Nice guys (and gals) don’t finish last – the Olympic mind shift of Own the Podium

BzzzZZZ – my alarm goes off and instead of hitting snooze I bound out of bed to check the current country medal standings; thrilled that while I slept our Canadian athletes were delivering success after success – and that Canada was still in medal podium position in the country standings! When it ended this would prove to be Canada’s most successful Olympic games to date – with 29 podium finishes.

So much bling at the closing

This was a first in my memory.  And nowhere was that more evident than at the closing ceremonies in Pyeongchang when athlete after Canadian athlete proudly marched into the stadium wearing their distinctive Olympic medals.  At the final count 82 of the 225 Canadian athletes who attended the Games left with at least one medal around their necks.  Pride indeed!

Photo of Canadian Winter Olympic athletes walking into the Closing Ceremonies

So close – and yet so far

It had not always been this way.  Like many others, I had spent many nail-biting moments on the couch, watching a favorite Canadian Olympic athlete get pipped at the post by a Russian or US athlete, ending up off podium.  And I would wonder is we had a fighting spirit in athletics. More importantly, I wondered what message this would send to our next generation? Could we balance being nice with a healthy competitive spirit? Or were we the flag bearer for Baron Coubertin’s quote:

The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.

What changed?  And can I feed-forward this experience?

I set out to do a little research on how a country of less than 37 million, with a 2016 GDP of $1.53 trillion USD could make such a great leap in the medal standings.

It turned out that they created a little focus, and a lot of flexibility.  They identified promising talent, invested deeply in R&D and facilities for targeted sports, and developed a support network for these young Canadians.

In other words, they supported the athletes with a safety net of the more general EQ skills (risk-taking, grit, resolve, mindfulness, pride, joy etc.) – and let the individual athletes focus on developing the independent time-critical position knowledge.

Own the Podium

Vancouver’s successful bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics triggered the change.  The country took on a fresh coat of patriotism. 70% of Canadians surveyed stated it was important for Canada to be a top medal finisher in the Vancouver Games.  It had always been proud of its athletes, but these individuals had succeeded without the support of the sports machinery available in Olympic power-houses like Russia, China and the USA.

In 2004, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) decided that Vancouver was going to be different.  After not winning a gold medal at a home Olympics the Canadian Government, along with the country’s sports industry, decided to bring extra focus to this issue.  A COC subcommittee called ‘Own the Podium Steering Committee‘ was created to implement recommendations made by an independent sports consultant Olympian Cathy Priestner Allinger.

It looked like they decided to heed the advice of a different Olympian, nine-time swimming medalist Mark Spitz:

If you fail to prepare, you’re preparing to fail.

It involved a plan, it requested money, it needed buy-in – and it set a goal

The report created a comprehensive plan that laid out the need for substantial funding.  The report targeted individual sports that would offer Canada the best opportunities at getting on the podium.

The goal was to provide the Canadian athletes, their coaches and support teams with the additional resources, funding and programming to position them for Gold.

In their  2016-2017 Annual Report, Own the Podium shows how this initiative was achieved.  There is reference to sponsorship and funding – but the Operational Priorities were where the gems were hidden.

A Mind Shift to WIN

Own the Podium made some key decisions.  One was to invest heavily in Sports Science and Sports Medicine.  I have had the privilege of hearing many Canadian Olympian keynote speakers over the past years – Marnie McBean, Clare Rustad, Claire Carver Dias, Adam Van Koeverden – and many reference a specific focus on the psychology of sports, the mind-set of winning, the concept of loss, the joy of participation.

With mental wellness being a key focus across the education system, the lessons learned include understanding how individuals handle stress, competition, retirement, elation and defeat.

This created a distinct shift in attitude.

It takes a country – Team Canada!

Coupled with an investment in everything from the big money in venues, technology and equipment, to the little differences in internships and ways of providing financial support, the athletes now had the mental space to be able to invest the necessary physical hours to hone their craft.

