The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) is proud to put athletes at the center of everything we do. At every level of the organization, from the board of directors to the interns, our team is made up of Olympians, Paralympians, Pan American Games athletes, former national team athletes, recreational league athletes, and passionate sports enthusiasts. This series tells the stories of team members who have competed in major multi-sport games and are now dedicating their professional lives to helping the next generation of Team Canada athletes achieve their dreams.
Eric Miles has been involved in high performance sports since 1981. As an athlete, Miles won a bronze medal in the K-2 500 meter event at the 1987 Pan American Games, but retired from competition at the age of 23 after a series of injuries. Since then, he has dedicated his life to the world of sports, first as a coach and then as a manager and builder. From 1992 until 2002, Miles served as Director of Education, where he had a significant impact on: sports etudes program. In 2002, he became executive director of Québec En Forme, an organization that promotes active and healthy lifestyles across the province. He joined the COC in 2014 as Chief Sporting Officer.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What does your position as Chief Sporting Officer mean?
A key part of my role is directing all major competitions including the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Youth Olympic Games. But it's important to note that we're evolving at COC, and we're doing more than just delivering games. We are also facilitators who lead from behind, even in areas where some may be surprised to see the COC playing a role.
This is evident in the second pillar of my work: Improving Canada's sports system. When I joined him in 2014, this was the job I was hired to do. At that time, capacity building, the concept of building relationships with national sports organizations (NSOs) and better governance, was not part of the COC's mandate. We have put athlete leadership at the forefront to better identify ways to improve our systems. For example, we work with athlete committees to help athletes participate on various committees. Another thing that stuck with me was the Game Plan, which provides many tools and resources to help athletes perform at their best on and off the field, stay involved in their sport longer, and retire healthy. It was development. It equips you with the tools you need to prepare you to be a positive citizen at every stage of your career. Many years ago, when I finished my career as an athlete, I went through a very tough transition period. So we're very proud that our athletes now have access to programs like this.
The newest aspect of this role is health. The COC used to have a chief medical officer (CMO) who worked from contract to contract at the convention. After coming out of the pandemic, I was looking for ways to improve this. From March 2023, Dr. Mike Wilkinson will be our full-time CMO. His role is not just his COC, he works with the entire sports system to ensure healthy athletes. A big part of his job is to clearly network with his other CMOs at the National Training Center to support athlete health.
I felt that if I really wanted to improve in this area of health and wellness, I needed stability. When athletes are injured, they need to know they are not stuck alone. We have developed a network of experts who support athletes' physical and mental health. Another important part of the role is creating a safe environment. This comprehensive vision of athlete development and support is key to getting us to a better place by helping athletes improve their performance and extend their careers.
What are you most proud of accomplishing during your time at COC?
I'm really proud of the growth of the organization. When I joined the senior leadership team, I asked: pure white medical record It's about changing the culture of who we are and how we work. It wasn't just me. It was a team. It is now firmly fixed. I've brought in a lot of Olympians who give us instant credibility because of who they are, their lived experience, and the values they hold dear. I did.
Their knowledge and experience within the system is an undeniable asset in maximizing support for athletes to perform at their best. It only adds to how skilled and experienced our passionate team is. After all, their success is my greatest pride.
Additionally, amid the COC restructuring movement, our organization stands out by the relevance and quality of the processes we have developed to care for our athletes. Every step we take, from the training we offer to the policies we employ and the profile of our team, is guided by the same goal: to put athletes at the heart of what we do. We are a dynamic and innovative organization that unites nationally and internationally, and we are truly proud of that.
How did your career as an athlete and coach prepare you for your job at COC?
The most difficult moment in my competitive career was when I narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. I was in Yugoslavia for his 1987 Summer Universiade, where my partner and I placed 7th for him. I was also a medalist at the Pan American Games in Indianapolis that year. Seoul was slow in the fall of 1988, so I had to run fast at different times of the year.
Some of us end up overtraining. I lost so much weight that I became unwell and had to be hospitalized.
If you look at it in terms of what COCs are doing now with CMOs and focusing on health and wellness or programs like Game Plan, there would have been guidance and support that didn't exist back then. . I can't say it made the difference in me getting to the Olympics or not, but you never know.
From there, I entered the world of coaching. I believe I found something that inspires me there. Looking back on my career, I realized that I love development and that I am a builder. I was part of a new club where people in the sporting world laughed at us because we were so small. Then two friends and I became the first athletes from the club to compete in the World Championship. It always made me just as happy, if not more, to see my teammates succeed. That really defined my career. The builder side later surfaced when I approached the province of Alberta to help coach and develop the sport in Alberta. Until now, no players had been included in the national team because there was no human resources to train them. I helped start the club and within four years he had seven players on the national team and three went to the Olympics. That was the turning point for me in wanting to work to improve systems.
One of the key things that I've brought to my role at COC, which comes from my background as a team boat athlete, is that if you surround yourself with strong people and trust your partners along the way, that's what makes the boat truly It's time to glide and fly.
Tell us about the preparations and planning that COC had to start for Paris 2024. What has been your biggest challenge to date? What has been your biggest success?
One of our major accomplishments is the role the COC plays in these competitions. For the first time, we became members of the Coordination Committee, which brought our organization into the eyes of the IOC and brought it into active focus. We are also proud of the high-quality relationships we have built abroad, in particular with the CNOSF (French National Olympic and Sporting Committee) as a whole and with the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee. Our actions and investments have placed us among the most influential, if not the largest, NOCs.
Paris 2024 is also a challenge to reinvent the way the Games are delivered. Each time we learn more and that will be the case in France this summer.
Our biggest challenge is to achieve success by keeping the health and safety of our athletes at the forefront of our approach. We are proud that COC has become recognized as an ally of performance. We hope that our partners and key stakeholders in delivering these games share our vision.
What are you most looking forward to this summer at the 2024 Paris Olympics? How do you think these Games will stand out?
These games represent a lot to me. They serve as a symbol of the close relationship between the French-speaking world, Canada, and France. This is a great opportunity to strengthen ties between our two countries and highlight our traditions. We go beyond sports to talk about shared culture, historical connections, strong symbols and more. Our swim team hosts a training camp in Normandy, not far from the landing beaches. The Canada Olympic House in the City of Science and Industry is located right next to Club France in Parc de la Villette. All these symbols reflect our continued commitment to the international and Francophone sports movement.
In Paris 2024, we will be returning to the Olympics in a world as evolved and full of challenges as we experienced before the pandemic. The most important international sporting events draw the world together. I am confident that our athletes can inspire and unite people across Canada.
Finally, these games are consistent with the continued improvement in Team Canada's performance. I am confident that our athletes will continue to improve with each Olympics and will shine even more in Paris. We look forward to the surprises they have in store for us.
