During the 2008 Summer Games, my colleague Jesse Michaels took Canada's Olympic efforts to task in a piece called "Dis-owning the Podium." His point was sport is about winning, and that we just weren't cutting the mustard when it came time to count the medals.

I disagreed: to me, any athlete's best performance is all anyone can ask for. Canada, with a small percentage of the world's population, can't reasonably expect to over-achieve in the medal count.

But that's just what our "Own the Podium" medal strategy implies. Argue all you want that it's only designed to give our best athletes their best shot: "Own the Podium" means that as Canadians, we expect our athletes to come home with medals. The stated goal is to "Place first in the total medal count at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games."

Does that seem sporting to you?

Of course the sporting spirit has mostly departed the Olympic Games anyway. Athletes doping, judges cheating, children lip-synching... not to mention corporate interests turning the event into a giant advertising-branding-marketing battle.

And how about the torch making its way through 91 Conservative ridings, versus only 37 Opposition ridings? Or CTV picking 27 of their on-air personalities to carry the torch?

Naturally, there will be lots of great stories at the 2010 Winter Games, and we'll be inspired by the human endeavour and proud of our own. But the ideals of amateur athletics as a global unifier are bound to get lost in the shuffle, if they haven't been already.

Sure, everyone loves a spectacle. Vancouver 2010 will be a spectacle, in spades. Certainly it's nice to see Vancouver getting a little attention internationally, which is bound to be a positive for Canada's image in the world. But that's the part that worries me most.

I believe in the spirit of competition, and I understand that you need a winning attitude as an athlete to bring home the hardware. I'm all for governmental, corporate and private support of our athletes, and for helping them develop the fitness and the focus they need to compete at the highest level.

But should that be our collective attitude toward these Olympics? No way - especially not as the host country. You don't invite the world to your doorstep, and then say "Welcome to Canada: that podium is OURS."

We don't own the podium. It belongs to the winners, whoever they are. Many of the sons and daughters of Canada will be among them. I'll be cheering them on.

And may the best athletes win.