Clean Sweep, eh?

Could Canada sweep a podium in 2010?

Canada has never swept the podium in one event at the Olympics.

Could it happen next year on home turf?

Perhaps. But it won't be easy.

The odds of sweeping are long, but other countries have done it. Germany won gold, silver and bronze in women's luge in 2006 in Turin, Italy, and the Austrian skiers did the same in men's slalom.

Canada has never prepared for an Olympics like it has for the 2010 Vancouver Games. Claiming all three medals in a single discipline would help the host team reach its goal of winning more medals than any other country.

Not only would it bump up Canada's medal total, it takes hardware off the table for other countries.

Canada's team will be deepest in men's moguls, the women's 1,000 and 1,500 metres in long-track speedskating, men's and women's skeleton and the new sport of ski cross.

Depth in a sport doesn't guarantee even one medal, however. Winning at least one, if not more, in men's aerials at the 2006 Olympics looked promising yet Canada came up empty.

The man overseeing the five-year, $120-million Own The Podium plan to get Canada hitting its medal target believes home ice, home track and home snow, plus the adrenaline rush of performing in front of friends and family, could produce that historic sweep.

"The opportunity is there,'' says Roger Jackson.” The familiarity of the home track, whether its speedskating, bobsleigh, skeleton and luge, is going to make a huge difference.

"Even though there's going to be a lot of focus and a lot of pressure on our athletes by competing at home, the crowd support will be absolutely overwhelming. I suspect that is going to be much more of an advantage than a disadvantage.''

Canada's ski cross team took five of a possible six World Cup medals on the Cypress Mountain Olympic course in February, with the men sweeping and the women taking gold and silver.

There aren't as many women in international ski cross as there are men. As often happens when a sport makes its Olympic debut, Canadian women are at the forefront.

Ashleigh McIvor of Whistler, B.C., won the world championship this season and Kelsey Serwa of Kelowna B.C., was third in the overall World Cup standings that included four Canadians in the top 11.

Aleisha Cline of Squamish, B.C., won the World Cup gold on Cypress and says why shouldn't she and her teammates swing for the fences?

"We like crazy talk. Crazy talk is good,'' Cline says. "When we came into Cypress this last race, we had five out of the six possible medals. We were just missing one of our girls. The chances of us sweeping the podium, I don't want to be cocky but we have a good chance.''

The myriad of variables - weather, snow conditions and four racers jostling for position at high speeds - makes ski cross wildly unpredictable. The top seeds can end up skiing off course in qualification rounds. A sweep would require an incredible amount of luck.

There aren't as many variables in long-track speedskating. It's the skater on indoor ice racing against the clock and not in a sea of flying elbows and legs.

The expected return of multi-medallist Cindy Klassen after a year rehabilitating her knees from surgery creates the possibility of a sweep in women's middle distances. She holds world records in the 1,000, 1,500 and 3,000 metres.

Christine Nesbitt of London, Ont., is the reigning world champion in the 1,000 metres. Ottawa's Kristina Groves is the overall World Cup champion in the 1,500 metres. Groves finished second to Klassen in the 1,500 in 2006.

While Groves was reluctant to discuss the prospect of a sweep, Nesbitt wasn't.

"It's not something I'd laugh at if someone said it,'' she says.” I’d say 'That would be pretty cool.'

"Our middle distances are definitely our strongest distances right now.''

Canadian men swept the moguls podium this winter at World Cups in Mont Gabriel, Que., and Are, Sweden.

Montreal's Alexandre Bilodeau captured both the world and World Cup titles this season. Vincent Marquis of Rosemere, Que., Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau of Drummondville, Que., and Maxime Gingras of St-Hippolyte, Que., joined Bilodeau on the podium at various points in the year.

Moguls is a judged sport and athletes execute difficult tricks in varying snow and weather conditions. Luck will need to be on Canada's side for a sweep.

"So many stars need to be aligned, the judges, the conditions, the qualifications, the final and everybody needs to put down two good runs, which is pretty rare,'' Bilodeau explains. "It's not impossible, but I wouldn't bet on it.''

Canada's skeleton team was positively buoyant on the prospect of a 2010 podium sweep on the eve of the 2008-09 season. That enthusiasm was tempered when they didn't produce a world championship medal this season.

Calgarians Duff Gibson, Jeff Pain and Paul Boehm finished first, second and fourth in the 2006 Olympics. Gibson has since retired, but Jon Montgomery of Russell, Man., has pushed his way into the world's elite by winning a silver medal at the 2008 world championship.

On the women's side, Mellisa Hollingsworth of Eckville, Alta., is an Olympic bronze medallist, Michelle Kelly of Fort St. John, B.C., is a former world and World Cup champion and Calgary's Sarah Reid won the world junior championship last year.

The sliders' familiarity with the track by next February should give them an edge over the rest of the world, but enough of an edge to capture gold, silver and bronze?

"We've had our ups and downs this season,'' Kelly says.” You never know how the rest of the world is going to do on the track.

"But I still think at the end of the day with the home-field advantage and the run volume we're going to get, to actually have numerous runs, way more than the competition on our home track - I think it's very plausible.''

SOURCE: http://www.ctvolympics.ca/