Second in a two-part series
IN A PHOTO FINISH, Brian Maxwell (r) steals the National Capital Marathon from Paul Bannon, who had held the lead until the last few metres. Both earned spots on the Commonwealth Games team. See story page: The art of the long distance runner.
BRIAN MAXWELL (d) remporte le Marathon de la Capitale Nationale, en devançant Paul Bannon qui avait conservé la tête jusqu’à quelques mètres de la ligne d’arrivée. Les deux athlètes se sont mérité une place sur l’équipe des Jeux du Commonwealth. Voir à la page 7.
by Dr. Martin Bielz
With only a few days to go before the opening of the XI Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, supporters, those involved in the preparation of teams and the staging of the Games, and the general public, are interested in the entries and the performance objectives of Canada’s athletes.
Figure I represents the overall ranking objective according to total numbers of medals. It should be understood that the overall goal to be first is ambitious.
Tableau I Ce tableau représente l’objectif général au classement final, selon le nombre total de médailles possibles. Il serait ambitieux d’anticiper une première place comme but global.
The information contained in this article represents an overall view of the performance objectives as set by the coaches and the technical directors or coordinators of national sport governing bodies, in conjunction with their athletes.
As this is the first analysis of this nature, it is important that the interpretation be made with full understanding of performance-determining factors such as: health and nutrition, preparation and experience, organization and team management, the effect of performing in a home environment, and the active support of the public during the Games.
It is not possible to take into account all unforeseen circumstances, but considering the potential performances of the competition (based on available information), our coaches have set performance objectives for the Games as shown in the figures below.
By examining the results obtained in the previous Games and the objectives for the upcoming ones, it is possible to obtain a better understanding of Canada’s development of excellence relative to the other Commonwealth countries.
Figure III statistically represents the results in summary by individual sports in the X Commonwealth Games, 1974.
Recorded are the numbers of entries made by each sport, Canada’s ranking within the first six places, and “others”, representing rankings lower than sixth.
Figure II represents Canadian objectives for places 1 to 6.
Tableau II Le tableau II est une représentation graphique des objectifs canadiens pour les six premières places.
The internationally-accepted point system for the first six placings (7, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) has been applied and the equivalent points recorded under the column entitled “actual” points.
The column entitled “possible” points represents the equivalent number of points for a maximum possible result for the number of Canadian entries.
Under the “Vo” column, the percentage value of actual results attained relative to the maximum possible is recorded.
Figure IV statistically represents the projected number of entries and the corresponding performance objectives by individual sports. (The last column shows the number of projected points.)
The efforts of Canada’s athletes, coaches and administrators in preparation for the Games have been extensive. The competition will be very difficult.
What is necessary to maximize the performance of Canadian athletes is strong moral support on the part of Canadians attending events.
Successful achievement of our objectives will represent a positive step for our preparations in view of the Pan-American Games in 1979 and the 1980 Olympic Games in Lake Placid and Moscow.
Our Apologies. Fencing (1962, 1966, 1970), Rowing (1962) were inadvertently omitted in the first article in this series.
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