for the virus.

"Our chief medical officer and the team have reviewed our approach to health and wellness and we think it's quite important that we learn from the lessons of the pandemic and don't forget them," Shoemaker said.

The COC provides bonus money for medals of $20,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze. Healthcare technology entrepreneur Sanjay Malaviya of Hespeler, Ont., has donated a top-up of $5,000 per medal won.

The Olympic Games close Aug. 11. The Paralympic Games in Paris start Aug. 28 and finish Sept. 8.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 24, 2024.