Canada playing dirty ahead of Vancouver 2010 but can Britain complain?

THERE’S a fine line between gamesmanship and unsporting behaviour and it appears Canada are currently skating on very thin ice.

CHRISTMAS SPIRIT? Canada are being a touch on the miserly side in their pursuit of success at Vancouver 2010 (Getty Images)

There’s no doubting that being hosts has its perks but, in a bid to ensure Canada does not complete a hat-trick of gold medal-less Olympic Games on home soil – after Montreal 1976 and Calgary 1988 proved rathered fruitless, Vancouver 2010 organisers are playing dirty.

And the “all’s fair in love and the Olympics” attitude hasn’t gone down well.

The British Olympic Association have not been shy in voicing their displeasure and they are not the only ones.  American speedskater Catherine Raney has indeed told the New York Times that Canada are “playing nasty”.

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Take skeleton bob as a prime example. The governing body the FIBT state that each nation must be allowed a week to train on the track at the Whistler Sliding Centre (Great Britain are there at present).

The track is the most challenging in the world. It is not only the fastest, but also the most technically difficult in the world and has only been on the World Cup circuit for a year.

Practice clearly has its advantages and Canada are exploiting that to the full. Only those decked out in maple leaves are permitted to use the track outside the minimum allotted time, leaving the rest of the world just a fleeting visit before the Games begin.

Now it must be said Canada are well within their rights to do so, even if they might not make many friends along with the way.

But for the BOA, it gets worse.

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Team GB are due to be based in Calgary, the only other Canadian city with an ice track, prior to Vancouver 2010.

But Great Britain have been informed they are not allowed to use said track.

The hosts have made an exception though.  Russia have not been given the cold shoulder and can train on the Calgary track.  Is it mere coincidence they host the subsequent Winter Olympics in Sochi?

And it doesn’t stop there. The BOA have gone to the IOC  too, after they were banned from placing cameras at certain positions at the curling venue.

But this is not just some form of imperialist backlash against Blighty. Great Britain are not the only ones to feel the wrath of Canada’s single-minded pursuit of success – the USA have not been pleased by their treatment both on the skeleton track and on the ice skating rink.

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Now we must remember that Canada are simply exploiting home advantage as opposed to out-and-out rule-breaking but they are certainly not high on many NOC Christmas card lists at present.

But before we go casting aspersions, let us cast our minds forward two years. Director of elite performance for the BOA Sir Clive Woodward has been tasked with squeezing every last drop out of home advantage for London 2012.

And Sir Clive, as he proved in leading the England rugby team to World Cup glory in 2003, is not one to leave many stones unturned.

Canada may be deviating from the Olympic spirit and, by banning cameras and training sessions, are being a touch on the juvenile side about it – as Pierre de Coubertin once said, ‘the important thing is not to win, but to take part.’

But then, with less than 1000 days to go until London 2012, those in glass houses…..

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