Melissa Bishop's International Racing Conundrum

   I attended the 2017 Canadian Track and Field Championships in Ottawa last weekend. There was lots of running, lots of throwing, lots of jumping and lots of rain. There were some outstanding world class performances despite the inclement climate. Canadian sprint sensation Andre de Grasse ripped a sub twenty second 200 meters that wins the Canadian title but does not register as an official time due to a wind speed above 2 meters per second. Other events were most likely hampered by the conditions.
   The women's 800 meter race featured local track star Melissa Bishop leading most of the way to a winning time just a shade over 2 minutes. The time was half a second better than my best time on the same track (different surface) a generation earlier. Of course I was running into a 20 mile per hour headwind wearing cement boots - or at least it felt like it. Okay, maybe her running form was more efficient and economical than my technique in my prime. She looked smooth and fast!

Melissa Bishop taking the lead in an international race.

  Melissa Bishop is a silver medalist from the 2015 World Championships. She finished 4th at the Olympics in Rio last year. Melissa is caught right in the middle of an international
 track and field conundrum through no fault of her own. A gender issue that has surfaced numerous times in international sports has once again reared its head and become news.

Caster Samenya after winning
209 World Championships in Berlin.

   Bishop's 800 meter race in Rio was won by Caster Semenya of South Africa. Melissa Bishop finished in 4th place. Since winning the 2009 World Championships, Semenya has been a controversial athlete. She has a form of hyperandrogenism which results in her producing more testosterone than women normally do. This likely gives her an advantage in competition since more testosterone means larger and stronger muscles.This physical benefit could be anywhere from 1.8% to up to 4% for female runners. This of course would put normal female runners such as Melissa Bishop at a disadvantage. There has also been some suggestion that the silver and bronze medalists from the same race also have hyperandrogenism.

   Since 2009, the world sporting bodies such as the International Association of Athletics Federation (I.A.A.F) and the International Olympic Committee (I.O.C) allowed such athletes to compete  only if they took female hormones. In 2015 the Center for Arbitration in Sport (C.A.S) ruled that to be a violation of the athlete's rights. Semenya won silver medals in the 2011 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics while taking female hormones. She won the Rio Olympics last year while off of the female hormones. The rule to force female athletes with hyperandrogenism to take female hormones is under discussion for reinstatement. This controversy will continue.
   Interestingly, the gold medal winner in the 2011 and 2012 races-a Russian woman- has since failed numerous drug tests for steroid enhancement. The world governing bodies were quick to act on Semenya after her 2009 win for natural but high testosterone levels but seemingly turned a blind eye for decades to unethical testosterone enhancement by eastern bloc countries and their political descendants. Sport is not always fair!  However, Caster Semenya may yet wind up with 2 more gold medals retroactively.
   There are many considerations that are aligned with this issue:

• Caster Semenya did not intentionally try to get an unfair advantage unlike her Russian competitor who  was outright cheating.
• Some may argue that all great athletes have some genetic advantage over the norm. Gretzky had magical perception and coordination. Phelps seems to have flippers for feet.  Basketball players are twice my height. Usain Bolt has no evident slow twitch muscle fibers.  Soccer players have more natural acting ability than Meryl Streep when trying to draw a penalty. Baseball players can wash chewing tobacco down with gutrot whiskey and not gag! Us mere mortals are humbled by such genetic physical genius.
• We are in an era when some people want to be addressed as Meh rather than as Mister, Ms., or Mrs.  Sport will not be immune from such issues in the future.
• Some view this as another attempt by men in power of trying to define what women should look like.
• Some men who have transgendered to  become women will want to compete against them. Wasn't there a male who became a woman named Renee Richards and tried for the women's professional tennis tour some time back?
• Should former Olympic Decathlon champ Bruce Jenner, now Kaitlyn Jenner,  come back and try and capture the women's Heptathlon crown, I am confident that Canadian Brienne Thiessen Eaton would kick his/her butt. Hey - they're both retired from track and field so it's a valid analogy and a moot point!  
• Were I to pull a Kaitlyn Jenner and try to dominate women's wrestling Canadian Olympic Champion Erika Wiebbe would absolutely demolish me! (Ouch!)
• More men becoming transgender women will want to compete against women. What will happen then?
• The International Olympic Committee used to perform sex tests on suspect athletes back in the 1960's.  It is a historic and unpleasant topic in which the discussion is once again relevant!

