The creators of a Canadian plan to win the most medals at the 2010 Winter Olympics are getting recruited by Russia for 2014.
Cathy Priestner-Allinger, winner of an Olympic silver medal in speedskating in 1976, and her husband Todd Allinger co-authored the Own The Podium report that revolutionized the Canadian sport system.
The couple is now in talks with the Russian Olympic Committee to become consultants on strategy for the host team to win medals at the Sochi Games.
Priestner-Allinger has stepped down from the Own The Podium advisory board to avoid a conflict of interest. She can't help Russia win medals at the next Winter Olympics when OTP's goal is the same for Canada.
"It's a personal decision. It's my own professional development," Priestner-Allinger said Sunday from Vancouver. "I love this area.
"It's an opportunity to explore and see, can we do similar things that we've done in this country, in a country like Russia? It's kind of a neat opportunity for Russia to want us. They've always been a strong sport nation, yet they're turning to Canadians for some assistance."
The Allingers' report, completed in 2004, provided the template for Own The Podium, which was a five-year, $117-million business plan to help Canadian athletes win the most medals in 2010. Canada finished third in the overall medal count with 26, but won the most gold with a record 14.
Russia won only three gold and 15 total medals in Vancouver, despite investing 5.8 billion rubles (C$198 million) in the Games. The country won eight gold medals four years earlier in Turin, Italy.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov is the new head of the Russian Olympic Committee. The Allingers have been speaking directly with Zhukov.
"They are serious, there's no doubt following Vancouver," Priestner-Allinger said. "They were disappointed with the results. They made a lot of changes and now they want to figure out how to win in 2014."
The couple were asked to bring on board other experts if they wished, so former Canadian speedskater Jacques Thibault, who assisted the Allingers with the OTP report, and former U.S. colleague Jim Page have joined them as a group.
Priestner-Allinger says she doesn't have a contract yet with the Russians, but that could happen this week.
Canada's summer and winter high-performance sports are now run on a model designed by the Allingers.
Todd Allinger also headed up Top Secret, an $8-million sport science and technology project under OTP to give Canadians the best equipment and clothing, as well as the best mental and physiological preparation for 2010. Post-Olympics, the budget for Top Secret is just $1 million for 2010-11.
The Allingers take their considerable expertise with them should they sign on with Russia. Former OTP head Roger Jackson had said he feared an Olympic brain drain from Canada after the 2010 Games.
"None of us are employed by the sport system in Canada at this point in time. As a result, we're available," Priestner-Allinger said.
"OTP is making choices as to how they move forward. My personal feeling is unless they have all the pieces that were there for 2010, it's going to be hard to continue to be the top nation. I think you need all the parts. Some parts have gone away and there's new leadership, new people, all those choices and decisions get made and we haven't really been a part of that."
Priestner-Allinger says there are opportunities for Canada and Russia to work together heading into Sochi. Russian athletes will need facilities for training in the next couple of years. Canada could work out a trade to get their own athletes in the 2014 venues when they are completed.
"Russia needs access to facilities outside their country and they're going to have to let some countries onto their facilities as well," she said. "A number of (Russian) sports are talking to the U.S. and I prefer to see it come here."
Priestner-Allinger says she and Todd are not moving to Russia. She remains heavily involved with B.C. Special Olympics.