VANCOUVER — The Own the Podium program was maligned early in the 2010 Winter Games when Canada’s medal total failed to meet expectations, but the gold rush over the final few days of the game have helped polish its image.

Michael Chambers, president of the Canadian Olympic Committee, called Own the Podium a “bold program,” Sunday at a media conference, despite the fact Canada did not finish first in the medal count.

Heading into the final two events of the Games Sunday — the men’s gold-medal hockey game between Canada and the United States and the men’s 50-kilometre cross-country ski race — Canada had 13 gold medals and 25 medals overall.

The golds top the table and have tied the Soviet Union in 1976 and Norway in 2002 for most golds in a Winter Games. The 25 total medals are the most ever for Canada in a Winter Olympics and put Canada third on the table behind the United States (36 medals) and Germany (29).