Canada at the 2026 Milano Cortina: Winter Olympics

[lenaitch]

Adding non-winter sports to the winter Olympics, simply on the basis that they are indoor just to balance events seems odd. Why no move swimming to the winter session.

Adding variations to team sports, like hockey, pre-supposes that there is sufficient networks in enough nations to create high level competition. Just adding variations to an existing league sport that is essentially played the same way around the world would probably just dilute the core sport.

 

[Mihairokov]

Adding non-winter sports to the winter Olympics, simply on the basis that they are indoor just to balance events seems odd. Why no move swimming to the winter session.

The basis isn't that they're indoors - the basis is that the Summer Olympics has X number of athletes and sports and the Winter Olympics has far fewer. For the sake of marketing, broadcasting, etc. it may be in the interest of the IOC to either balance more or move some from Summer for scheduling.

Adding variations to team sports, like hockey, pre-supposes that there is sufficient networks in enough nations to create high level competition. Just adding variations to an existing league sport that is essentially played the same way around the world would probably just dilute the core sport.

Do you think mixed curling has had an adverse affect on curling teams at international events? Do you think 3v3 basketball has had an adverse affect on basketball teams at international events? It's not difficult to find half a dozen people in a country to play a smaller version of the main sport. If anything, the smaller variation opens the door to more countries who haven't been able to develop a full team - Mixed Curling Worlds features teams like Estonia and Spain, among others, who either never have or very rarely appear in full curling Worlds.

 

[Towered]

I'm all for adding the new sensation of ice tennis, but then again I'm biased.

 

[lenaitch]

The basis isn't that they're indoors - the basis is that the Summer Olympics has X number of athletes and sports and the Winter Olympics has far fewer. For the sake of marketing, broadcasting, etc. it may be in the interest of the IOC to either balance more or move some from Summer for scheduling.

Do you think mixed curling has had an adverse affect on curling teams at international events? Do you think 3v3 basketball has had an adverse affect on basketball teams at international events? It's not difficult to find half a dozen people in a country to play a smaller version of the main sport. If anything, the smaller variation opens the door to more countries who haven't been able to develop a full team - Mixed Curling Worlds features teams like Estonia and Spain, among others, who either never have or very rarely appear in full curling Worlds.

I can't answer that since I don't follow international sports that closely. Three-on-three basketball? Man, that would be a lot of running! I though the mixed doubles curling to have a lot of 'curious' rules, but I had not watched it before. Do you get the sense that in non-traditional curling countries there is a core of mixed doubles-only teams or leagues that don't flow from a core curling structure?

Regardless, winter or summer, Olympics to me are a mere and occasional distraction. I might be more interested if the IOC didn't act like sovereign royalty.

 

[GenerationW]

Hockey Canada needs to be scrambling to develop more world-class goalies through the appropriate channels. I grew up watching Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy, Curtis Joseph, and Eddy Belfour, and I can't believe how far we've fallen in this regard.

What did the goalie do wrong? It was a 2-1 game decided by 3-on-3 overtime after Canada dominated. Missing chance after chance is an invitation for the opponent to steal a win.