sports

 

 

 

Canadian Olympic Misfortune

Canadian athletes record lowest medals for host country in history

Davie Wong
Sports Reporter

Disappointment is the
only word I can think of when I
look back at this year’s summer
Olympics. It was supposed to be
our year, but what happened? We
had the worst performance of any
host country in the history of the
Olympics.

A total 1 medals—s silver,
6 bronze—was all Canada could
place in that very expensive
display case in Montreal. Greg Joy
took silver in the men’s high jump,
John Wood took silver in men’s C-1
500m, Michel Vaillancourt took
silver in the individual equestrian
show jumping, and the men’s
swimming team took silver in the
4x 100 Medley Relay.

If no one else did, at least the
women’s swim team brought their
game to the Olympics. Nancy

* #

Garapick took bronze in both the
100 and 200-meter backstroke,
while Shannon Smith took bronze
in the 400-meter freestyle. Becky
Smith took bronze in the 4oom
individual medley while fellow
teammate Cheryl Gibson took
silver. The 4 x 100 freestyle relay
team took bronze along with the 4
x 100 Medley relay team.

When it came to team
competitions however, Canada
looked out of place. In soccer
Canada failed to pick up a win
out of group stages and was
eliminated from the competition.
In handball Canada also failed to
pick up a single win out of 5 group
stage games. The field hockey
team found some success in their
venture; they won one game out of
five group stage matches and were
eliminated. Both the men and
women’s volleyball teams found
little success in their Olympics—
neither were able to pick up a win

Brad Findlay leads the way

Paul Smith
Contributor

A fast-breaking offence
and aggressive play helped the
Douglas College basketball team
to a 79-66 win over Sheldon
Jackson Junior College of Alaska
last Thursday night.

The team, said by many to
be the best Douglas has ever had
in its short history, is currently
an improving two wins and
four losses, with all four losses
administered by teams in the

tough Surrey Men’s League.

Brad Findlay led the locals
with 23 points, followed by Don
Robertson with 18. Also in double
figures were Brad Redall and
Mike Dendy with 15 and 1 points
respectively.

Doug Hicks topped the
Alaskan team with 17 points.

Douglas opened up an eight-
point lead at the end of the first
half and never really looked back,
although Alaska brought it to
within six with two minutes left in
the game.

in their matches. The water polo
team capped off a disappointing
tournament by finishing ranked
ninth out of twelfth.

Only the men’s basketball
team found a modicum of success.
They came out of group stages 4-1
only to fall to the United States in
the semi-finals, and then to the
Soviet Union in the bronze medal
match.

For the first time in the
nation’s history, we hosted
the legendary collection of
competitions known as the
Olympics. As first times go, I don’t
think it could have been much
worse. Sure we could not have
won any medals at all, but would
that be all that worse than the
abysmal amount that we did win?
If these Olympic games sent any
sort of message, it’s that Canada
has a very long way to go in terms
of summer games.

But a bevy of baskets by the
good guys spoiled any hopes of
a comeback for the tall people of
Sheldon Jackson, and the game
ended with a victorious Douglas
team going to the showers saying,
“Did we win? Did we really win?”

Coach Doug Woodward (no,
stupid, not the store, the brother
of the Ottawa Rough Rider Rod
Woodward) did not seem overly
ecstatic about the win, but said
the team was “well-balanced.”
Seven out of the eight players hit
for points.

Canada’s Cheryl Gibson (left) &
Becky Smith (right) celebrate
their respective silver

 

The win ensured Douglas a
trip to Alaska for a tournament in
early February, where they will be
competing against junior colleges
from south of the border as well as
in the Lower Mainland.

A strong game defensively
was turned in by Larry Simister,
who grabbed 10 rebounds for the
winners.

Other team members
included Mike Kipp, Ammet
Kular, George McCutcheon, and
Paul Wilson.

Apathy again was evident

Image via collectionscanada.gc.ca

  

Image via cdnolympic.com

at the game, with just a small
crowd of family and friends in
attendance. “The fan turnout is
definitely disappointing,” said Dan
Robertson. “We've got a chance
to go all the way and no one will
come and watch us.”

It’s corny and it’s been said,
but the team does need support,
so how about giving it to them.

This article was originally
published on December 6, 1976
in Volume 2 Issue 2 of the Other
Press