Canada primed to perform in Beijing's locked-down Winter Games

Canada's Danae Blais, Alyson Charles, Courtney Sarault, Florence Brunelle, left to right, ham it up during a short track speedskating practice session at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on Tuesday, February 1, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Will Canada's caution around COVID-19 be a competitive advantage in Beijing?

Safety first, sport second has been a mantra in Canada's high-performance community during the pandemic.

Athletes wearing the Maple Leaf at the 2022 Winter Olympics have watched many of their international competitors train and compete with fewer restrictions on them.

Canadian athletes entering the confines of Beijing's "closed loop" are thus more mentally and emotionally prepared for those limitations than their rivals, according to the Canadian Olympic Committee and Own The Podium.

"The team is used to being in lockdown, they're used to these measures of tight control, they're used to a closed-loop environment, it's like old hat for them," OTP head Anne Merklinger said. "They know they can be successful. They know they can do this."

Beijing's Winter Olympics open Friday and close Feb. 20.

A Canadian team of215 athletes will compete in three zones -- downtown Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou.

Canadian athletes essentially locked themselves down in the days before departure before Beijing and tested constantly.

They're primed to perform under China's rules laid out in the organizing committee's playbooks, according to COC chief executive officer David Shoemaker.

"Our overarching premise is that it can be a competitive opportunity for us if we not only adhere to the playbooks better than any other nation, but if we layer onto those playbooks our own rules and requirements that allow us to do everything possible to mitigate the impact of the virus," COC chief executive officer David Shoemaker told The Canadian Press.

In other words, if Beijing's Games become a coronavirus war of attrition with athletes dropping out because of infection, the COC's mission is getting Canadians to the start line.

Their summer counterparts proved that safety and success aren't mutually exclusive in Tokyo's Olympics less than six months ago. No Canadian athlete tested positive and 24 medals, including seven gold, tied for the most at a non-boycotted Summer Games.

The Omicron variant, which surged into Canada late last year and recently arrived in China, is a more infectious threat to podium ambitions, however.

"As our chief medical officer Dr. Mike Wilkinson has said, our goal can't be like Tokyo, zero COVID," Shoemaker said.

"Our goal has to be to ensuring that no Team Canada athletes are deprived of an opportunity to compete and achieve their Olympic dream because of the virus."

Three members of Canada's delegation of 414, which includes athletes, coaches and staff, were in COVID-19 protocols Tuesday.

The COC won't name athletes in protocol unless the athlete wants that information public.

Canada's 29 medals four years ago in Pyeongchang, South Korea, was the most at a single Winter Olympics and ranked the country third behind Norway (39) and Germany (31).

Eleven gold was short of the record 14 won by the host team in 2010 in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C.

The COC and OTP didn't set a hard medal target for Canada in Beijing.

"The pandemic has had a significant impact on the opportunity for winter sport athletes to train and compete to the degree that they normally would, with a full field," Merklinger said.

"We don't have the same breadth of data points that we would want to have in order to recommend a performance objective for the Canadian Olympic Committee to consider.

"High-performance athletes, it's part of their DNA to strive to achieve their performance objectives. We're a very strong winter sport nation and we're going to see that again in Beijing."

Canada's athletes know they'll be alone in their rooms a lot.

Those competing in a single event will depart China quickly after its completion.

"A huge part of what makes a multi-sport games, whether it be the Olympics, Canada Games, is the interaction with other sports, being able to cheer on your teammates." Whitehorse cross-country skier Dahria Beatty said. "I think even within Team Canada, each sport is going to be quite separate.

"It's unfortunate, but at the same time, if that's what is needed to make the Games go ahead, it's a lot better option than not being able to compete and represent your country after training for four years for it, or training much longer if you truly think about it."

A rival missing from the field because of infection doesn't cheapen a medal, says reigning Olympic men's ski cross champion Brady Leman. The Calgarian sees it as one variable among many in his sport to manage en route to victory.

"You want to beat the best guy, that's for sure, when you win a medal, but at the end of the day it's the best person on that day," Leman said.

"Unfortunately, it's probably going to happen to a couple people. Maybe not in our sport, hopefully not in our sport, but it's going to happen in some of the sports. It's just the reality of competing in 2022.

"I would feel badly for them, but I don't think it would diminish any accomplishment at all."

The COC will offer mental and emotional support to any Canadian athletes forced to withdraw because of COVID.

"That's both unthinkable and yet something we're prepared for," Shoemaker said.

Beijing's measures within the closed loop make him confident Canadian athletes can march into the Bird's Nest in Friday's opening ceremonies without risk of infection.

"For those athletes in the mountain zones, while they're welcome to participate in the opening ceremonies, it's not something we're recommending because of the rather significant distance they'd have to travel to make that happen," he said.

"For the athletes that are in Beijing, because of the integrity of the closed loop, and as long as it works well and fits with their performance objective and schedule, we're encouraging them to attend."

OTP provides technical expertise to sport federations, summer and winter, Olympic and Paralympic.

OTP also makes funding recommendations directing almost $70 million of government money annually to federations whose athletes show future medal potential.

The COC contributes $15 million to OTP's targeted excellence strategy, prepares athletes for the Games environment, looks after their needs on the ground at Games and pays for that via corporate sponsorship.

The COC also awards $20,000 for Olympic gold medals, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 to bronze medallists. Their coaches are rewarded at half that rate.

Canadian taxpayers are the largest investor in high-performance sport. The federal government spends roughly $200 million annually when athletes' financial support and the hosting of international events are tallied up.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 1, 2022.