Running Debate
If You’ve Never Lived in Canada, Should You be Allowed to Wear the Maple Leaf?
To get to don the Team Canada singlet in international competition is a popular goal for the elite runners of our country. In 2018, Athletics Canada will send 11 teams to track-and-field, cross-country and road running events, so the opportunity to wear the maple leaf is ample. Spots on these teams become more elusive, however, when homegrown Canadians have to compete with eligible dual citizens. In order to be selected for a national team, athletes simply must have a Canadian passport valid for at least six months after the championship in question, be a registered member of an Athletics Canada branch at the time of qualification and hold Canadian citizenship by the team selection date.
Such criteria leave the door open for dual citizens who do not necessarily train or compete in Canada to make teams. Examples include ncaa crosscountry standout Rory Linkletter, distance runner Kinsey Middleton and 2015 world champion pole-vaulter, Shawn Barber. All three athletes are American-Canadians training and living south of the border, and their admittance to our national teams has elicited mixed emotions from Canadian competitors and fans alike. Hearing complaints about spots being “poached” by athletes living outside of the country begs the question of whether Athletics Canada should redefine what constitutes “being Canadian” – as far as team selection is concerned. Should athletes have to spend an amount of time in the country in order to be eligible, or perhaps compete in a number of events on Canadian soil?
Cleo Boyd, an elite distance runner from Kingston, Ont., and former athlete at University of Virginia, believes that it should take more than status and a passport to compete for Canada. “I think it makes sense that eligibility for national teams should be dependant on affiliation with a Canadian track club and perhaps even some time spent training in the country,” Boyd says, “because the material and cultural differences between countries make for different challenges and advantages that can impact development.” Boyd argues that it makes sense that athletes should have to have some experience training in the conditions that are unique to the nation they’re trying to compete for.
Alternatively, Nick Falk, a multiple-time national team member from Windsor, Ont., sees our current rules as conducive to stronger teams.
“I believe dual citizens have the right to represent Canada,” says Falk. “Disallowing them that right would open the door for a mess of legislative and moral backlash. Just like everyone else, they have to earn their spot on a team by hitting a standard.” Falk believes that strong dual citizens increase the competitive environment, which he feels is “good for the progress of the sport.”
Another male Canadian distance runner, who competes in the ncaa and asked not to be named because of potential backlash for his comments, agrees with Falk that these athletes are as entitled to spots, but on the condition that they choose the maple leaf first. “I have no problem with dual citizens competing for Canada as long as it’s clear they are choosing Canada first, and not as a second option,” he says. “I believe Shawn Barber tried out for the American world junior [track-and-field] team back in 2012 and did not make it. It was like he chose to compete for Canada as a fallback. I don’t like it when athletes compete for Canada because they find it an easier team to make. Conversely, Rory Linkletter seems to want to compete for Canada over the U.S., so it doesn’t bug me that he makes our teams.”
Like Canada, the U. S. and Great Britain do not require athletes to live i n the country to represent t hem i n national competition. Do you have an opinion on this matter? Send us your thoughts @CanadianRunning and use #TeamCanAm.