Russian runner Mariya Savinova beats Semenya at 2012 London Olympics.
Unnaturally juiced- with-testosterone runner beats runner with naturally high testosterone levels.
 One took substances for an unfair edge! The other has a genetic advantage through no fault of her own!

  
 Meanwhile I will continue to be a track and field fan. I will still appreciate the running talent of a Melissa Bishop no matter how many medals she may or may not have. Running will always be poetry in motion to my sports starved eyes.

  On a more personal note, whenever I go to the Terry Fox Athletic Complex for track and field events in Ottawa, I feel old and slow. I sometimes feel like my track career peaked in high school and maybe it did. However, no worries,  my career as a sports/fitness blogger has yet to reach its zenith. Keep on reading fans!

Until Next Time

Keep Fit!

Little Bobby Strong

Links:

www.fitnwell.com

www.rabbitview.com

schwabe27.uwmfatloss.hop.clickbank.net

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dancarle/?ppe=1

Ottawa Marathon Race Weekend 2017

   I ran the first ever Ottawa Marathon - the full distance. I even ran it every one of the first five years. (I won't say how long ago that was but it did predate the 21st century.) I always knew that I was more of a short middle distance specialist. The 800 meters was my event. Even the 1500 meters or the mile felt too far for my body type.
   Finally after many slowing miles, numerous wrestling tournaments as the designated throwing dummy, countless hacker hockey tournaments and a hip replacement later I have returned to the road racing world as a walking weekend warrior. I decided to enter the Ottawa Race Weekend and see how fast I could power walk the 5 kilometer event.
   The cheetah is the fastest land animal in existence. Top running speeds of 70 miles per hour have been recorded. Cheetahs are built for speed not for stamina so they usually want their dashes to be as short as possible. Since the Ottawa Marathon Race Weekend has race distances of 3 kilometers, 5 kilometers, 10 kilometers, half marathon and the 26.2 mile marathon, the cheetah analogy might not work.
    The ostrich may be a more fitting animal mascot. These flightless birds can clock running speeds of 40 miles and maintain it for long distances. Ostrich power could kick butt in a 5 kilometer race. However, the most apt comparison to my current locomotive style might be that of a stranded, spasmodic sea tortoise wired on cheap street crack trying to crawl cross a freeway. Poetry in motion it was not!
   I did an upper body weight workout right before the race. Why not turn this day into a full body experience? It also gave me an out. If I sucked, it was only a workout. I wasn't intending to win the thing.If I completely tanked it was because I worked out hard beforehand! Then again, as one of my neighbors always told me "Who cares? Nobody's watching!"

The graceful ostrich in full flight. Or is it!

 
 When I arrived at the race, I lined up at the very back of the slowest section. No need to be demoralized by getting passed right at the beginning. When the starting gun went off I was momentarily blocked by a mass of humanity. Slower walkers than me, and people pushing racing strollers with their children along for the ride were like an obstacle course for me to wind my way through. Zig zags, stops, starts and lateral steps replaced straight line walking.
   It took about a kilometer to find enough open space to be able to focus on opening up my power walking stride. The spectators may have thought that they were witnessing my powerless walking stride.
   My neighbor was wrong. People were watching! Hordes of cheering spectators waved signs and shouted encouragement. I thought I heard someone yell at me "Hurry up you geriatric slob. I got a hundred bucks riding on you!"  I looked over but saw no such heckler. It must have been my imagination spurred on by the adrenaline rush of long lost competition. Only encouragement poured forth from the crowd lining the race route.
   At no point in the race was I in danger of bonking. The main issue was that I can only walk so fast. I was determined that I was not going to break stride and start running. I just felt like I should be generating more speed but with one foot always in contact with the ground there is only so much velocity that can be generated without doing a face plant. Fortunately I avoided the face plant but almost sprained an ankle in one of the potholes that make Ottawa's roads infamous. A quick lateral hop avoided what surely could have been a profanity laced disaster.
   With a kilometer to go I decided to make a race of it. I power walked past fading hordes of fellow walkers and even some straggling runners reduced to a survival jog. As I was overtaking a half dozen walkers at the final stretch, they all started running and beat me to the finish line. I held to my vow and did not break into a run. It was a power (or powerless) walk the whole way.
 I shouted "Where's the beer tent?"  As usual, no one laughed at my quip. I collected my finishing medal and sought out the free massage tent. I was a weekend warrior once again!

