As an athlete, Tricia Smith helped put Canadian rowing in the spotlight with her silver medal in the women’s pair at the 1984 Los Angeles Games — a medal that was among the first ever won on the Olympic stage by Canadian women in the sport.
In the years since, Smith has worked tirelessly to help athletes across the nation thrive, serving in various leadership roles across the sporting landscape, including her current post as president of the Canadian Olympic Committee. The B.C.-based lawyer brings the same collaborative approach that helped her on the water into the boardroom.
“For me, a big thing is just leaving the place better than you found it,” she says. “I mean, that that applies to everything. That applies to climate change, that applies to equality, human rights. If everybody just tries to make their little world better than they found it, I mean, we'd be in pretty good shape.”
That philosophy is what drives Smith, who added another impressive accolade to her resume earlier this year as part of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame’s class of 2022. This year’s inductees also include hockey legend Hayley Wickenheiser, Olympic kayaker Adam van Koeverden, soccer star Dwayne De Rosario, lacrosse player John Tavares, and paralympic swimmer Tim McIsaac. Joining Smith in the “builder” category are long-time sports broadcaster, Brian Williams, and Edward Lennie, known as the “Father of the Northern Games.”
All eight new inductees are also recipients of the Order of Sport in Canada, the country's highest sporting honour.
Smith spoke with Sportsnet this week about her career, what leadership in sport means to her, the COC’s exploration of a bid for another Games, and what needs to happen in order for that to remain a possibility.
SPORTSNET: First off, congratulations on this latest honour of being inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. What does this recognition mean to you?
TRICIA SMITH: Obviously, it's a huge honor to have been inducted, especially along with [this group]. For me, the fact that I've been honoured as a builder is also tremendously humbling. I always try to give back to sports because it's given me so much, and to be recognized for that is really something special.
Before you were a builder and a leader in the sporting landscape, you were an athlete. When you look back on your days as an Olympic rower, what stands out most?
It was fun. I loved it. I loved the camaraderie, I loved the people, loved the coaches, loved the sport. It gave me so many opportunities, even to have my education — to become a lawyer — and to think about what I was going to do beyond sport. There were abilities to get involved in the leadership of sport in terms of athlete representation and advocacy. So there were a lot of opportunities there for someone like myself, who really believes in integrity, respect, fairness.
What kind of leadership did you gravitate toward as an athlete? And how did that inform how you lead as president of the COC today?
They were people that led with their values, people that you knew you could count on. You knew where they were headed because you knew what the values were. It's about respect and integrity, which leads to fairness, which leads to inclusion and accountability. That's the kind of leader I think I'm attracted to and a leader I try to be, which is to live my values in everything — not just to say, 'This is what we stand for and as an organization,' but in every decision be sure that it equates with your values.
Demands on athletes are constantly evolving. How does that change the demands on leadership?
I think the Canadian Olympic Committee definitely has a closer relationship with the athletes than it did in my day, and [now involves] athletes in, 'What is the kind of support we can provide to you?' So there's the gameplan support, mental health support, career planning support, even support in having some sponsor relationships, that kind of thing. And also making sure that the athlete's voice is heard in the decision making. We ensure that everything we do has that athlete input. And I think because the athletes know that their input is valued and a critical part of our decision making, that inspires more athletes to get involved. So, we've seen more athletes run for the athletes commission, for example, because I think they see that there is an opportunity there to make a difference.
I'm an athlete and I come from that — I mean, I always started athletes commissions. We started the first Rowing Athletes Commission and I was on the first Olympic Committee Athletes Commission when we had the boycott in 1980. So, I've always thought that the athlete's voice was important to be constructive. That's how we can make it better. And I always thought that made sense, since we were on the front line.
What can you tell me about the latest developments in the COC’s hope for an Indigenous-led bid for Vancouver 2030 in the wake of the B.C. government’s decision not to support it?
We're hoping that we'll get a chance to meet and really talk about this project, but right now, it's going to be challenging because so far the province has said no without any further explanation.
For the amount of work that's been done and all the collaboration, I think it's responsible, it's good governance, to really have a look at it before any doors are closed. And we have that opportunity, with a new premier and a new mayor, to do that.
We have a huge opportunity here in British Columbia to build on what was done in 2010, because it was done so well — but there's still things that everyone knows could be done better. We're not starting, rebuilding, from scratch. Some of the people involved in our feasibility study are people that were involved in 2010 who have that experience. The Nations that invited us in say, “What we do in our protocol is we don't think we know everything. We invite in the experts, and we work together, shoulder to shoulder, as equals at the table.”
And that's what's been so wonderful about this process.
