Despite all the criticism, Canada’s performance at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver has been good, if not superb, considering our population size, talent pool, and lack of funding for Olympic athletes.

We should be grateful to even get on the podium, let alone getting the second highest amount of gold medals.

We currently sit in second, behind the Americans, for most gold medals and sit in fifth overall for most medals.

Remember that we earned one less medal than the Americans by the end of the games in Torino in 2006.

To learn that many medal-winning athletes from other countries are making as much money as NHL hockey players, while Canadian athletes scrimp and save and work part time jobs is really something.

They are doing just fine but could definitely do better should we decide to pay our athletes more so they could dedicate all of their time to their sport and have a comfortable living.

Until that happens, folks should be satisfied with Canadian performances at the games and let them do what they have to do. We can’t use the typical hockey parent mentality with athletes of other sports because we don’t dominate other sports the way we do hockey – except for maybe ski and snowboard cross, which debuted this year at the games.

Let’s face it, most of us would probably feel satisfied just winning a gold medal in hockey even if we won few medals in other sports.

One could argue that Olympians are no longer amateurs and as professionals need to be scrutinized and criticized but, again, until our athletes are making $1.5 million a year like U.S. alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, we should save it for the millionaires chasing a little black disk around the ice, but even then, our hockey teams are likely getting no pay for performing at the games.

All the pressure and expectations can’t be good for the athletes. I would like to think that our gold medal winners kept their TVs and radios off when the media was talking about the Canadian curse – no gold medals won on home soil.

Or how about pressuring the men’s hockey team? Let’s puff their heads up enough to the point where they can’t see the puck and are upset by weaker teams who take advantage. Remember Belarus upsetting Sweden at the 2002 winter games? Thankfully, it hasn’t happened but we barely beat the Swiss team. Close call!

Be happy with our athletes, and if you must, pressure government and big business instead of athletes. They are the ones who can ultimately help our athletes be more successful.
— John O'Connor