Own The Podium - History

History

After failing to win a gold medal in the first two Olympic Games hosted in Canada (the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary)—becoming the only country to have hosted multiple Olympic Games without winning a gold medal at home—the Canadian Olympic Committee pledged to make Canada the top medal winning nation at 2010 when the country hosted the Olympic Games for the third time. The COC's program was inspired by the USOC, which had previously regarded the Winter Olympics as the "Forgotten Games", but then changed strategies and improved sponsorship of winter sports, and this led the USA to great medal successes at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

The determination to boost Canada's performance came just months after Canada's 13 winter national sport federations, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), Sport Canada, the Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA), the Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC), and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) met in Calgary in February 2004 to discuss their goals for the 2010 Games.

Based on the principles and framework developed at the meeting, the COC contracted an independent consultant to analyze the sport projections, provide recommendations on changes and resources required, and determine if the goals were achievable. Cathy Priestner Allinger was selected to perform this study who recruited experts in sport and sport systems. The final report was submitted to the partners later that year. A subcommittee called the Own the Podium Steering Committee was then created to manage the implementation of the report's recommendations.

A 2006 survey indicated that almost 3 out of 4 Canadians approved of the goals set in the program, and that nearly 70% of them say it is important for Canada to be a top medal finisher in 2010.

The 13 winter national sport federations included:

In 2006, the Canadian government announced the creation of Podium Canada, an umbrella body for the Own the Podium - 2010 (OTP) and Road to Excellence (RTE) sport programs. While OTP focuses on winter sports, RTE's vision and strategy is for Canadian teams to improve their performance at the Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games in 2008 and 2012.