Politics inevitably gets in the mix at the Olympics, and that’s a horror show for politicians asked to comment on their county’s performance and actions.
By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on August 5, 2024.
OTTAWA—Sport and politics don’t mix. Or maybe they do.
The Olympic Games are an example of how athletes go “sitius, altius, fortius communiter”: faster, higher, stronger together.
Until recently, the slogan was simply faster, higher, stronger.
In 2021, the International Olympic Committee added “together” to its motto saying it wanted to underscore the unifying power of sport, and the importance of solidarity.
But with all athletes competing for their country, politics inevitably gets involved in the mix.
That’s a horror show for politicians called upon to comment on their county’s performance and actions.
The fantastic effort of the Canadian women’s soccer team has been overshadowed by a coaching decision to spy on opponents with the use of a drone.
Federal Sport Minister Carla Qualtrough moved in quickly to stem the controversy by announcing that the federal government would be suspending the funding of coaching salaries.
But the players themselves felt the heat for a mistake they had nothing to do with.
Famed soccer icon Christine Sinclair felt compelled to speak up on social media where she wrote that it was “unfortunate that the players of our national team have had to play through condemnable actions by some of their staff as they attempt to defend our gold medal. Actions players have no control over. I want to be clear that having been a national team for 23 years, we were never shown or discussed drone footage in team or individual meetings I’ve been present for.”
Soccer Canada has launched an investigation as has the governing body for soccer, FIFA. The FIFA investigation could lead to a reversal of the gold medal that Canada received in the last Olympics when the team scored a victory on penalty kicks against Sweden.
All that to say that non-political games can obviously become very political.
Russia’s banishment from the Olympics occurred because of the country’s organized plan to cheat on urine testing so the players could get away with consuming illegal substances to get a performance boost.
The drone scandal will not see that kind of punishment, but it certainly ruined the experience for the athletes who had absolutely nothing to do with the cheating.
Leadership on the Canadian men’s side also admitted to using drones at the recent Copa America tournament.
At this point, Canada is the only country that has been tagged with drone use, but it is possible that following a more thorough investigation other countries have also been droning to win.
Just how far is a coach willing to go to secure a victory for their athletes?
And why should the athletes be punished for something over which they had no control?
As for the Canada women’s team, they were issued a six-point penalty which meant they had to score multiple wins just to stay in the hunt for a medal.
The team protested the size of the penalty, but the appeal was dismissed.
The Canadian team did beat Colombia and advanced to Saturday’s quarter-final, but the use of the drone has obviously affected every Canadian player and their experience at these games.
What should have been a glorious moment to celebrate a strong team with clear medal potential has become a Canadian cheating scandal.
In the Olympic family, they certainly would not expect Canada to be the outlier.
As for the rest of the Olympic effort, strength in new sporting ventures has been the story of these games.
A gold in women’s judo, bronze in women’s fencing, and a silver in women’s rugby sevens marked the first time in Canadian history that our country has medalled in any of these events.
This is the first Olympics with gender parity and the Canadian women have certainly done their part to get the country to the podium.
Halfway through the games, Canada was ninth in standing, incredible for a country that trains heavily in summer and winter sports.
Our country is expected to do well in winter sports, but the summer Olympics have never been Canada’s strong point.
Just as we have witnessed medalling in never-before events, the depth of Canada’s team development is obvious.
In tennis, the country is going deep in singles and could medal in doubles.
In swimming, Summer McIntosh is blazing new trails. At the halfway point, there is definitely more to come.
As for the opening ceremony what to say about Céline Dion but, wow!
Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.
