BOA winter sports chief fearful over Canada's tactics

By Gerard Meagher, Sportsbeat

MIKE Hay, the British Olympic Asssociation's performance manager for winter sports, has labelled Canada's decision to exploit home advantage at the Whistler Sliding Centre as potentially dangerous.

DANGEROUS GROUND: BOA winter sports chief Mike Hay is fearful of repercussions of Canada's tactics (Getty Images)

Both the skeleton and the bobsleigh events will be held at the Whistler track - 1,450m in length, containing the largest vertical drop in the world [152m] with 16 corners and a top speed of 150km/h, all producing a maximum of 5.02 Gs - making it the most technically challenging in the world.

But the Vancouver Organising Committee have restricted overseas nations to one week's training on the track, the minimum practice time permitted by international governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing.

Canada have yet to win a gold medal at a home Olympics, settling for a combined total of seven silvers and nine bronzes from Montreal 1976 and Calgary 1988.

But that statistic is almost sure to be consigned to history at Vancouver 2010, with Canada embarking on a $110m dollar scheme, Own the Podium, which is seemingly pulling no punches in its quest for success.

Aside from the limited training time at the Whistler Sliding Centre, the BOA have also contacted the International Olympic Committee after they were prohibited from placing cameras in certain areas at the Vancouver curling venue.

And while Hay, who prior to undertaking his role at the BOA, led curlers Rhona Martin and co to GB's last Winter Olympic gold in 2002, acknowledges home advantage is there to be exploited, he believes Canada are on the verge of a very slippery slope, should there be any serious accidents in Vancouver.

"They [Canada] will have approximately 400 runs at the Whistler Sliding Centre before Vancouver 2010 whereas British athletes will have between 20 and 30," he said.

"Other than the practice runs just prior to the competition, the last our athletes will have seen of the track is the week we had there earlier this month.

"I've been speaking to the British Skeleton performance director and he tells me it's the most technically challenging track in the world.

"The speeds are going to be high up in the 100s.  Therefore accidents are going happen and do happen in sports such as these. We've seen broken legs or even worse before for example."

Great Britain are not the only country to be on the receiving end of such treatment. American speed skater Catherine Raney has accused Canada of "playing nasty" in their pursuit of home soil success.

However, with London playing host to the subsequent Olympic Games, caution must be taken in casting aspersions before seeing to what extent the BOA exploit home advantage in 2012.

But Hay was quick to point out it seems more than coincidental that they are encountering such difficulties only in sports in which Great Britain are likely medal contenders.

"To be honest we have not seen it happen in sports in which we are not competitive," added Hay. "No disrespect to the cross-country skiers but they are unlikely to challenge the medals and they have not had any difficulties.

"With regards to bobsleigh and skeleton we've been to the governing body [FIBT] but it just so happens that the current president [Robert H. Storey] is Canadian.

"It may seem extraordinary that Canada have not won a gold medal at a home Olympics but it's safe enough to say they will do in Vancouver."