No, it's not a participation medal! I had to finish the bloody thing first!

   The aftermath was not as bad as I thought it would be. My quadriceps were fine the next day. Unlike in running, the quads must be spared the intense physical trauma by the mechanics of walking. Two days later the tops of my feet at the joint angle with the leg were sore. There must be a great deal of  forceful foot flexion in power walking. My time was 42 minutes, fifty three seconds. This works out to just under 9 minutes per kilometer or just over 14 minutes per mile. This was no stranded sea tortoise crossing a highway speed. This is ostrich territory!   
   In past years, the race quotas were always filled before I ever thought about entering. This year the number of racers was down. Us baby boomers are starting to succumb to our aches and pains. The youngest generation seems enslaved by their electronic gadgets and their computer games. There is already talk of replacing some traditional events in the Olympics with digital events. The world is changing. Hopefully the weekend warrior does not become extinct.  

Until next time

Keep Fit!  

Little Bobby Strong

Links:

www.fitnwell.com

www.rabbitview.com

schwabe27.uwmfatloss.hop.clickbank.net

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dancarle/?ppe=1

                                                                                 

The Trucker Bod - The End of an Era?

We all know the cartoon like caricature of the long haul rig driver:

• Truculent, tattooed, truckers with tree trunk torsos and titantic tummies.
• Mammoth sized man mountains of meat devouring mass.
• Libidinous, licentious, lecherous leviathans with a lewd liking for lurking lot lizards.
• Road warriors of the nations highways speaking indecipherable code words over a C. B. Radio.
• Men not to be messed with whether in a greasy spoon roadside diner or a sleazy biker bar.  Remember the movie 'Duel' (1971) where travelling salesman Dennis Weaver confronts a trucker in such a greasy diner to accuse him of trying to run him off of the highway. That particular scene ended badly for poor Mr. Weaver as he was used to mop the floor with his hair.

 YOU TAKE THE WIDE LOAD
AND I'LL TAKE THE LOW ROAD
AND I'LL BE IN SCOTLAND BEFORE YOU

A BIG RIG AND A- BIG BOY

     

   The above, of course, are exaggerated stereotypes. There are are small and medium sized truck drivers. Many truckers are lean and wiry as well as strong. The aggressive driving highway hogs are not desired by trucking companies. Most pride themselves on compiling  accident free driving records. They perform a valuable and necessary job in sometimes lonely or often crowded and dangerous working conditions.
   Truckers can be legendary for offering assistance to stranded drivers or travelers in need of roadside assistance. I have been the beneficiary of such highway Good Samaritans.
   However, long hours of sitting along with the infamously unhealthy roadside cuisine can exact a toll (pun intended) on the physical well being of professional truckers. The long hours in the driver's seat can eventually cause negative postural and lower back issues. The sitting and less than optimal eating habits can lead to weight problems and even obesity. This can manifest itself in the form of diabetes or cardiovascular problems. Poor sleep habits may lead to drowsy drivers Passing the long hours by cigarette smoking can of course lead to multiple comorbidities thus piling on the possible health concerns.

 There is a new trend in this oft romanticized profession. Truckers are bringing coolers of healthy food on long hauls and taking stretching and exercise breaks. Drivers are realizing that by eating healthy and trying to exercise in their downtime  they can reap certain benefits:

• They may prolong their career. 
• The aches and pains from the prolonged sitting can be alleviated.
• Body weight can be reduced which has multiple health benefits.
• Sleep habits may improve and sleep apnea problems reduced resulting in more alert and aware drivers.

