Russian doping scandal: What can Canada learn?

As the accusations surrounding Russia's allegedly state-sponsored program of doping and coverups continue to sink in, Canada is left to wrestle with a question it has faced for decades.

"Can we pursue the podium in a way that's consistent with our values and respectful of the anti-doping culture that we try to create?"

That's the overarching query that plagues not only the Canadian but the international sport community, says Bruce Kidd, a former Canadian 5,000-metre record holder and one of the country's leading sport intellectuals.

"They are the questions Mr. Justice [Charles] Dubin asked 30 years ago after Ben Johnson's disqualification for [testing positive for a banned steroid at the 1988 Seoul Olympics]," says Kidd. "And they are the backdrop to all of those Own the Podium decisions."

Russia apparently has not found the right answers, but has Canada?

Undue emphasis on medals?

Since the Ben Johnson scandal, the country has seemingly been successful in cleaning up its act.

Athletics Canada claims, in its national team staff manual, to operate under "one of the most thorough and comprehensive doping control policies in the world." In response to the allegations against Russia, Athletics Canada said it supported the implementation of "severe sanctions for any athlete, coach or federation in contravention of the World Anti-Doping Code, and ethical sport practices."

Canadian race walker Evan Dunfee sees Canada's eight-medal haul, its best ever, at this year's world track and field championships as a sign that the country is playing by the rules.

"The Beijing world champs were the cleanest champs in over a decade, in my opinion, and Canada saw its best performance ever while, not so ironically, Russia had its worst," he says.

"We have a head coach [Peter Eriksson] who is not afraid to speak out and stand up for clean sport and we have a number of athletes who have stood alongside him. But we need more."

University of Toronto professor and sports policy expert Peter Donnelly agrees Canada works hard at maintaining clean athletes and tests broadly and deeply. However, he feels the country still attempts to find "legal means" of gaining advantages — whether those are technical, such as by investing in uniform and equipment research, or financial, like funneling money towards certain Canadian sport federations that have the best chance of delivering medals.

At the end of the day, says Donnelly, those measures show Canada still puts undue emphasis on medals, an attitude that can be seen in Russia's current situation if it's taken to the extreme.

The means may be different, "but the ends are similar, definitely," says Donnelly.

Kidd also sees similarities between Canada's and Russia's attitudes towards medals.

"We all encourage the pursuit of excellence. But to do so as the sole goal, without looking through the quality and the ethics of the experience, runs the kind of risks that we've had exposed in Russia," he says.

'Global sporting arms race'

So, back to the original question: is Canada pursing the podium in a way that's consistent with what we view as our values?

Donnelly doesn't think so.

"That's my position from seeing this as this global sporting arms race," he says. "I think [Canada has] fetishized medals for too long, and that does lead to a win-at-all-costs attitude which is certainly behind doping."

Donnelly says the way Canada can do better at putting less pressure on its athletes is to ask hard questions about how much funding should go towards winning medals, and how much should be devoted to other forms of athletic success, like increasing ordinary citizens' participation in sport.

Kidd agrees it's a conversation that must be had. 

"The questions are there because the world expects athletes to perform well and do so cleanly, but they're under enormous physical, psychological, financial pressure to win," he says.

"So these are everyday questions of sport hopefully that will create opportunities for young men and women to train, compete and grow in their lives, and also consciously wrestle with these questions so that the discussion of these questions is part of what they do."