It is a pleasure to be with you at this 55th International Young Participants Session!

I would like to start by congratulating you for earning the right to be here. This program attracts some of the best and brightest people in the world of sport. Participating in these sessions always gives me reassurance that the future of sport is in good hands.

I have been asked to talk to you about the process of renewal and adaption in the Olympic Movement. It is a timely topic because the Olympic Movement has entered a new era. The reforms that are underway today will shape the future direction of the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Movement for years to come.

Most dictionaries give multiple definitions for the word “renewal”. Sometimes it means extending the period of time when something is effective – like renewing a contract. It can also mean making something new or fresh.

“Adaption” is typically defined as adjusting to new or different circumstances.

We all engage in renewal and adaption in our personal lives. In my case, renewal and adaption is defined as moving from Casablanca, Morocco, to Ames, Iowa.

If you do not know where Ames, Iowa is, don’t worry. I did not know where it was either when I went there, on an athletic scholarship to Iowa State University. I went to a part of the United States known mainly for its corn and pork, to pursue a dream.

Needless to say, it was quite a shock for a young Muslim girl, but it changed the course of my life. My process of renewal and adaption gave me the opportunity to train at a level that ultimately led to a gold medal at the 1984 Olympic Games and a seat on the International Olympic Committee.

It helped me build on the progress I had made as an athlete and as a student – and to take it to the next level.

That is where the IOC and the Olympic Movement are today. The reforms that the IOC approved last December as part of Olympic Agenda 2020 were developed from a position of strength.

By any measure, the Olympic Movement is stronger and more popular today than at any time in its 121-year history. But we also know that we are living in a rapidly changing world.

Technology is fundamentally altering how we live, work, play and communicate. The global balance of power is shifting as new regions gain economic and political influence. Young people are finding new ways to spend their leisure time, often without venturing outdoors.

President Bach said it well when he presented the proposed reforms of the Olympic Agenda 2020 to IOC members in December. I would like to quote him:

In our world, changing faster than ever, the success of yesterday means nothing for today. The success of today only gives you the opportunity to drive the change for tomorrow [...] We want to be the leaders of change, not the object of change.

So what does renewal and adaption look like in the context of the Olympic Movement, and how does that change come about?

It starts with inclusion. The forty recommendations that President Bach submitted to the IOC in December were the culmination of a year-long process of consultation and dialogue with stakeholders throughout the Olympic Movement, as well as independent experts in relevant fields beyond the world of sport.

The IOC solicited advice and suggestions from athletes; coaches; officials; medical experts; academics; business leaders; law-enforcement officials; representatives of International Federations, National Olympic Committees and non-governmental organizations; and just about everyone else with a credible opinion. We received more than 43,000 emails offering advice and comments.

President Thomas Bach appointed fourteen working groups, made up of IOC members and outside experts, to refine all of these ideas into actionable recommendations. Each working group focused on a particular topic. For example, I served on the working group that examined the process of selecting host cities.

The recommendations that emerged from the working groups fell within three broad themes that we believe are essential for the future appeal and viability of the Olympic Movement: sustainability, credibility and youth.

Sustainability requires a holistic approach that includes respect for the environment and a strong focus on leaving a positive legacy.

Credibility means living up to the values we promote by matching our actions with our words. We also have to do a better job of explaining how the IOC operates and what it does. For example, too many people are unaware that the IOC redistributes more than 90% of the revenue it generates to athletes and sport – the equivalent of more than three million dollars a day, every day of the year.

“Youth” is shorthand for engaging with young people to ensure that future generations experience the benefits of sport and Olympic values. As President Bach put it: “We have an interest and a responsibility to get the couch potatoes off the couch.”

After all of the discussion and study, the vote itself was a bit anticlimactic. All forty recommendations passed unanimously.

That is when the real work started.

The full implementation of Olympic Agenda 2020 will require additional staff at the IOC, organizational changes, legal provisions and some significant expenditures. But some reforms took effect almost immediately, and the pace of change has been accelerating ever since.

The changes to the bid process that my working group dealt with have altered both the tone and the substance of the IOC’s discussions with potential host cities. Although the process for selecting the host for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games was already well underway when the IOC approved Olympic Agenda 2020, the candidate cities embraced the opportunity it provided to optimize their Games concepts with a stronger focus on sustainability and legacy.

During its site visits with the two candidates – Beijing, China, and Almaty, Kazakhstan – the members of the IOC Evaluation Commission adopted the spirit of Olympic Agenda 2020 by reassuring the candidates that their goal was to have a dialogue, not conduct an examination.

The collaborative discussions that resulted from this new approach led to better Games proposals and reduced cost for both cities, without compromising the quality of the Games.

