Two weeks ago, a meeting in Ottawa between Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama promised a new era of cross-border respect, camaraderie and mutual understanding.

The same cannot be said for their respective national Olympic teams.

Just in time for next year’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C., the long-standing rivalry between Team Canada and Team USA has become colder than ever before, due in no small part to strengthened Canadian resolve following a series of victories on the world athletic stage.

From Canada’s fifth World Junior Hockey Championships triumph in a row, to Patrick Chan’s capture of the gold at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, to Ivan Babikov’s “breakthrough” win at the Tour de Ski, all signs indicate that Canada’s athletes are ready for battle.

Canada has hosted two previous Olympics: the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal, and the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary. Canadian teams did not manage to earn a single gold medal at either of these homegrown competitions, an achievement attained by only one other country, the former Yugoslavia.

“ All signs indicate that Canada’s athletes are ready for battle

This year, however, a tangible effort has been made in order to make up for all that lost time. Own the Podium 2010 is a $110 million combination of government funding and private donations set up “to make Canada the top medal finisher” at next year’s Games. The money is being spent on improving equipment, facilities, coaching and training for all of Canada’s Olympic teams.

According to an opinion poll conducted by NRG Research Group, 73 per cent of Canadians approve of the Own the Podium program and 69 per cent believe that finishing first in the medal count is important.

Luckily for them, Canadian women’s hockey captain Hayley Wickenheiser was confident that her historically successful team would best their American rivals once more.

“They’re going to do whatever it takes to win and we’re going to stick to our plan,” said Wickenheiser.

U.S. men’s hockey general manager Brian Burke might advise Wickenheiser to be more cautious.

“I think there is going to be this huge glacier of pressure on the Canadian team,” said Burke, “and how they handle that is going to determine their fate.”

The cross-border hockey competition in particular is standard issue, especially for the women’s teams.

“When people ask us what’s going on with our team, they don’t say, ‘Are you going to win?’” remarked Karyn Bye of Team USA in 2002, “They say, ‘Are you going to beat Canada?’”

In the Feb. 12 issue of the Seattle Times, columnist Ron Judd took evident amusement in Canada’s admittedly embarrassing record of hosting the Games.

However, he acknowledged that due to Canada’s recent spate of major international wins, this might be the year for Team Canada to enjoy a hearty meal of “flambéed Americano.”

“Canadian fans have been waiting for redemption for a long time,” Judd concluded, “and for a perennial-underdog nation, it’ll only be sweeter if it comes at the hands of the team in red, white and blue.”

Published in Volume 63, Number 22 of The Uniter (March 5, 2009)