Do anti-doping policies truly maintain the fair playing field?
For over 50 years, anti-doping policies have sought to regulate the use of performance-enhancing substances and methods in Canadian and international sport. In its Anti-Doping Code, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) claims that such policies “are founded on the intrinsic value of sport…often referred to as the ‘spirit of sport’…the essence of Olympism”.
But do anti-doping policies actually protect these lauded values? And what other motivations might lay behind the creation of these policies?
Join us on March 20 for the second annual Peter Donnelly Lecture in Sport Policy Studies, where keynote speaker Ian Ritchie will explore anti-doping policies from a sociological perspective.
Diving into the factors that gradually but systemically built the “cops and robbers” framing of conversations around anti-doping policies, pitting athletic “cheats” against morally justified anti-doping crusaders, the lecture will confront long-held (and sometimes contentious) ideas around anti-doping policies and their impact on athletes.
Keynote Speaker
Ian Ritchie is an Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. His research interests include performance-enhancing drug use in sport, the history of anti-doping rules and policies, Canadian anti-doping policy, gender and sex determination policies, the history of the Olympic Games, and sociological theory as it applies to sport and physical culture. His publications have been included in several journals in addition to numerous chapters in edited volumes, and he is co-author of the book Fastest, Highest, Strongest: A Critique of High-Performance Sport (with Rob Beamish, Queen’s University).
Event Details
- Thursday March 20, 2025 at Innis Town Hall (2 Sussex Avenue)
- Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., with light refreshments served before the lecture begins
- Lecture starts at 7 p.m.
- No cost to attend but registration is required
The event is open to all, and will also be livestreamed. We welcome students, staff, and faculty from across the University of Toronto community, as well as alumni of the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education and members of the public.
A link to the livestream will be provided to registrants a few days before the event.
About the Peter Donnelly Lecture in Sport Policy Studies
This lectureship honours the contribution and legacy of Peter Donnelly, Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto. He is the founding Director of the Centre for Sport Policy Studies (1999 - 2021), and was a Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education. An annual event, the lecture aims to celebrate his legacy of teaching, contribution to the sociology of sport and commitment to social justice.