The Martlet

The Winter Olympics are a joke. Not in the “Vancouver spent too much money and a few things went wrong” way, but in what’s happening on the ice and the slopes of the Games.

Canada gave a great account of itself this year, producing the most gold medals by one country in a single Games. During that two-week period, nearly every Canadian felt immensely proud of their country — at least more proud than usual.

But the issue is parity, or lack thereof. Of the 82 teams that competed in the Olympics, just 24 won medals. That’s 58 countries, not 58 athletes. Entire nations didn’t even sniff the podium. While Canada was busy owning the podium, Iran spent the Olympics at the back of the pack.

This is nothing new. In the 2006 Torino, Italy games, 26 of 82 teams medalled, and the top six were the same as they were this year: Canada, the U.S., Germany, Austria, Norway and Russia. In Torino, 252 medals were given out, and 142 were won by those six teams. Of 258 medals awarded at victory ceremonies at B.C. Place this year, the aforementioned teams accounted for 150.

Why is this? The summer games are fairly competitive, with countries from Argentina to Zimbabwe winning medals at the 2008 Beijing Games. What is different?

Well, one takes place during the winter — most of the world doesn’t even have a proper winter. When’s the last time a child in Saudi Arabia grew up with dreams of being an Olympic luger? Winter sport just simply isn’t a reality for much of the world, so that alone cuts out much of the world from competition. But what about the nations that do field teams and are never successful?

It all comes down to money. Is it any accident that the affluent nations, those six dominant nations along with countries like Sweden, France, China, Holland and Switzerland, find themselves atop the final medal count nearly every time? Doubtful.

Look at the sports in the winter games. Without some start-up money at a young age, what future athlete is getting into luge? You need a sled and a sliding centre. How many luge courses are there in Bulgaria?

In the summer games, there are a lot of events that favour natural athletic ability, like sprinting and distance running. Those are sports that the Jamaicas and Kenyas and Eritreas of the world can compete in.

Even within North America, who goes skiing? People with enough money to afford the gear, the trip, the lift tickets and the time spent in recreation. Simply, the Winter Games are an uneven playing field, favouring wealthy nations. Sure, all sports favour the better funded, but much more so with the Winter Games.

Some countries pay cash bonuses to medalists. The Canadian Olympic Committee pays $20,000 for a gold, $15,000 for a silver and $10,000 for a bronze. One can only imagine that hypercompetitive countries like Russia and the U.S. offers more, while some can’t even hope to compete.

The Olympic dream is to promote and grow sport around the world, but the Winter Games seems to find its audience and competitors in a stratum that hardly needs the attention.