This same spirit encouraged Tokyo 2020 to make changes that saved about one billion US dollars. Tokyo will also be the first host city to have the opportunity to propose additional events for the Games, as permitted by the Olympic Agenda 2022.

The full implementation of the host city selection reforms began on 15 January, when the selection process for the 2024 host began with the new invitation phase. This change will give potential host cities an opportunity to learn more about how they could design Games to meet their local and regional needs.

The IOC’s approach to fighting doping and corruption in sport has also undergone a significant change in response to Olympic Agenda 2020. Rather than talking about a “fight against doping”, the IOC has shifted its focus to “protecting clean athletes”.

This is not just a matter of semantics. It is a philosophic adjustment that views expenditures to protect clean athletes as an investment in competitors who play by the rules, rather than a cost imposed by cheaters.

The IOC has followed through on this philosophy by pledging 20 million US dollars to protect clean athletes, including 10 million dollars to fund research into new techniques to detect prohibited substances and methods.

As of today, a dozen governments have responded to our call to join this effort by pledging nearly 6.5 million US dollars.

In April, the IOC hosted the first International Forum for Sports Integrity to explore new and better ways to protect clean athletes. The ground-breaking session included representatives from government, law enforcement, UN agencies, Olympic Movement stakeholders and independent experts. The IOC has also established a new Integrity and Compliance Hotline to receive reports of possible misconduct.

Olympic Agenda 2020 has also put greater emphasis on honouring clean athletes.

In the past, when a doping violation at the Olympic Games required redistributing medals, attention almost inevitably focused on the cheater. Clean athletes received their medals without fanfare. As a result of Olympic Agenda 2020, the IOC will now honour clean athletes by awarding redistributed medals in a formal ceremony.

Another Olympic Agenda 2020 initiative, the Olympic Channel, will take a bit longer to implement, but it is also making good progress. The Olympic Channel may turn out to be the most far-reaching change that results from Olympic Agenda 2020. Although not exclusively targeted at youth, it will allow us to engage with young people on their terms and on their turf.

The Olympic Channel is not a television channel in the traditional sense. It is a multi-platform communications tool to share Olympic sports and Olympic values with a global audience 24/7, year-round. Ultimately, content can be delivered online, on mobile devices, on television and via any other media delivery system that develops in the rapidly changing IT and communications landscape.

The important thing is that the Olympic Channel will help keep the Olympic spirit alive between the Games, and deliver content whenever and however people want to receive it. It will draw attention to sports that receive little attention outside the Games and highlight the work that the IOC does in parts of the world that are typically far from the media spotlight. The possibilities are exciting and virtually endless.

The IOC’s work beyond the Games will continue to expand in keeping with Olympic Agenda 2020 recommendations to increase strategic partnerships with international organizations and NGOs to work for society.

Our partnership with the United Nations is at the centre of this effort. After gaining official UN Observer status in 2009, the IOC and the UN strengthened and expanded our collaboration with a Memorandum of Understanding regarding sport’s role in promoting development and peace.

The agreement committed both organizations to collaborate in using sport to contribute to conflict resolution, promote gender equality, encourage healthier lifestyles and bring hope and a sense of purpose to refugee camps.

The IOC is also actively engaged in discussions around the post-2015 global development agenda as the UN transit from the Millennium Development Goals to the Sustainable Development Goals.

This is what the process of renewal and adaption looks like in the context of the Olympic Movement. There are many more changes underway. By any definition, renewal and adaption requires change. It is the opposite of stagnation.

The Olympic Movement has endured and thrived for more than one century because it has evolved with the times while holding true to the timeless values of sport. Olympic values – excellence, respect, friendship, fair play, nondiscrimination, tolerance and solidarity – will never change.    

They are the foundation of the Olympic Movement, and any process of renewal and adaption has to serve those goals. That is the motivation behind Olympic Agenda 2020.

Change is seldom easy. I know from my own experience how difficult it can be. But you cannot win a race by standing still, and you cannot advance your goals in a rapidly changing world by clinging to the status quo, no matter how comforting that might be.

The strategic roadmap that Olympic Agenda 2020 provides for the IOC and the Olympic Movement puts us on a path to ensure that the Olympic Movement and the values it promotes will remain as relevant for your children as they have been for my generation. That is worth the effort.

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EL MOUTAWAKEL Nawal, "Olympic Movement: The process of renewal and adaption",in:K. Georgiadis (ed.), Olympic Movement: The process of renewal adaption,55th International Session for Young Participants (Ancient Olympia,23/5-6/6/2016),International Olympic Academy, Athens, 2016, pp.53-59.

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