Advocates say an inquiry is needed. But Professor Gretchen Kerr, dean of KPE, argues that it isn’t the best way to make athletes safer, and she seeks targeted action instead. She outlines the reasons for her position to Kerry Gillespie of the Toronto Star.
Have we, as Canadians, lost track of what athletic competition is all about? Is there too much emphasis by the public and by the media on the winning of a gold medal in Olympic competition as the only achievement worthy of recognition? In my opinion, the answers will in large measure determine the future of sport in Canada … We must examine what we mean by excellence and what message we are conveying when we extol it. The pursuit of excellence does not mean that we want our athletes to win at any cost.
That’s not from any of the groups calling for a national inquiry into the mistreatment of athletes and governance problems in sports. It’s from Canada’s last sports-related inquiry: Charles Dubin’s 1990 report into the use of drugs and banned practices intended to improve athletic performance.
That was called right after Ben Johnson was stripped of his 100-metre gold medal at the 1988 Olympics for testing positive for steroids. If Canada had taken that inquiry in its entirety to heart we wouldn’t be in the midst of yet another crisis, says prominent scholar Gretchen Kerr.