Wednesday, February 27, 2008 - 07:08 PM

'I don't believe we're just a winter nation,' says Alex Baumann

Feb 27, 2008 04:30 AM

Allan Ryan
SPORTS REPORTER

It's not quite what the Canadian Olympic Committee had been asking for, but in the end, it'll amount to much, much more. Hopefully, even some summer Olympic medals.

Owing to the federal government's largest single investment ever in Canadian amateur sports, it also sends Canada's high-performance summer athletes headed towards funding parity with their winter counterparts.

Yesterday's 2008 federal budget included funding of $24 million over the next two years – $8 million this year, $16 million, next – for the COC's summer Road to Excellence program, then an ongoing $24 million per annum, in perpetuity.

"Very good news," said Alex Baumann, double gold medal winner for Canada at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles and now, after 15 years in Australia, executive director for the Road to Excellence program.

"We kind of thought it was going to be a five-year commitment if we got the resource. We didn't expect it was going to be ongoing, so that was a pleasant surprise. It's certainly a happy day for summer sports."

The number the COC had originally been tossing about – one recommended by the House finance committee – had been $30 million over each of the next five years.

"I think in the context of the economic environment we're in right now, this is a tremendous win for high-performance sport in Canada and a tremendous win for our summer athletes," added Chris Rudge, secretary general for the COC.

"It's a big step in the recognition of the support these kids need. It's a little late for this money to have an impact on Beijing, but we should see some tremendous impact when we get to the London Games (in 2012)."

The federal government, beginning in 2006, had earmarked $11 million a year for each of five years through the 2010 Winter Games in Whistler. Given that the summer sports are more than double the size of the winter sports, the funding is quite comparable.

"We're still starting far behind the winter side, though, in terms of results. I think people have to understand it'll take time to move the system but, if we make the right investments, then I think we can not only help the athletes that are close to the medal podium right now, but also build a system that can produce repeatable results,' said Baumann.

"I think what we saw today was the political will to support summer sport. I don't think you can get results without it, but I also think that the sport community was totally united behind this initiative.

"That's probably one of the first times I've seen the Canadian sports community so united in lobbying the government, selling the benefits of high-performance sports."

Noting that the winter sports' parallel On the Podium initiative is geared towards winning the total medal-count in 2010, Baumann sees no reason why the boys and girls of summer can't start cutting into the hardware as well.

"They've set a very ambitious goal," Baumann said of the winter program, "but, judging by the results thus far (through this winter season), it is achievable.

"There's no quick fix here but we want to try to do that on the summer side. I don't believe we're just a winter nation."