OTTAWA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- President of the Canadian Olympic Committee Michael Chambers on Friday urged Ottawa to provide more fund for Summer Olympians to ensure they get a better standing in Beijing Olympics next year.

    The Olympic committee had hoped Ottawa to provide 30 million Canadian dollars (26 million US dollars) for its Road to Excellence program, which aims to boost Canada's standings in the 2008 Games in Beijing and 2012 Olympics in London, said Chambers in an interview with Canadian Television.

    But while the government increased in last month's federal budget funding for athletes preparing for the 2010 Winter Olympicsin Vancouver, it did not have more money for summer athletes, the president said.

    Ottawa's refusal to give more to summer Olympians will prevent them from performing at the same level as their winter counterparts, Chambers said.

    "Our concern is that winter athletes are going to continue to perform well and people are going to think that we don't have competitive summer athletes in this country, which is absolutely not the case," he said.

    The committee started the Road to Excellence program this year to improve Canada's often disappointing performance in summer sports.

    With 12 medals, Canada ranked 19th in the standings for the 2004 Athens Olympics. The program aims for a top-16 placing in the2008 Games, a top-12 finish in 2012, and a top-five finish in both the 2008 and 2012 Paralympics.

    It's the summer equivalent of Own the Podium, an ambitious program costing 110 million Canadian dollars (97 million US dollars) that aims for a No. 1 finish in medal standings at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.