Dr. Sarah Teetzel

Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies and Associate Professor, Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management, University of Manitoba

Dr. Sarah Teetzel’s research focuses on applied ethical issues in sport with emphasis on the intersection of rules and values.

Media

Visionary Conversations: Are we becoming a society of liars, cheats, bullies and thieves?

Do the ongoing scandals and negative advertising in Canadian politics, the popularity of Ashley Madison and the latest doping accusations in sport suggest that we are becoming a less civil society? What is more powerful than a good conversation? On Wednesday, November 4, 2015, President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. David T. Barnard hosted Visionary Conversations in the Community – a series for people who love exploring tough questions about the topics that fascinate us. The panelist were: Jae Eadie Former City of Winnipeg Councillor and former President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Jae Eadie’s first career was in the insurance business, first as a property insurance underwriter before acquiring a partnership in a general insurance agency. In 1980, Eadie was elected to represent St. James on Winnipeg City Council. He remained in office for the next 26 years. During his time in municipal government Eadie held various positions and developed a strong interest in governance and policy issues. Eadie was active in municipal government activities outside of Winnipeg, serving on the boards of the former Manitoba Association of Urban Municipalities and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. In 2013 Eadie was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of his distinguished service to Canadian municipal government. Dan Lett Columnist, Winnipeg Free Press Born and raised in and around Toronto, Dan Lett came to Winnipeg in 1986. Since his arrival, Lett has worked at the Winnipeg Free Press covering every level of government – from city hall to the national bureau in Ottawa. He is a two-time nominee for a National Newspaper Award, winning in 2003 for investigations. Lett has also been honoured with the B’Nai Brith National Human Rights Award and is a nominee for the Michener Award for Meritorious Public Service in Journalism. Andrea Rounce Associate Professor, Department of Political Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Manitoba and Academic Director, Manitoba Institute for Policy Research Dr. Andrea Rounce teaches and researches in public administration, working on topics such as public opinion about post-secondary education; government’s use of public opinion and consultation in decision-making; public servants and public political activities; elections; and public sector governance and financial reform. She is committed to working with the post-secondary institutions, non-profit organizations, governments, and communities to create opportunities for Manitobans to discuss key public policy issues facing the province and the country. Sarah Teetzel Associate Professor and Associate Dean (Undergraduate Education), Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management, University of Manitoba Dr. Sarah Teetzel’s research focuses on applied ethical issues in sport and has worked with the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency. Within the field of sport ethics, Teetzel’s main areas of interest include doping in sport, trans* athlete rights, and gender equity in sport. Christian Lunny Co-CEO, Dash Agency As co-CEO at Dash Agency, Christian Lunny focuses on emerging technology, social platforms, and changing consumer media habits to develop ideas for clients. As a digital-savvy creative leader, Lunny stimulates transformational thinking and drives collaboration across social and digital disciplines. In 2015 he was named as one of Marketing Magazine’s Top 30 Under 30.

The Politics of Sport - Café Politique

On February 5th, 2014, the MIPR hosted a Café Politique on The Politics of Sport at McNally Robinson. Our moderator for the evening was Dr. Douglas Brown (Dean, Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management, U of M) and our speakers were Dr. Russell Field and Dr. Sarah Teetzel from the same Faculty and Dr. Ryan Compton from the Department of Economics in the Faculty of Arts at the U of M. The Olympics provided us with the opportunity to talk about the political and economic implications of sport and its role in society. We discussed the changing perception of sport and where it fits in society over the past 40 years, what it takes politically and economically to host major sporting events, and where sport fits in the socio-cultural context of our country.

Cheating at the Olympics: How prevalent is it?

University of Manitoba kinesiology professor Sarah Teetzel, who researches cheating and doping in sports, comments on the possible prevalence of cheating at the Olympics. Teetzel also comments on the consequences of cheating, as well as the idea of Arnold Schwartzenegger, who has admitted to using performance-enhancing steroids in the past, being a torch bearer at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Calls for action in Russian doping scandal

CTV News, November 10, 2015Television

URL: https://www.facebook.com/CTVNewsChannel/videos/vb.231176056943733/988419984552666/?type=2&theater

University of Manitoba professor and sports ethics expert weighs in on a doping report that may be costly for Russian athletes..

