Canada's secret plans to dominate the Olympics

An exclusive Maclean's report on our high-tech, mind-bending plans to win gold at the 2010 Games

Also in this week's Maclean's:

    
    -  The birth of Botox feminism
    -  News on the web: Can Rupert Murdoch stop the free ride?
    

TORONTO , Jan. 8 /CNW/ - For Canadian Olympics enthusiasts, it's a fact that Canada has never won an Olympic gold medal on its home soil-not in Montreal in 1976, not in Calgary in 1988.

Now in 2010, the Canadian Olympic Committee's stated goal is to win more medals in Vancouver than any other country-and they are not leaving it up to chance.

Maclean's presents an exclusive, inside look at a secret, high-tech plans that have been underway for five years to dominate at the podium at the 2010 Games.

The project, aptly called Top Secret, is an $8-million technological arms race unprecedented in Canadian sport history. Researchers across the country have been breaking down the science of winter sport, looking for any edge in training, human performance and equipment. To date, 55 projects, using 17 different universities and institutions, have been completed.

Now that it's too late for rivals to pinch the technology, the veil can be lifted on Top Secret-and Maclean's has the exclusive inside story first!

Botox feminism

When the U.S. senate recently proposed a 5% tax on elective cosmetic surgeries and procedures to help subsidize the health care bill, there was a huge outcry-even protests in the streets. Even the largest feminist lobby in the U.S., the National Organization for Women, fought the so-called Bo-tax, saying it unfairly targeted women. It turns out, about 70% of women who elect for cosmetic surgeries make less than US$60,000 a year, and one third make less than $30,000 . The startling fact is that cosmetic enhancements actually have little impact on earnings. "It's a terrible investment," says one expert.

Internet battle

Since newspapers ventured online some 16 years ago, publishers have been unable to find a viable way to charge for the content. But now, after several years of facing bankruptcies and closures, newspaper publishers are building a counteroffensive, with guns trained on search engines and news aggregator sites such as Google and Digg.com. Newscorp CEO Rupert Murdoch is leading the charge. Can the tycoon stop the Web's free ride and save the news business?

Pick up this special issue of Maclean's, on newsstands now.

About Maclean's:

Maclean's is Canada's only national weekly current affairs magazine.

Maclean's enlightens, engages and entertains 2.4 million readers with strong investigative reporting and exclusive stories from leading journalists in the fields of international affairs, social issues, national politics, business and culture. Visit www.macleans.ca.

For further information: Louise Leger, [phone], [email protected]