Culture change to safer sport starting slowly for Canada's Olympic athletes bound for Paris

After tearful and shocking testimonies on Parliament Hill, and the admission there is a safe-sport crisis in Canada, how safer are athletes from abuse and maltreatment heading into the Paris Games?

Canada's high-performance sport system underwent a reckoning since athletes exited Beijing's Winter Games two years ago.

Athletes spoke of current and historical instances of abuse — mental, verbal, physical and sexual — and fear of retribution for reporting it.

Members of Parliament heard athlete welfare took a back seat to the pursuit of medals.

The bloodletting isn't over. After two parliamentary committees held safe-sport hearings, a Future of Sport in Canada Commission will delve into those issues again, despite persistent calls from many quarters for a national inquiry.

"There's so much more work to be done, but I'd say it is safer," said Canada's Sports Minister Carla Qualtrough.

"The culture shift that we've all been calling for and working toward hasn't happened yet. There's more of a collective understanding that it's needed."

The 2024 Olympic Games officially start with Friday's opening ceremony, although preliminary competition starts Wednesday. The Paralympic Games open Aug. 28 and close Sept. 8.

Some Canadian athletes who will be on the start line, on the blocks, and on the mat in Paris have felt a change in their environments.

"I was under the reign of a very abusive coach last quad earlier on, and that was very hard on my mental and physical health," said Olympic champion eights rower Avalon Wasteneys. "This quadrennial, I've had a lot of health concerns. I've felt far more supported than I ever have.

"I just feel a lot more safe in the environment, all the way from the support staff and our coaches, all the