Then and Now: Team Canada when the Cubs were World Series Champions
The sports world is buzzing thanks to the Chicago Cubs winning their first World Series since 1908.
Of course, the world has changed greatly over the last 108 years – and the Olympic Games are no exception. Having just celebrated the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio, let’s turn the clock back to the Games of the IV Olympiad and compare how Canada fared.
Then: 91 Canadian athletes, all men
Now: 313 Canadian athletes, with women outnumbering men 185 to 128
Then: 2008 total athletes
Now: 11,303 total athletes
Then: 22 countries, the most ever at the time
Now: 207 countries, the most ever
The flags and athletes of all 207 countries that competed at Rio 2016
Then: Canada won 16 medals (3 gold, 3 silver, 10 bronze), which stood as the country’s largest medal haul until the boycotted Games at Los Angeles 1984
Now: Canada wins 22 medals (4 gold, 3 medals, 15 bronze), which stands as the country’s largest medal haul ever at a non-boycotted Games
Then: 110 total events
Now: 306 total events
Then: Competition schedule stretched from April 27 to October 31
Now: Competition schedule compacted into 16 days from August 5 to 21
Then: Pole vaulter Ed Archibald was Canada’s flagbearer in the first ever Parade of Nations
Now: Trampolinist Rosie MacLennan leads Canada into Rio 2016
The first Olympic Parade of Nations at London 1908 contrasts with Rosie MacLennan leading Team Canada in the Parade of Nations at Rio 2016
Then: Bobby Kerr became the first Canadian to double medal in the 100m and 200m, winning bronze and gold, respectively
Now: Andre De Grasse becomes the first Canadian to triple medal in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay, winning one silver and two bronze
Bobby Kerr and Andre De Grasse, two of the three Canadian men to ever double in the 100m and 200m at the Olympic Games
Then: Canada won six medals in athletics, including pole vault bronze for Archibald, long jump bronze for Cal Bricker, triple jump silver for Garfield MacDonald, and hammer throw bronze for Con Walsh
Now: Canada wins six medals in athletics, including high jump gold for Derek Drouin, heptathlon bronze for Brianne Theisen-Eaton, and decathlon bronze for Damian Warner
Two Canadians who repeated as Olympic medallists in jumping events, Cal Bricker and Derek Drouin
Then: Canada won track cycling bronze in the men’s team pursuit
Now: Canada wins track cycling bronze in the women’s team pursuit
Then: Canada won its second straight medal in the same team sport, lacrosse
Now: Canada wins its second straight medal in the same team sport, soccer
Canada’s 1908 Olympic lacrosse team and 2016 Olympic soccer team
Then: Canada’s most decorated athlete was shooter Walter Ewing, who won gold and silver
Now: Canada’s most decorated athlete is swimmer Penny Oleksiak, who won a gold, a silver and two bronze
