Meaghan Benfeito, back, and Roseline Filion of Canada compete in the women's 10-metre synchronized platform diving final at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto on Monday, July 13, 2015.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
More Pan Am games coverage and better play in the paper is what a few readers have asked for over the weekend.
"Why was it back alongside the weather?" asked one.
A reader from Oakville said: "Here is an opportunity to have some pride in our country, to celebrate our ability to host such an event in a safe, welcoming, multicultural environment, and to engage young people. I attended the rehearsal of the opening ceremony and it was full of many young, enthusiastic volunteers. Yes, it is well known that final cost will be higher than projected, and commuters will have to add on more time to their commute during these two weeks but that is not what the games are now about. This is a time to be proud to be a fortunate Canadian, to enjoy the venues, to cheer on the athletes and to stop dissing the inconveniences that generosity requires.
"As a media outlet, your coverage is not balanced by the positives of the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games."
News coverage of this event is going to be seen as both positive and negative with articles written about traffic or venue problems or whatever breaking news happens.
But as with the Olympic Games, I think major amateur sports contests attract readers who don't normally spend a lot of time on sports. They want to know about the Canadian athletic stars from across the country and they want to feel the nationalist pride of seeing the Canadians with their medals or their winning performances.
Sports editor Shawna Richer said the plan is to include not only the major news, but also interesting feature coverage about the little known sports and the people.
"Today, for example, Rachel Brady is working on a story on the unusual sport of roller speed skating, told around Canadian Winter Olympic speed skating medalist Valérie Maltais, who took up roller competitively a year ago."
Ms. Richer also expects that now that Wimbledon is done, you might see more photos on the front of Sports showcasing some of the Canadian athletes at the Pan Am Games.
Sylvia Stead