   Transportation governing authorities are starting to require professional truck drivers to pass a medical when applying for a commercial driving licence. This could be incentive for lifestyle changes. After all, no licence means no employment.
   Give these people your utmost respect. They keep our economy running. Plus if you lip lip them off in a roadside diner, not only will they mop the floor with you, they just might be fit enough to chase you down on foot!

EXERCISE BREAK
THE NEW BREED OF TRUCKER

Until Next Time                                                            

Keep Fit

Little Bobby Strong









References
Antonella Artuso Wide Load Rules the Road The Ottawa Citizen Sunday October 23, 2016
Movie Duel, 1971, Director Stephen Spielberg, Writer Richard Matheson, Starring Dennis Weaver

Links:

www.fitnwell.com

www.rabbitview.com

schwabe27.uwmfatloss.hop.clickbank.net

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dancarle/?ppe=1

 

Carleton University is a Weight Scale Free Zone

   My old Alma Mater is up to it's tricks again! Carleton University in Canada's capital city Ottawa was at one time in history a bastion of free thinking and free speech. That is not so much the case these days.Like many Canadian institutes of higher learning, Carleton U. is becoming choked and stifled by the antithesis of critical thinking -the Beast that is political correctness!
   Don't get me wrong. University days were some of the best of my life. Carleton U. also had some outstanding features.

• There were no fraternity or sorority houses at Carleton practicing their snobbish, elite brand of exclusivity unlike many other institutes of higher learning.
• I lived at home so maybe I missed it but I never had to endure any 'frosh week" hazing rituals.
• I don't remember the campus ever being over run with far right or far left political wingnuts. The few that were around were on the fringes and were not taken seriously.
• There was no religious dissension. Religion was just an arts option.

Of course it wasn't all paradise and it may have even been a somewhat uneasy environment for some.

• The campus buildings at Carleton are all joined by tunnels which offer refuge from  winter weather when classroom commuting. The tunnel walls were full of colorful and often artistic graffiti. However, some of it was sexist, racist or homophobic. 
• In my first ever university lecture the sociology professor told a crude story about the habits of a studied colony of rhesus monkeys. I thought it was hilarious. The majority of the women in the lecture were less easily amused and walked out en massse. 
• The Carleton pub had its share of male trolls on rock band weekend, looking to prey on drunken co-eds. (I know what you're thinking.  No - I was not one of those trolls!) 

   How things have changed. The tunnel walls are blank these days. in fact I can get lost in them without the artistic guide posts. Lecturers and professors avoid humor since any jokes are bound to offend somebody. The pub is just a small lounge where rowdy behavior is discouraged and trying to chat up a potential partner of the opposite gender is verboten.
   This new normal seems to have finally arrived in the campus fitness realm. Carleton U. has a brand new state of the art fitness center. The fitness center administrators have decided that weight scales have no place in this new world order. The rationale is that there are far better methods for determining fitness, health and physical transformation.

• Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist girth and other anatomical measurements are considered superior indicators of health and bodily improvement.
• Shows such as "the Biggest Loser" have left a bad impression of overbearing trainers bullying obese people and judging them by the results of the weight scale, often to the very detriment of the health of the contestants.
• Since muscle is denser than fat,  people may be mislead by weight measurement and become discouraged.

   Somehow though I sense that there is more to this decision to ban the scale. It seems to belong to the same mindset as not keeping score for children's soccer games so as not to belittle the losers.
Are weight scales perceived as implements of 'Fat Shaming' by the feared powers behind political correctness? 
Has my Alma Mater given in to such powers and taken away someone's freedom to use a weight scale as quick non intrusive guide to progression? 
Is it to be assumed that fitness center patrons have such low self esteem that they must be protected from such possible ridicule?

   Maybe I'm just a dinosaur reacting to the changing ways of the world? I am still proud of many things about Carleton University. The men's basketball team is a perennial national championship winner and the women basketballers scored a bronze medal this year. Hockey and football are back and other sports are always in the competitive mix. Nevertheless, I'm glad that I graduated many years ago. If I went there now I just might get kicked out.

