Patience is a virtue

See...what did I tell you?

Canada has won two more golds since yesterday's post, and all of a sudden Canucks are indeed owning (rather than moaning) the podium, even if it is for just one day. Ashleigh McIvor won the women's ski cross today - no, I didn't know such an event existed either - and last night Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir took the ice dance gold with a performance reminiscent of Torvill and Dean all those years ago. Any Brit of a certain age still has the Bolero routine burned into their memory cells, and I'm sure Virtue and Moir's skate will become part of the Canadian collective memory over the course of time.

And as I write, the men's hockey team are cruising past Germany to set up a quarter final clash with Russia, the women are already in their final (against USA on Thursday), and both the men's and women's curlers sit atop the pile after a series of dominant displays in the round robin - where does that phrase come from? - stages of the competition.

So cheer up Brian, you know what they say...

Woe Canada..?

Despite what I was saying about perspective yesterday, Canada's loss to the United States in the Olympic ice hockey was most certainly a devastating blow to the country. Team Canada can still make it to the last eight if they beat Germany on Tuesday - which they should - but the public's faith in their ability to bring home the gold has been severely shaken.

When results are compared to pre-Games predictions it's not been a good Olympics at all for Canada thus far - indeed, the Canadian Olympic Committee admitted this morning that the five year, $117 million 'Own The Podium' program had missed its mark - but Canada still has four golds, and with a realistic prospect of at least four more to come in ice dance, women's hockey and both men's and women's curling, there is every chance of overhauling the record of seven that was set in Salt Lake City in 2002 and then equalled four years ago in Turin.

Canada is not a large country in terms of population, and the despondency being shown in light of America's dominance of the medal table is totally unfounded. The home athletes at these Games have been put under immense pressure to perform by the media, the public and the aforementioned Own The Podium program, and as is so often the case back in Britain, as much attention is being given to failure as it is to success.

So, let's see where we are this time next week, and then let's judge how the Games have gone. After all, patience is a virtue...