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>>Canadian athletes must get endorsement deals, don't they? That's where the real money is.
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>They get very little, especially by comparison to the American athletes and the Eurpoean athletes where their sport is 'always' in the news.
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>Speed skating, short track skating, downhill skiing and cross-country skiing get very little press here other than a mention on the sports news if a Canadian happens to do well in a race. I didn't even know there was short track skating until I saw it in the Olympics a few games ago.
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>They may get something in their niches, by way of magazine adverts, but overall our markets in those areas are small.
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>I'm of two minds when it comes to paying Olympic athletes for medals. On the one hand, it's decidedly not "amateur" in my books, but on the other hand there's not much "amateur" left in the Olympics.
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I don't know if the COC will do anything (they've never been noted for overwhelming generosity to the athletes), but the countries like Canada that give their athletes nothing for winning are becoming rarer and rarer - to the point of extinction.

If they have the money to do it, and my understanding is that they are sitting on cash, then why not give some of it to the athletes in whose glory they wallow and prance.

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