TORONTO - Ontario will find ways to support its athletes and promote a strong presence at the podium as it hosts the 2015 Pan Am Games, Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday.

"You can't just get the Games, you've got to use that as an opportunity to put in place supports for your young people so that they can succeed," McGuinty said.

"One of the things that we're going to have to do now is ensure that we marry up with the 2015 Pan Am Games new kinds of support for our youngest athletes... to make sure they've got the kind of support that helps them to excel."

McGuinty words came as he fielded questions about how well athletes will do after Canada's goal of winning more medals than any other country at the Vancouver Games was abandoned Monday.

Own The Podium was a five-year program looking to give athletes the medical support, training opportunities and high-tech equipment to win the medals race. It has invested $117 million in athletes, including $66 million in taxpayer dollars.

McGuinty said he was proud of the country's performance in Vancouver. He noted that gold-winning ice dancing pair Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir got financial support early on thanks to a program developed by his government.

The same is true for speed skaters Christine Nesbitt and Kristina Groves.

"They've all been Quest for Gold Recipients, including the ones who won last night," McGuinty said.

"These young people beaver away in relative anonymity and now they've been catapulted into stratospheric prominence. They needed a bit of help to get there and I'm proud that we were able to participate in that."

While no fund or plan will be revealed in this year's budget McGuinty said there will be several years to plan for the Games, which will be held in Toronto.

The two-week Pan Am Games have a budget of $1.4 billion for the sporting event itself and $1 billion for an athletes' village.

The federal and provincial governments are each on the hook for some $500 million, while municipalities and private investors will pay the remaining $428.5 million.

Toronto won the major sports competition in November, beating two South American cities.

The win was an important one for Toronto -- a city that has lost two Olympic bids.

Hamilton, which will host some of the events, has also lost bids for two Commonwealth Games.