Canadian track star says she lost big money running against dope cheats

Don't tell Canadian track star Hilary Stellingwerf that cheaters never prosper.

For almost a decade, the 1500 meter specialist has watched countless Russian runners beat her to the finish line, something the world now knows to be the result of a successful and institutionalized Russian doping program.

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Not only have the tainted results changed the course of sports history for the worse, for Stellingwerff it's meant lost medals and lost money.

"Hundreds of thousands of dollars over my career in the last ten years," said Stellingwerff, estimating potential earnings she never had the chance to realize.

It's unjust

"There's appearance money that comes with being top 10 in the world," she told CBC. "A lot of times you'll see five Russians on the start line in the 1,500 in a Diamond League race. They're taking away spots that we could gain if they weren't there. It's unjust."

"Then there's prize money at these event that you could be winning," she added. "And there's contract money from your shoe [sponsor] that you could be getting if you were ranked higher in the world."

As well there is the potential loss of government funding which directs more dollars to Canadian athletes who make finals and win medals at the Olympics.

Stellingwerff was poised for a breakthrough at the 2012 Olympics, but missed making the 1,500 metre final by one spot and one-tenth of a second. A number of suspected dope cheats did qualify, including two Russians — both of whom had previous infractions.

Stellingwerff says making that final would have changed her life by opening doors to better funding and better races.

"I would have been in the mix"

"I was in the best shape of my life in London and competing really well," she said. "I think I would have been in the mix."

Instead, she was left to watch from the stands as Turkish runner Asli Cakir Alptekin won a tactical final with a time five seconds slower than Stellingwerff's personal best.

This past summer Alptekin was stripped of the gold medal, one of three finalists disqualified retroactively for doping. Russian runner Tatyana Tomoshova, the 39-year-old who finished fourth, is under investigation. She already has a doping infraction from 2007 to her name. 

There is evidence of rot in many track programs, but the Russians still beat all comers when it comes to the sheer magnitude of doping deception.  

"Sixteen Russian athletes in my event alone have tested positive since 2007," Stellingwerff told CBC. "It's crazy."

The 34-year-old mother of one believes the Russian track team should not be allowed to compete at the next Olympics, and that athletes who test positive for "strategic drugs" like steroids or EPO, should be banned for life.

She's heartened by the WADA report, but cautious. 

"They're supposed to protect clean athletes"

"It's a bit scary given the fact that our own governing body was a part of the problem when they're supposed to protect the clean athletes," she said.

Despite it all Stellingwerff isn't planning to give up running just yet because things could finally be lining up in her favour. If the WADA crackdown actually works, the field at next summer's Olympics in Rio could be the cleanest in decades. That's when the real champions will get their chance to shine.

"My hope is to be in that Olympic final, I didn't get a chance to do it in 2012," she said. "I'm just looking forward to having a true and fair championships."