Canada women’s national soccer team goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé holds her gold medal from the Tokyo Olympics as she poses for photographs after an announcement in Vancouver on March 16, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The more medals Canadian athletes win, the fewer Canadians participate in organized sport

With the Paris Olympics and Canada’s Future of Sport Commission both to start soon, this is a timely critique of the Canadian sport system.
There have been calls for a judicial inquiry into abuse in Canadian sport, but a restorative approach would better protect athletes. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Why a judicial inquiry into athlete abuse is not the right approach

There are growing calls for a judicial inquiry to investigate abuse in Canadian sport. We argue that there are better alternatives to address the problem.
Attendees wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus look at an exhibit at a visitors center at the Winter Olympic venues in Beijing in February. Human rights groups have called for a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics due to reported human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in China. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Boycotting the next Olympics in Beijing will hurt athletes: Here’s a better idea

Instead of boycotting the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing, activists should pressure the IOC to let anyone attending the Games to express their views on China without fear of penalization.
La médaillée d'argent du 800 mètres féminin Margaret Nyairera Wambui, à gauche, serre la main de la médaillée d'or Caster Semenya sur le podium des Jeux du Commonwealth 2018 en Australie. Les deux coureuses ont refusé de prendre des médicaments réducteurs d'hormones pour pouvoir participer aux Jeux olympiques de Tokyo. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Pour en finir avec les tests de féminité aux Jeux olympiques

Les tests de féminité sont reconduits à tous les Jeux olympiques. Et ce, malgré les oppositions de nombreux athlètes, féministes, généticiens, éthiciens et gouvernements nationaux.
Women’s 800-metre silver medal winner Margaret Nyairera Wambui, left, shakes hands with gold medal winner Caster Semenya on the podium at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia. Both runners have refused to take hormone-reducing drugs so they could compete at the Tokyo Olympics. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Sex testing at the Olympics should be abolished once and for all

Mandatory sex testing at the Olympics might have stopped in the 1990s, but the policing of high performance female athletes’ bodies is still ongoing.
A statue in honour of U.S. Olympians Tommie Smith, left, and John Carlos is seen on the campus of San Jose State University in San Jose, Calif. The pair of sprinters were expelled from the Olympics in 1968 after they raised their fists on the medals stand to protest racial inequality in the United States. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

The Olympics are ‘on the wrong side of history’ when it comes to free speech

The International Olympic Committee’s Rule 50 still restricts the freedom of speech of athletes, despite the recently relaxed stipulations. A respected Olympian says the IOC must change its policy.
The decision by World Rugby to ban trans players from participating in women’s events is another setback for transgender athletes. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

World Rugby’s ban on trans players has nothing to do with so‑called ‘fairness’

If “fairness” is why trans players have been banned by World Rugby, then sport bodies need to realize many athletes have an unfair advantage because of issues like class and cultural backgrounds.
A student lights the Olympic Flame during a ‘Flame of Recovery’ ceremony in Japan held the day after the decision was made to postpone the Tokyo Olympics because of the coronavirus pandemic. AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

How the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics could heal a post‑coronavirus world

An athlete who competed in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics says when the rescheduled Olympics take place, the Games can help rebuild societies in a humanitarian way through the spirit of Olympism.
South Africa’s Caster Semenya in the moments before the women’s 800-meter final during the Diamond League athletics event in Doha, Qatar on May 3. The world champion easily won the race, but her future remains in doubt. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

The demonization of Caster Semenya continues

The great South African runner Caster Semenya may have competed in her last 800-metre race. She has been demonized for more than a decade, like many other female athletes before her.
Reid Watts of Canada competes in the first round of the men’s luge at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Do the Olympics still matter?

The Olympics have been plagued by doping, corruption and political problems. But academic and former Olympian Bruce Kidd says the Olympic Games are still an important humanitarian movement.

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