EDMONTON – A study co-authored by University of Alberta researchers has found that support among Canadian taxpayers for the Own the Podium program rose significantly after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
The OTP program helps support athletes and provides the coaching, training and other assistance they need to maximize their results at the Olympics.
The study found that of the 2,000 Canadians surveyed before and after the Games, 54.3 per cent supported the program before the Olympics got underway, a number that jumped to 80.9 per cent once the Games were complete. Canada led all countries with 14 gold medals in Vancouver.
“Our results suggest that Canadians believed, even before the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, that the intangible benefits generated by the Own the Podium program far exceeded the costs of operating the program,” co-author Brad Humphreys said Tuesday. “Their experience with the 2010 Winter Olympics caused them to reassess and conclude that the benefits were even higher that they’d previously expected.”
When the $117-million OTP program was originally unveiled, it was aimed at ensuring Canadians had an unprecedented medal haul in Vancouver. The program provides funds to the sports that have the best chance to win medals.
Humphreys, an economist with the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Arts, said he was intrigued by the study’s subject matter, noting it was not supported by OTP or the Canadian Olympic Committee.
“With the fact that Canada had performed so poorly in the past in elite athletic competition, we just thought it would be a really interesting setting in which to study how people value this,” he said.
About 95 per cent of OTP funds come from government funding, a program spokesman said. Canada did not win a gold the two previous times it hosted the Olympics – at the Summer Games in Montreal in 1976 and the Winter Games in Calgary in 1988.
Canada finished tied for 14th in the overall medal count at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing with 18 medals, an improvement on the 12 won in Athens. Canada’s goal for London is a top-12 finish among the 200-odd countries participating.
“Not only are Canadians proud of their Olympic performance, they also think it is important and post-Games, Canadians support Own the Podium going forward,” said co-author Dan Mason, a sport management professor at the University of Alberta.
Bruce Johnson of Kentucky’s Centre College and John Whitehead of Appalachian State University also co-authored the study, which is published in the Research Papers in Economics database. The margin of error was not released.
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