Huge Olympic Success for Italy
TORONTO – Well, except for the upcoming Special Olympics, the biggest winter global event has ended. Some readers may remember that Canada, more specifically Calgary, Alberta, declined to pursue the opportunity to host this year’s Winter Olympics – withdrawing from the competition to do so in 2018. Question of money, as usual.
Despite our reluctance, this had to have been one of the most successful Olympics ever, from a marketing and “class” perspective. Italians seemed to spare little to “fare una bella figura”(put up a good show – “face”, as the Chinese say). Good for them.
There cannot be many who look upon the athletic achievements of these superbly trained young men and women with anything but admiration and a touch of envy. Citizens of every country, participants or hosts, are justly proud of the performances of their young. The competitiveness – real or vicarious – on the snow, ice, or slopes – is forever preferable to the trillions of dollars nations spend on training and military technology to prove a point. It is a perspective for another day.
All this having been said, athletes from 92 countries competed in 116 events for the three medals -gold, silver and bronze – as prizes for those who finished in the top three at the finish line. The difference between those who did and those who did not is measured in fractions of a minute or in centimetres. Style and technique quite clearly are important to the outcome as well. How tough was the competition?
Olympians from only 29 of those 92 countries were rewarded with medals, of any type – 38.6% of participants. Moreover, only 19 countries celebrated the attainment of one or more gold medals. Canada ranked 11Th among them. Norway was first (18 golds) in both gold and overall medals (41).
For those who think that this is a time to show off “our prowess” in hockey, Canada – alas – ranked second (silver) to the USA’s gold standard. As a once avid and rabid “rink rat”, this is a “humiliation” that will be difficult to swallow. Ah well, I used to pray that the Maple Leafs would win something, now I will look heavenward for the next Olympics.
It may interest some readers to know that only the USA presented more Olympians (232) than Canada’s 207 athletes. The Americans place second in the total medal count (33), Canada with 21 medals ranked 11th in total medals. Norway presented 80 athletes to pursue its goals and top ranked totals. Most of our readers may wish to know how many Italian athletes participated and what they accomplished.
Italy “fielded” the third highest number of participating athletes (196). They ranked 3rd in gold medals (tied with Netherlands) and 3rd in total medals with 32. They might have even done better (that is the fate of sports), but it was una bella figura – on all counts. Auguri.
