About 300 Canadian athletes will be headed to Beijing, according to the Canadian Olympic Committee.

OTTAWA, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) — Canada will send about 300 athletes to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and it hopes to finish among the top 16 in the overall medal table.

The remarks were made by Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) President Michael Chambers Monday in Ottawa.

In case national pride and fame aren’t enough motivation, the COC has created the Athlete Excellent Fund, to award cash prizes to Canadian Olympic medalists.

Starting from Beijing Olympics, Canadian athletes will receive 20,000 Canadian dollars (20,600 U.S. dollars) per gold medal won at any Olympic Games, said Chambers.

Silver winners will be compensated 15,000 Canadian dollars (15,450 U.S. dollars) per medal and bronze winners will earn 10,000 Canadian dollars (10,300 U.S. dollars).

Think they’ll make the top sixteen for overall medals? More importantly, can you beleive I made it through this post without one “eh?” joke?

Via Xinhua