The weight scale - a cruel symbol of Fat Shaming?

Until next time

Keep Fit!

Little Bobby Strong

Links:

www.fitnwell.com

www.rabbitview.com

schwabe27.uwmfatloss.hop.clickbank.net

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dancarle/?ppe=1

Is it a Bad Life for Fitness Trainers at Goodlife ?

   Goodlife Fitness is Canada's largest fitness center chain. It is also the 4th largest fitness chain in the world. When I used to live in Edmonton I would occasionally work out at a Goodlife Fitness center when I visited my hometown in Ottawa. It was a great place to work out. The equipment was state of the art and the facility was well kept. I would buy a visitor day pass and no staff member ever tried to hustle me to upgrade to a longer membership package.
   Things may be different now. They don't sell a visitor day pass any more, only monthly memberships or longer. As with most big box fitness chains, Goodlife is overrun with new members in January and February to the point where it is difficult to find a free work station during peak hours.
By March the crowd of newbies has dwindled back to its normal state. Many of these absentee members are still paying membership fees well into the next year. That formula keeps the mega fitness complexes ticking.
  Some Fitness Trainers will have a lucrative career at a big box fitness chain. Most will not! As is common with many corporate giants, the wealth doesn't always trickle down in abundance to the plebeian ranks of its workers. Fitness professionals may not be compensated in the way that professionals would expect. Recently there have signs of discontent within the ranks at Goodlife:

• The Ontario Ministry of Labor in Ontario found Goodlife and other Fitness Centers in contravention of the Employment Standards Act. 
• Issues in contention include wages, fairness, worker insurance and job security.
• There is a pending 60 million dollar class action lawsuit representing Fitness Trainers against Goodlife Fitness.
• Group Fitness Instructors are required to pay a company owned by Goodlife for using their music.
• Employees pay for their uniforms.
• Group Fitness Instructors are not paid for class preparation but just the actual session. 
• Fitness Trainers and Group instructors are not compensated for doing mandatory paperwork.
• New Fitness Trainers are paid minimum wage for prospecting for clients among Fitness Center members.
• This pay is then deducted from the earnings once the Trainer begins earning money from clients. 
• This also means Fitness Trainers will be hustling members to buy training packages while the members are trying to work out. This is known as 'prospecting'!
• Management insists that Fitness Trainers sign clients to only long term Fitness Training packages.
• Goodlife has their own certification for Fitness Training - Can Fit Pro. Goodlife Trainers must pay for this certificate course. 
• Goodlife Fitness Trainers in metropolitan Toronto have recently voted to unionize!
• There tends to be a revolving door of Fitness Trainers at mega fitness centers including Goodlife.
•  This high turnover rate may dissuade many better qualified Fitness Trainers from seeking employment in such places. 
• Fitness Trainers can pay up to 50% of the client fee back to the club.

 
    I am going to do something that may seem astonishing to those who read my blogs. I am going to play the Devil's Advocate and rationalize the business practice of mega clubs such as Goodlife:

• A Fitness Trainer needs an equipped place in which to train clients. The mega fitness complex provides a state of the art exercise location.
• Fitness Trainers need clients. Goodlife has a multitude of potential converts.
• If the fitness center offers point-of- sale personal training services at the time that a customer buys a club membership, new clients can be assigned to the Fitness Trainer. It is easier to re-sign such an existing client than it is to recruit a new client.
• Some mega clubs like Movati employ a Fitness Consultant whose job is to recruit clients for the Fitness Trainers.
• A rookie Fitness Trainer can hone their sales skills and training expertise in such an environment. 
• Maybe the union presence will improve the conditions and compensation.

    The bottom line is salesmanship. In such an environment, if you don't make sales you will either give up on your own or be replaced by management. That is the reason for the high turn over rate.
  There is constant pressure to sign new clients.Your technical skills as a Fitness Trainer are of lesser importance. My mother was the top Tupperware salesperson in eastern Canada for many years running. She could walk into a mega club with no fitness expertise and sign up scores of clients. Many Fitness Trainers, like me, would not have that kind of success. If a Fitness Trainer is that skilled at selling the product, it might be more lucrative for them to strike out on their own. There will be different responsibilities but potentially more reward! No one ever said it would be easy! 
                                             

A state of the art place to work out!
An arguable career choice! 

