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…
