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Jamie Sarkonak: Canada chose its Olympic decline

Fall in gold-medal rankings comes after years of stagnant funding and leadership that abhors excellence

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The Olympics are over, and the tallies are in. Canada finished with five gold medals, seven silver, and nine bronze. Our athletes did us proud, but did we do them justice? For a second Winter Games in a row, we ranked 11th in terms of gold medals, which is a stark break from the past: between 1992 and 2018, Canada always ranked among the gold-earning top 10, often reaching the top five.

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You could dismiss it as a matter of chance, but it tracks with the rest of this country’s decline. We’ve been getting poorer, sadder and less healthy, among other things, and many of our leaders now frown upon excellence and the building of national pride as worthy objectives in any field. Now consider that sports funding has stagnated for the past two decades. It’s no wonder that athletic performance is getting noticeably worse.

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