According to the Canadian Press, Athletics Canada has decided to fire head coach Alex Gardiner and chief high performance officer Martin Goulet.
The reason for the decision was because Canadian track and field athletes failed to win the projected goal of three medals at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Their lone medal came from Derek Drouin of Sarnia, Ontario in the men's high jump.
However, the three projected medals at the 2012 Olympic Games in London seemed to be high from the very start. Team Canada only won one medal at the 2011 International Association of Athletics Federations World Championship in Athletics in Daegu, South Korea.
Dylan Armstrong of Kamloops, British Columbia, who won silver in Daegu, was in a very deep men's shot put field, finished fifth at the Olympic Games. Drouin's medal was completely unexpected.
Meanwhile, the Canadian men's 4x100m relay team nearly won the Olympic bronze medal last summer in London, but were disqualified after a video review.
Expectations from mainstream Canadian media were for one Canadian athletics medal at the 2012 Olympic Games. The Canadian team achieved that, and anymore than one would have been an added bonus. However Gardiner and Goulet are paying the price for high, and possible unrealistic goals by Athletics Canada.
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