• Local schools make time-table accommodation for elite athletes so that they can compete internationally, supported by teaching staff and peers so they can still make their academic grades and stay on track for their post-secondary ambitions.
• Olympic and Para-Olympic athletes are supported by a travelling team of medical and sports rehabilitation specialists who have cared for them through the years.
• Sponsoring corporations share their big data divisions to offer athletes analysis tools and competitive insights.
• Universities have assisted in research and development projects analyzing alpine skiing racing suits, offering wind tunnels and doing psychology and physiology tests.

When winning is down to 100ths of a second

But at the end of the day, it comes down to the team of or one human being – doing what they have drilled day in and day out – blending sport into the fabric and focus of their life.  Sometimes it comes down to just one run, one race.

Pyeongchang 2018 gave us more than a few heart-breaking moments, moments of medals lost to an extended ski, a 100th of a second, or imperceptible distance between two rocks. Moments of anguish and loss.

But there were so many acts of incredible bravery. Many ended in medals. Some ended in devastating accidents. All were spectacular in their courage.

And it is the courage that is the key to the other part of the Own the Podium strategy.

Play the long game

The exhilaration and incredible sportsmanship in Vancouver inspired so many kids to participate in and experiment with new sports. Each Olympics sees the entry of a new sport to the roster. Some of our medals at the 2018 Olympics are the direct fruits of that enthusiasm.  And Own the Podium is already analyzing the medal opportunity for 2020 and 2022.  This is a marathon.

Own the Podium did not stop there.  Partnering with other sponsor organizations and corporations, they have been hard at work seeking out potential talent through ideas such as RBC’s Talent Ground initiative. Think tanks and symposia analyze possible improvements in equipment, the opportunity to encourage an athlete to leverage their individual physique, and to hone their aptitude.

No more Mr. Nice Guy?

Far from it, Canada worked its way up the medal rankings – deciding to ‘fight well’ to compete, not to conquer – all while staying ‘nice’.  A great example of how athletics, winning and a great attitude can all co-exist.

In a new Future of Work dominated by technology, AI and robotics, it is becoming evident that the new normal will reward young adults who can think critically, make game time decisions in response to rapid changes in the environment, and are well balanced in their ambitions.  Blue sky, big thinking and strong inter-personal skills will be highly valued – skills learned across all kinds of athletics.  The advantages in mental wellness, the camaraderie of being on a team, the social, time-management and leadership skills, the baked in testing through failure are all learned,  each a part of the essential transferable EQ skill set that outlasts the ebbs and flows in technology developments.

And the Gals?

Canada boasted an even split in the medals – 50:50.  How is that for equality? It also shows the nation’s lack of discrimination and strong support for talent no matter what colour, creed or orientation it appears in (so long as they are aiming for a GOLD medal!) This is another of the benefits of the Own the Podium – empowering and motivating young people across the nation.

And talking about girls – a shout out to Czech athlete Ester Ledecka who made history as the first athlete to win gold in snow-boarding and skiing.

Ah.  But what about the Hockey, the Short Speed Skating and the Curling? 🙁

Please. Do not rub salt in the fresh wounds. Painful.

It also shows that not everything in life turns out the way we were expecting. Hockey and Curling were supposed to be our gimme medals.

Congratulations to the winners. We are still nice neighbors and gracious guests.  But don’t get too complacent.  Come the next Olympics we are going to be coming back for those medals!

Because the taste of victory is oh, so sweet!

This is what I learned from the display of selflessness, bravery and athleticism from participants from all countries.  How were you inspired to redefine your “I’m possible” by the Olympics?  Stay informed. Sign up for the newsletter. Join the conversation.

Research & Credits

• Medal table – Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics
• Olympic.ca – By the numbers   and Pop-stars and Pandas Closing Ceremony
• Photo of the Canadian team entering the closing ceremony in Pyeongchang Credit: Paul Chiasson
• Own the Podium: Ownthepodium.org  2016-2017 Own the Podium Annual Report  History from Wikipedia
• Game time decisions from Big Air – Max Parrot, Mark McMorris and Sebastien Toutant 
• Ester Ledecka 
• http://yourontarioresearch.ca/2018/02/university-researchers-study-sports-athletes-olympic-games/