The funding argument is an old one and it demeans the achievement of athletes like Lori-Ann Muenzer who are able to succeed under the same circumstances - I guess the COC thinks she got lucky when she won gold yesterday.

The irony of some columnists blaming athletes for collapsing under the pressure of the Olympics should be lost on no one (except, perhaps the columnists themselves). Canada's amateur athletes compete in complete obscurity except for two weeks every four years when, all of a sudden, the media decide it is time for the rest of us to pay attention to them for one competition - the Olympics. Unlike our professional athletes, they get virtually no media attention between Olympic Games. So our rowers, sprinters, gymnasts and others experience only the pressure of competition until the Olympics where they then have to deal with the pressure of national expectations.

This is not the case in other countries. In Britain, for example, track and field is followed closely in the media and top athletes are known by sports fans. In Canada, however, the number one women's hurdler in the world could have walked down Yonge Street in Toronto a month ago and nobody would have recognized her.

There is no question our athletes must be trained to be in a better head space during the Olympics, but I believe the media has a role in helping them get there. Today, the boo-birds in the media are an anchor holding them back. The media need to be more engaged in amateur sport and give Canadians the opportunity to care about our performances in events outside the Olympic Games. After all, I cannot care about something when I don't even know it is happening.

Unfortunately, I don't think things will change. Instead I suspect the image of Ms. Felicien falling on her first hurdle will be used to symbolize an Olympics where hopes were dashed and expectations were left unsatisfied.

She doesn't deserve that. Perhaps we owe her the apology.