It's All About The Spin

When kayaker Adam van Koeverden emerged from the K-1 500 metre final with a silver medal early this morning at the Shunyi canoe/kayak venue, it signalled the final podium trip for a Canadian at the Beijing Olympics.
(although Gary Reed gave it his best shot in the 800 metres on the track at the Bird's Nest stadium, with the reigning world silver medallist finishing an agonizing fourth).
So the final medal count for Canada reads like this: Three gold, nine silver, six bronze. A grand total of 18, which rates six better than Athens 2004 and matches the second-best total ever for Canada at a non-boycotted Summer Olympics. We brought home the same number of medals from Barcelona in 1992; the number grew to 22 four years later in Atlanta.
Sports Illustrated predicted 15 Canadian medals at these Games. The majority of pundits probably weren't willing to go beyond that, given what transpired in Athens four years ago.
Were these Games a success for Canada? Based on the improvement over Athens, you'd have to give our gang in China a passing grade. Especially given the fact that the majority of amateur sport funding is being directed to winter athletes at the moment, with our country mere hours away from being officially on deck for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.
The stated goal before Beijing 2008, according the Canadian Olympic Committee, was a top-16 finish in the medal standings. If one goes by the total medal count — and, as we've said here earlier, it should be that way — then the COC can boast about a tie for 13th with Belarus. The official Beijing Games site, though, ranks countries by golds won, which drops us down to a tie for 19th, and outside of the COC's target.
A successful Summer Olympics or not? We'll be interested to see how the powers-that-be in Canada spin this one.