Wily Americans Put Canada on the Defensive

LAC-BEAUPORT, Que.

Funny that in all the fuss that the Americans are making about Canada being "nasty" in protecting its home advantage for the 2010 Olympics, there’s been nothing said about the U.S. denying the Chinese freestyle aerials team the opportunity to train at the water ramps at Park City, Utah, this summer.

The Canadian freestyle team say that the Chinese got the word they were no longer welcome at the U.S. training site shortly before they were to arrive in Park City – more than likely because they’ve become so good in the sport.

So guess where the Chinese ended up training? Right here with the Canadians at the Yves LaRoche National Training Centre. The Canadians welcomed them aboard.

When you think about it, it was a good strategy by the Yanks to make a stink about this issue -- it hardly gets any better than the front page of the New York Times -- because it's put Canada on the defensive.

Now, Canadian athletes are having to answer all kinds of questions about an issue that is really a non-issue because they're doing the same thing every other host nation has done and they're following the rules of each international federation in terms of the amount of access they must grant.

They've hit a vulnerable spot for Canadians. We don't even like being perceived as being unfair, even if it's not really the case.

Comments

[Jim LeFlame]

Being defensive of home advantage is one thing but not honouring a handshake deals dating back 30 years (speedskating and luge) is something different. Time to own up to poor sportsmanship.