Until Next Time 

Keep Fit

Little Bobby Strong   

Links:

http://www.360online.ca/360fit-blog-goodlife-the-puppy-mill-of-gyms/
AudienceBuilder.ca

www.fitnwell.com

www.rabbitview.com
schwabe27.uwmfatloss.hop.clickbank.net

References
Goodlife Fitness Center faces $60 M. Lawsuit over Wages thestar.com Sara Mojtehedzadeh Nov.17,2016
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/07/09/toronto-goodlife-trainers-vote-for-union-muscle.html
Toronto Goodlife Trainers Vote for Union Muscle  thestar.com Sara Mojtehedzadeh July 9, 2016
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/07/09/toronto-goodlife-trainers-vote-for-union-muscle.html

Does Canada 'Own the Podium' ?

   This is a story that I heard from a friend of a friend of a friend. A washed-up, grizzled, former club level amateur wrestler and self proclaimed Fitness Guru/Blogger was a spectator at the Canada Cup wrestling tournament. This grizzled Guru saw one of the Canadian  wrestling coaches talking to two gentlemen. Thinking the two gentlemen were also wrestling coaches, the grizzled Guru waited for a lull in the conversation. When the lull arrived, he proceeded to interject with a  lascivious  anecdote spoken in the vernacular of a wrestling locker room. After all, the grizzled Guru did not know of a wrestling coach alive that would not appreciate such a tale. The expected laughter never came. There was only an awkward, embarrassing silence.
   That night, in a heated verbal encounter at the hotel lounge, the irate wrestling coach angrily berated a gin soaked, grizzled Guru. The two gentleman with him when rudely interrupted were not wrestling coaches. They were officials from 'Own the Podium'! 
    

   Own the Podium is a federally funded program with the mandate to make Canada a medal producing machine at Olympic and world championship competitions. It was created in early 2004.  Why have such a program?

1. Canada is the only country that did not win a gold medal while hosting an Olympics.
2. This happened at not one - but 2 Olympics. The 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary were lacking Canadian gold.
3. Not only did Canada not win gold at their own Olympics, medals of any color were sparse. 
4. Vancouver was to host the 2010 Winter Olympics. National pride was at stake.

   I am old enough to remember underfunded and overwhelmed Canadian athletes falling short against the world's best. Even in hockey, our national game, the best we could manage in the Olympics were a few bronze and silver medals from the 1950's until our professionals were allowed to play. Sure there were great Canadian moments including gold medals in other sports, but their rarity made them all the more remarkable.
Own the Podium would change all of that! Sport Canada, the Canadian Olympic Committee, and the Vancouver Organizing Committee gathered for a brainstorming session in 2004. A decision was made to have Sport Canada, the C.O.C. and the Canadian Paralympic Committee  pool their funding. This funding was to be used to select potential medal winners from the various national sporting organizations and direct.the resources towards them. Future forecast was predicted by:

• Past Performance
• Future potential in the view of coaches and sports coordinators
• Analytics - the analysis of statistics made famous in baseball and the movie 'Moneyball'
• Sports with potential for most medals  
• Sports with multiple events like speed skating (long and short track), skiing (alpine and freestyle), swimming and rowing plus track and field can yield more medals
• Team sports like field hockey can yield only one medal per team per gender
• Sports with weight classes such as wrestling can also be fruitful
• A weight class sports such as Olympic Weightlifting is a fringe sports in Canada whereas in Europe, the Balkans, Asia and the Mideast it is almost as popular as soccer. The potential for medals is likely low for Canadian competitors.
•  Sports associations such as Wrestling Canada had the foresight to invest heavily in the women's program and reap a future medal harvest.

   It worked! 
Canada scored multiple medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics. We earned a spectacular  13 golds, most of all countries at Vancouver 2010 and finished 3rd in the overall medal count. At Socchi 2014 the count was slightly less but still impressive. The offshoot of Own the Podium for summer sports is the Road to Excellence program which came into existence in 2008.Medal counts for Canada in world championships and the summer Olympics has climbed steadily.