Weeding out the truth

Winnipeg Free Press, February 8, 2016Online

URL: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/health/weeding-out-the-truth-368106451.html

Sarah Teetzel, a kinesiology professor at the University of Manitoba, says it’s possible that people such as Martin can find greater focus when using marijuana. The problem, says Teetzel, is that research just isn’t available to answer the many questions about marijuana’s pros and cons. "It’s hard to do research on any performance-enhancing drug because of the difficulty in obtaining research ethical approval to conduct studies of this nature,’ she says. "A university’s research ethics board is unlikely to permit researchers to give athletes illegal drugs in order to study their physiological reactions...

No to sex-tests of female Olympians

Winnipeg Free Press, February 6, 2014Online

URL: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/no-to-sex-tests-of-female-olympians-243906831.html

With the Canadian Olympic Committee very close to finalizing its roster of athletes who will represent Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Olympic fever builds in Canada. Yet the athletes face pressures and uncertainty unheard of for previous generations of Olympians. Concerns about terrorism, homophobia, free speech and athlete safety have been widely discussed, but half of our Canadian athletes face one additional uneasy prospect: the possibility of having to assure a committee of "experts" they are eligible to compete in the women's events...

Equality in Sport

Winnipeg Free Press, December 17, 2014Online

URL: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/equality-in-sport-286057481.html

A proposal to allow transgender high school students to compete with members of the gender they feel they are -- instead of the one assigned to them at birth -- is a step toward equality in sport, and it needs our support. On Monday, Manitoba High Schools Athletics Association executive director Morris Glimcher noted that the proposal will recognize and include transgender student athletes at the high school varsity level...

Ex-Associate of Pharmacists in Al Jazeera Report Assists Doping Inquiry

The New York Times, January 29, 2016Online

URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/30/sports/ex-associate-of-pharmacists-in-al-jazeera-report-says-he-was-unaware-of-doping.html

WADA, though, has focused its efforts primarily on educating athletes, coaches, doctors and trainers, not naturopaths, according to Sarah Teetzel, an associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Manitoba. This has provided an avenue for those distributing banned substances to reach athletes, she said. “Naturopaths haven’t really been part of the conversation of doping development,” she said. “A team doctor knows if they are found to have supplied an athlete, there are consequences. Traditionally, naturopaths haven’t been part of it.”...

Diving In: Ethicist Sarah Teetzel Challenges Sport to Put Athlete's Rights First

University of Manitoba Research LITE, September 1, 2014Online

URL: https://umanitoba.ca/research/media/ResearchLIFE_Winter_2014.pdf

Sarah Teetzel never made it to the Olympics as an athlete. In fact the former competitive swimmer says she never even came close. But she is perfectly fine with that...

The onus of inclusion: Sport policies and the enforcement of the women’s category in spor

Published by Journal of the Philosophy of Sport

September 14, 2015

With recent controversies surrounding the eligibility of athletes with disorders of sex development (DSD) and hyperandrogenism, as well as continued discussion of the conditions transgender athletes must meet to compete in high-performance sport, a wide array of scholars representing a diverse range of disciplines have weighed in on both the appropriateness of classifying athletes into the female and male categories and the best practices of doing so. In response to cases of high-profile athletes’ sex (and gender) being called into question, the International Olympic Committee, the International Association of Athletics Federations, and the National Collegiate Athletics Association, among others, published or updated policies addressing who is eligible to compete in the women’s sport category and under what conditions. This paper addresses the areas in which philosophical reasoning and ethical analysis can contribute to reopened debates about the surveillance of the women’s category in sport. Emphasis is placed on determining where the onus of responsibility should fall for ensuring the new policies are followed.

URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00948705.2013.858394

The complexities of sport, gender, and drug testing

Published by The American Journal of Bioethics

2012 Karkazis, Jordan-Young, Davis, and Camporesi do an admirable job of chronicling the history of sex verification in sport and presenting this information to a bioethics audience. Their article highlights some of the key arguments in the sex verification discourse and ...

URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15265161.2012.680541

Rules and reform: eligibility, gender differences, and the Olympic Games

Published by Sport in Society

2011 Since the beginning of the modern Olympic Games, women have struggled to participate as equals. One important aspect of women's struggle for inclusion involves the rules of eligibility to compete in the Olympic Games. This article examines the current status of ...

URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17430437.2011.557275

No Net Gain: A critique of media representations of women's Olympic beach volleyball

Published by Feminist Media Studies

2012 Representations of women athletes have always been complicated and often controversial (Paul Davis 2010), but perhaps none more so than in the case of beach volleyball. Current media representations of beach volleyball confine the players to established gender roles ...

URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14680777.2012.698093

On transgendered athletes, fairness and doping: An international challenge

Published by Sport in Society

2006 This essay argues that the most pressing issue involved in transgendered athletes' participation in elite sport is whether the athletes, who compete in the opposite gender category to which they were born, retain any physiological advantages associated with ...

URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17430430500491280

Optimizing Olympic education: a comprehensive approach to understanding and teaching the philosophy of Olympism

Published by Educational Review

2012 Through an examination and clarification of the philosophy of Olympism, this paper analyses the appropriateness of using Olympism as a mechanism of teaching values and intercultural respect through sport to students. From a review of the literature on Olympism, three ...

URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00131911.2012.688729

Drug testing, sex verification and the 1967 Pan-American Games

Published by International Journal of the History of Sport

September 9, 2016

Despite frequent claims that invasive methods of sex verification and early procedures for doping detection were used in 1966 and 1967 at different major international sport competitions, little is known about the origins and rationales for implementing such procedures. This paper focuses on the drug testing and sex verification protocols implemented at the 1967 Pan-American Games held in Winnipeg. Specifically, it explores the conditions that led to these protocols, as well as the details of and the arguments invoked for their implementation. To do so, archival material, media coverage featured in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish newspapers and magazines across the Americas, and oral histories are analyzed and discussed. The paper demonstrates that neither the sex verification nor the drug testing protocol was mandatory for all athletes and only two very specific groups of athletes were targeted. It also demonstrates that in the case of the former, exceptions were made within the specific group targeted. The paper concludes that the rudimentary protocols applied at the 1967 Pan-American Games likely informed the IOC Medical Commission’s doping and sex-testing policies implemented at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics and Grenoble Winter Olympics.

URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09523367.2015.1134499

Biography

Sarah Teetzel is the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education and an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management at University of Manitoba. A graduate of the doctoral program at the University of Western Ontario’s International Centre for Olympic Studies (2009), her PhD dissertation was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin prize (named after the founder of the modern Olympics) from the International Pierre de Coubertin Committee for best dissertation in the field of Olympic studies. Teetzel's research has since focused on applied ethical issues in sport, and has been funded by SSHRC-Sport Canada, the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Studies Centre, and the World Anti-Doping Agency. Her main areas of expertise include the Olympics, doping and drug testing in sport, and gender issues in sport. Teetzel has published over 80 articles on these topics in scholarly journals, books, newspapers, and reports.

Recognition/Reconnaissance

Pierre de Coubertin Dissertation Prize | Professional

2013 Awarded by the International Pierre de Coubertin Committee

Additional Titles and Affiliations

International Olympic Academy

Health Leisure and Human Performance Research Institute

Expertise

  • Philosophy and ethics of sport
  • Olympic studies
  • Gender in sport
  • Doping and drug testing in sport

Education/Éducation

  • The University of Western Ontario
    Kinesiology
    Ph.D., 2009
  • The University of Western Ontario
    Kinesiology - Sport Ethics
    M.A., 2004
  • The University of Western Ontario
    Kinesiology
    B.Sc., 2002