Canada's Own the Podium program, which produced the most gold medals of any country at the Vancouver Olympics, has the support of Canadian IOC member Dick Pound.
He said the program worked and the blueprint should be repeated for future games. He added that Canada had been ``too nice'' in the past when it handed out Olympic training funding.
``It allows you to say ... 'We're not going to give you anything because you haven't merited it,''' Pound said Thursday following a speech in Winnipeg. ``Those are the kind of things Canada has been loath to do in the past.''
Own the Podium pumped millions worth of corporate and federal dollars into training Canadian athletes, concentrating on those with the best chance of winning.
Some winter athletes - like speedskater Denny Morrison - blamed the program for limiting training. Others, like gold medalist ice dancers Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue, said they couldn't have won without it.
Canada won 14 gold medals last month, breaking the record for any Winter Olympics. The U.S. won more medals in Vancouver than any country.
The program also got a vote of confidence in the most recent federal budget, earning an extra $16.7 million a year for the next two years. That's on top of the $46.4 million the government already spends each year to fund elite summer and winter athletes.
Pound, a former Olympic swimmer, said athletes funded through the program weren't put under undue pressure by increased expectations.
``Athletes seek this pressure out. Nobody is there with a gun at their back,'' he said. ``They want to go out and be the best in the world.''
