Canadian Olympic Committee Rewards Excellence

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) announced last week that it has adopted a new funding policy for individual sports. Olympic and Pan-American Games medals will now be the criteria for getting more cash.

Rowing Canada has benefited from this new strategy getting the fourth largest payout of all the 52 applicable sports with $205,104.  

Canadian rowers going for medals
© Sybrand Treffers

So far $5.2 million has been allocated to national sports federations.  $920,000 will be distributed specifically to athletes and $650,000 handed out to support programmes for coaches. The distribution is solely performance based. For example, 2004 Olympic hopefuls ranked top 6 in the world would receive $8,000 each.

This is a complete departure from the previous attitude of funding all sports equally and national rowing coach Al Morrow has welcomed it. ?This is the straw that helps fix the camel’s back,? he told The Globe (Toronto) last week.  ?I believe and our sport believes, you should have to earn it.?

The basis for dividing funds was decided by which sports federations had athletes who achieved the top eight results at the Olympic and Pan-American Games. At the Sydney Olympics rowing picked up a bronze medal in the women’s eight as well as getting two fourths ? Derek Porter in the single and Theresa Luke and Emma Robinson in the pair. At the last Pan- American Games, held in 1999, Canadian rowers placed in the top three in 10 of the 14 events.

Executive Officer for COC, Mr. Jim Thompson, said, ?This marks the first time dollar values have been attached to medal winning and top-eight performances.?