In the spirit of competition and sportsmanship between nations

As much as we snowy Canadians can up the anti for the Winter Olympiad, with our snazzy Calgary bobsled track and sky high Canadian Rockies, I much prefer the raw athletism of the Summer Games. There's something about sprinting and throwing and rowing that brings me inspiration and keeps me glued to the tele. Maybe it's the warmth that summer brings, as I've never been a big fan of winter and winter play.

I shudder in the fall when I see those temps start to drop, and defiantly keep my shorts on until the chill wins over ignorance. Knowing I'll be trudging along in umpteen layers of clothing at -25C makes me want to block it out with the persistence of a zombie.

I do like it warm. As hard as it is dealing with a 90 degree day and high sun, it still feels better than having my teeth chatter and my lips swollen for lack of blood flow, running face down into a 40kmh headwind and icicles dangling from my hair.

Canada has had some success in track and field, despite the embarrassment of Ben Johnson. Fortunately Donovan Bailey pulled us out of that one and brought us cleanly back into the limelight. Our 4x100m men's team that year was one of the strongest ever fielded, with Bailey, Bruny Surin, Glenroy Gilbert and Robert Esmie taking the works. Perdita's stumble at the hurdles...tough as it was to take...was at least an honest try and had us that close to gold. She will get her chance at redemption and I guarantee she won't be face to face with the tarmac this time. Our newest hero is Tyler Christopher, who took gold this year already at the World Indoor T&F Championships in Spain last March.

What we lack are good distance runners. It's less of Canada's fault and more of a North American malady. The Yanks are starting to see the light, though, with team Hanson showing that hard work pays off, and Ryan Hall's amazing runs taking the US marathon record, dominating the field at the Olympic marathon trials and prepped to go big in London next week. Up here we just don't have an organization that can make good distance athletes. The ones with potential have to make do of their own accords. Local Charles Bedley (a familiar sight for me as he trains in my area) has run a 2:16 last year, taking third in California Internation Marathon. The link has video of the finish and a good interview with Charlie.

Canada cheaps out on sending distance runners to the Olympics keeping the standards still out of reach and giving athletes little reason to try. If the standards could be lessened we would be able to grant Olympic experience to our distance runners, and having that chance would help push more of them to higher levels. Bruce Deacon of BC was our last entry to the Olympic marathon at the Sydney 2000 games. Jerry Ziak and Matt MacInnis also have the potential to be there. All three of these guys are in their 30's so age will become an issue before long. We need young runners with potential.

The women's side of the things has it's own issues. Tara Quinn-Smith of the Brooks project has run a 1:13:53 half while BC's Kirsty Smith has a sub-1:17 already this year. These girls are young, still in their early 20's. A step up to the full marathon distance must be in their futures. They still have their work cut out for them on the world stage, as their efforts don't even show on the worlds top list for the year (the top list cuts off at 1:13:00 so far for the women).

Hopefully politics won't interfere too much. And the pollution.