Due to the success of the women, wrestling receives ample funding.
Fortunately this keeps the men's program afloat.

   At the 2016 Olympics in Rio
Canada finished 20th in the nation count with 22 medals which included 4 golds. This was Canada's best showing at a non-boycotted Olympiad.  However the optimistic hope was to have finished top 12 in the national medal count.
   Some sports were considered to have underachieved. Rowing received the most funding of all sports with 18 million dollars.
Rowing scored only a bronze medal.  Swimming and track and field met and even exceeded expectations. Wrestling (the women) and cycling delivered the goods. Trampoline, a low profile niche sport provided us with a repeat Olympic champion!

   What's not to like? More medals equals more money! More medals draws more sponsors!
Canadians can now be known for more than the toothless smiles and ZZ Top playoff beards of our hockey players. Our athletes are no longer happy to just show up and try their best! They are there to win, place or show.
   Actually there has been some criticism and some issues that create controversy.

• Sports lacking potential medal winners receive little or no funding from Own the Podium. The fear is that certain sports may fall off of the radar and not return.  
• The grassroots infrastructure still receives financial support but it has not increased substantially since 2004.
• Some critics argue that federal funding for Own the Podium goes mostly to the cream of the crop. Meanwhile overall youth sports participation is down in a losing battle with electronic toys and phone gadgets. 
•  Are we creating a sports culture where finishing out of the medals means failure?
• Late bloomers may run the risk of being left out of the program.
• Olympics and world championship teams will become smaller and more elite. Fewer athletes will experience the world championship or Olympic experience.
•  Own the Podium dictates how the money is spent. In 2010 Canadian speed skater Denny Morrison claimed that his performance suffered because he could not train with an American world and Olympic champion. 
• Own the Podium searched for potential winners who grew up elsewhere but had dual Canadian citizenship. Could this lead to a mercenary approach to winning as opposed to cultivating our own youth?
• Top heavy financing may lead to short term gain but long term pain. If grassroots money is barely increased where will the future Canadian champions come from?
• A journalist even went as far as accusing Own the Podium of limiting training times on the Luge track for non-Canadians in Vancouver 2010. According to him this resulted in the tragic death of a Georgian Luger during a practice run. It seems an extreme accusation for a very dangerous activity.  

   We can't have it both ways. We can spend most of the funding on participation rather that elite training.  Do we want to go back to the days of underfunded, outclassed athletes showing up on the world stage just happy to be there with medals being a rare but momentous event? .....      or........
Do we celebrate Own the Podium and Road to Excellence for making Canada a world athletic force for us to be proud of?
   We have an epidemic of sedentary youth and childhood obesity.
Is money better spent on programs to get young people active again?
Will watching Canadian athletes win multiple medals inspire our youth to put away the Nintendo and start moving?
   A majority of Canadians polled approve of the Own the Podium concept. It looks to be here to stay.
 
  Now what of unlikely story of the grizzled fitness Guru opening his mouth and risking the future of Canadian amateur wrestling?  Supposedly the quick thinking wrestling coach told the Own the Podium executives that this particular individual was an outcast on the fringes of the wrestling community. The coach described him as being knocked on the head many times as a club level wrestling 'Tomato Can'. This explained his embarrassing verbal faux pas. The executives bought the line. The program was saved! Yes, this story reeks more of urban myth than true incident.
Do you really believe such such a grizzled fitness Guru/Blogger could actually exist?

Until Next Time                                  

Boxing is currently on the short end of Own the Podium funding.
Boom Boom Boulanger may have to wait to get new gloves!

Keep Fit

Little Bobby Strong
Fitness Guru/Blogger


Links

AudienceBuilder.ca

www.fitnwell.com

www.rabbitview.com

References

1. The Wrong Track -Canada'a Medal Misstep  Thomas Hall The Walrus Sept. 2016
2. Canada's Lust for Glory is to Blame for this Senseless Tragedy  Martin Samuel, The Daily Mail