From the Edmonton Journal:
"I just see that sport has become really narrowly focused on podium performances and anything outside of top-three finishes are no longer being supported," she said.
"And sport is still a lot more than winning. It's about competing and doing your best and encouraging people to be active and healthy. I'm concerned that with such a narrow podium-finish focus in the elite sport funding scheme, we are losing focus of what it means to participate and be at championships and be an all-around good athlete."
In a sport like track and field, she said, where competition across the globe is fierce, support from the governing bodies shouldn't stop with a bronze medal.
"On the one hand, we do want to have a culture of excellence and we do want people to do their best," she said. "It is good to win and it is good for the country when we do have Vancouver results and our record gold medals.
"I think track and field, being a finalist in the Olympic Games is an extremely impressive thing, but from a sports funding or a national sport focus, that seems to not be good enough anymore. I think that sends a wrong message." ............
"It's finding that sweet spot of being excited but still being relaxed and not letting it overwhelm you."
No comments:
Post a Comment