Herzlich Willkommen » winning spirit.After complaining

SOCHI, Russia -- Canada was a second-half team at the 2010 Winter Olympics. The medal intake in Sochi is forecasted to happen at a more measured pace. Starting with Saturdays mens snowboard slopestyle and womens moguls, Canada has at least one legitimate medal shot, if not more, virtually every day until the closing ceremonies Feb. 23. Chef de mission Steve Podborski and his assistants Jean-Luc Brassard and France St. Louis intend to be present at events where a Canadian is a front-runner for a medal. "I would say were booked every day," Podborski said at a Canadian Olympic Committee news conference Thursday. The host country won 18 of its 26 medals in Vancouver during the back half of the Games. Ten of the 14 gold medals came in the second half, including four on the final weekend. Sports making their Olympic debut helped balance the schedule of Canadas medal prospects in Sochi. Mens and womens snowboard slopestyle, the figure skating team event and the luge relay are among the new events over the first eight days of competition in which Canada has solid medal prospects. Thats in addition to Canadas strength in the entrenched sports of alpine skiing, moguls, short-track speedskating and cross-country skiing. "Sure there are new sports and we happen to be very, very good in the new ones because we are a great sporting nation," Podborski said. "With the support were getting now from corporate Canada, Own The Podium and the Government of Canada, we have an opportunity to be good in the traditional sports as well and thats where well make our great gains in the areas where are athletes are getting better . . . cross-country, alpine skiing." Canadas athletes have been waging fierce foosball tournaments in their village lounge while they await Fridays opening ceremonies, according to Podborski. But Olympic competition started early for some Canadians with Thursdays preliminary rounds. Canada sat in second place, two points behind host Russia, after the first day of the new team figure skating event. Torontos Patrick Chan was third in the mens short program, then Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., were second in the pairs short to give Canada 17 of a possible 20 points after the first two events. Sebastien Toutant of LAssomption, Que., and Max Parrot of Bromont, Que., advanced to the mens snowboard slopestyle final Saturday, while Charles Reid of Mont-Tremblant, Que., and Reginas Mark McMorris will attempt to join them via the semifinal earlier in the day. The Dufour-Lapointe sisters from Montreal -- Justine, Chloe and Maxime -- all qualified for Saturdays womens moguls finals as did Audrey Robichaud of Quebec City. Reigning world champion Spencer OBrien of Courtney, B.C., qualified for the womens slopestyle final Sunday. Hockey Canada also made the decision to replace injured forward Steven Stamkos with Tampa Bay teammate Martin St. Louis. No competition is scheduled Friday because of the opening ceremonies. In addition to slopestyle and womens moguls on opening weekend, skiers Erik Guay of Mont-Tremblant, Que., Calgarys Jan Hudec and Manny Osborne-Paradis of Invermere, B.C., are medal prospects in Sundays downhill. Canadas figure skaters are favoured to win a medal in the team event, which ends Sunday. Canadas objective in 2010 was to top the overall medal count and the target remains the same in Sochi. The host team was third in total medals, but won the gold-medal race four years ago. Because of the new sports, there are 36 more medals to be won in 2014 than in 2010. That will help fill Canadas coffers, but also those of top rivals Germany, Norway, the United States and host Russia. "Canada is here to compete and win," COC president Marcel Aubut said. "Our aim is to contend for the number one spot in medals won." "This is an ambitious goal, but we Canadians like it this way. Our athletes expect nothing less of themselves but the highest achievements." Added Podborski: "You dont try to come "somewhere up there." We expect great things in Canada now. Its an ideal approach. "We may not win the medal count this time. We may not win it the next time but one day we will because we are striving to be number one in the world in the medal count." While Canadas preparation for 2010 seems a successful model to copy for Sochi, the Canadian Olympic Committee took a different approach. The 2008 Summer Games in Beijing posed similar challenges to Sochi in terms of distance to travel, time-zone difference and unfamiliar language, food and culture. Virtually all of Canadas Olympians competed, trained or at least visited Beijing in the year prior to those Games to get comfortable with the place. The same practice was done for Sochi. There was less emphasis on pre-Games visits for the 2012 Summer Games in London. "If we look at the Beijing experience and we look at the Sochi experience, its actually very similar," COC chief sport officer Caroline Assalian says. "New and unfamiliar environment for most countries. "We ensured that the athletes and support teams as much as possible are familiar with this environment." The COC has conducted exit interviews with athletes, their coaches and support teams following Olympic Games since 2006 to better plan for the next. The athletes were asked "what made the difference in your performance?" "Their number one factor? Feeling part of a larger unified team, more than anything," Assalian said. "Thats what made the difference for them. Coaches and support team? Familiarity with the Olympic environment." And where Beijing was also a benchmark for Sochi was in Canadas conversion rate, which the number of athletes ranked in the top five at their most recent world championships make it onto the podium at the subsequent Olympic Games. The COC employs conversion rates to compare how Canadas athletes are performing compared to other countries. Even though Canada won just 18 medals in Beijing, the conversion rate there was 67 per cent compared to 59 per cent at the Winter Games of both 2010 and 2006, according to Assalian. The Canadian team needs at least match Beijings conversion rate to be in the hunt for the overall title in Sochi. "Our bar now is Beijing," Assalian says. "We know we need to convert better than we ever have at any Winter Olympic Games." The Canadian team will attempt this without the advantage it had in Vancouver and Whistler of home ice and home snow. Own The Podium chief executive officer Anne Merklinger says many winter sport teams have stronger leadership and better coaches since 2010. Both areas were priorities coming out of Vancouver and Whistler and she hopes improvements there compensate for the additional challenges of Sochi. "Weve come a long way in that regard," she says. "Without coaches, were behind the 8-ball. Its the most important success factor. "I think there are a number of examples where weve brought in great coaches, but weve lost some too. We need to find a way to continue to retain the good ones we have and attract new ones." "Were investing in that. Thats what it takes. Its a competitive industry." OTP oversees athletes competitive lives between Olympic Games and allocates about $62 million a year in federal government funding between summer and winter sports. The COC prepares athletes for the Games environment and looks after their needs and wants on the ground in Sochi. Air Max 95 Sale Canada . 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Jim Leyland, in his eighth playoffs, has never had a starting rotation he trusts as much as the grouping of Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez and Doug Fister.ARE, Sweden - Having waited nearly four years for a World Cup win, Maria Pietilae-Holmner was lost for words when it finally came.The Swede beat overall leader Tina Maze by just .06 seconds to clinch victory in Saturdays slalom, with home fans given extra reason to cheer as Frida Hansdotter finished third on her 29th birthday.Talking to the media proved more difficult for Pietilae-Holmner than taming the rock-hard Olympia course in freezing conditions that dropped to minus 17 degrees Celsius (1 degree Fahrenheit) in the mornings first run.Im getting emotional again, Pietilae-Holmner said as she tried to describe what it meant to win her first race since a City Event in Munich in January, 2011.For a long moment, no words came out, as she sat hunched forward, wiping tears away from her eyes.It was a ninth career podium for the 28-year-old Pietilae-Holmner and first since finishing second here in a slalom race in March.Her only other career victory was also in slalom — at Aspen, Colorado two months before Munich.This means so much, said Pietilae-Holmner , who won in a combined time of 1 minute, 43.65 seconds. Its really big to prove I can be the best one again and to do it at home is even bigger.After crossing the finish line, she paused, looked at the giant screen and then held her hands over her head as she saw the winners light.Emotional is the right word, she said. I decided to just enjoy it. Sometimes its easy to get a little bit stressed. I was trying to enjoy the nice view. Im a skier who hears everything, I can see my coaches on the way down, and for sure I heard the crowd.Hansdotter finishedd .dddddddddddd.32 behind in third for her 13th career podium.Its nice to share the podium with Maria, Hansdotter said.Sixth fastest after the first run, Olympic slalom champion Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States just missed out on another podium, finishing fourth after a brilliant second run full of her trademark aggression. Marie-Michele Gagnon of Lac-Etchemin, Que., was 11th and Erin Mielzynski of Collingwood, Ont., was 21st.Shiffrin, who won the season-opening giant slalom in Soelden, Austria, in October, posted 51.65 and was just .02 behind a relieved Hansdotter, who clinched her third podium this season, all of them in slalom.Another learning experience, said the 19-year-old Shiffrin, who was a disappointing 10th in Fridays giant slalom. Im much happier to be fourth and two hundredths off the podium (than 10th).The 31-year-old Maze was aiming for her fourth victory of the season and second in slalom, after winning in Levi, Finland, last month.Maze is right back where she was two years ago and looks like shes hammering, Shiffrin said. With the world championships coming up (in late March) everyones really gunning for the podium and Im trying to do the same. I have to learn to have that fighting spirit, not just a winning spirit.After complaining of jet lag on Friday, having made the switch from North America to Europe earlier this week, Maze is looking forward to much-needed rest before heading to the French Alpine resort of Val dIsere for next weeks speed races.Now its two days of sleeping, Im really happy about that, Maze said. The body needs some time to get used to it. ' ' '