It is a pleasure to be with you here in Olympia to discuss what is arguably the most important topic in the Olympic Movement: protecting clean athletes.

Why, you may be asking, is protecting clean athletes so important?

The answer is simple: corrupt competition makes sport a meaningless spectacle. And nobody is interested in watching or taking part in a competition whose outcome is tainted or, worse, already determined before it begins.

In addition, failing to protect the integrity of sport means we cannot promote positive values through sport.

This is why my work as Chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission and the concerted efforts of Olympic Movement stakeholders to protect sport and clean athletes from all forms of corruption, including doping and match-fixing, are so important.

Thomas Bach, elected IOC President in September 2013, has made the protection of clean athletes a top priority in his Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms. Olympic Agenda 2020 is our strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement that was approved by the IOC Session last December in Monaco. It comprises 40 reforms in total, all of which are in the process of being implemented or have already been implemented. I am sure that most of you are familiar with the document, which can be found on our website www.olympic.org.

I was heavily involved in the drafting of the reforms regarding the athletes. This includes the section on protecting clean athletes. I would like to talk about these reforms and the process that led to our recommendations with you in greater detail now.

I should start by saying that the IOC has always made the athletes its top priority on and off the field.

On the field, athletes are the central actors in the sport competition on which the Olympic Games are built. They are the role models who inspire millions of children around the world to participate in sport and reflect the Olympic ideals.

Off the field, the IOC continues to give a greater voice to the athletes in the management of sports. The IOC Athletes Commission was established in 1981. In 1999, one spot on the IOC Executive Board was reserved for an Olympic Athlete, specifically the Chair of the Athletes’ Commission – my current role.

The IOC has also increasingly supported athletes through career and education programs, helping them develop off the field during and after their careers.

Today, more than any time in the past, athletes are truly at the heart of the Olympic Movement. During the discussions on Olympic Agenda 2020, we athletes had the great opportunity to provide our ideas and input, which is reflected throughout the 40 reforms.

The specific focus of my particular Working Group was to generate recommendations on how to best protect clean athletes. We produced five recommendations which were subsequently fully endorsed by the IOC Athletes Commission and then the IOC Session.

Let’s look closer at the each of these five recommendations now:

1. Strengthen the 6th Fundamental Principle of Olympism

(Recommendation 14)

There are seven Fundamental Principles of Olympism in total. These are the pillars on which the Olympic Movement is built and they govern everything we do. You can find them all in the Olympic Charter on www.olympic.org.

We recommended that the 6th Fundamental Principle of Olympism should be strengthened by including more examples of non-discrimination – going a step further than the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 14 of the European Convention of Human Rights by including a specific reference to non-discrimination on sexual orientation.

The new text, which has already been implemented, reads:

The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Olympic Charter shall be secured without discrimination of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

This strengthened wording will help us to ensure the respect of equal rights for all participants during the Olympic Games.

2. Change the philosophy to protecting clean athletes (Recommendation 15)

My Working Group focused on Protecting Clean Athletes, and the wording in this regard was very deliberate. We recommended that the IOC should lead a change in philosophy throughout the Olympic Movement to put the clean athletes at the centre of our vision. We see the fight against doping, manipulation and related corruption as an important means to an end but not an end in itself.

We want to do more to recognize and honour the vast majority of athletes who compete according to the principles of Olympism and respect themselves, their opponents and the integrity of the competition in which they take part.

This protection of clean athletes has therefore become a top priority in all our decisions and initiatives. The money spent on these programs is no longer considered an expense but an investment in the protection of clean athletes and the future of the Olympic Games.

3. Leverage IOC’s USD 20 million fund to protect clean athletes

(Recommendation 16)

The IOC Executive Board decided during its meeting in December 2013 to dedicate two funds to support clean athletes:

• Ten million dollars to the fight against manipulation of competitions and corruption-related matters (in simpler terms “match-fixing”)

• Ten million dollars for research into new anti-doping methods

The Olympic Movement’s current strategy regarding sports betting and related issues centres on a zero-tolerance policy. It is based on three themes: education, monitoring-intelligence and legislation-regulation.

The 10 million dollar fund to fight against manipulation of competitions and corruption is being used in two ways:

• Establishment in April and continued support of the “International Forum for Sports Integrity”, led by the IOC. The task of the Forum is to strengthen the collaboration on the risk of match-fixing with governments, international organizations and betting operators.

• Development of robust education and awareness programs on the risks of match-fixing, in coordination with international organizations such as INTERPOL and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), including e-learning programs for the athletes and their entourage.

The 10 million dollar anti-doping fund is being used to build on the range of effective programs currently in place, but with a greater focus on better understanding athlete behavior, working closely with athletes and being supported by comprehensive education and harmonization programs.

We admit that doping in sport remains a significant challenge. We decided that simply doing more of the same would not improve protection of the clean athletes, so novel approaches are needed from all stakeholders.

These include:

• The creation of an IOC expert panel to assess and recommend anti-doping research projects using their part of the ten million dollar fund not matched by governments, which is being administered by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). WADA recently announced pledges of USD 6.45 million from world governments in the fight for the clean athletes which has created a joint fund of nearly USD thirteen million. The IOC is administering the balance (USD 3.55 million) that remains as a separate fund for new anti-doping research in the fight against doping.

• The key criteria for allocating research funds to specific projects should be whether the research is athlete-focused. The focus should be on:

a. social science research

b. research into new methods

c. research that appropriately uses expertise from other branches of science and medicine

To support this novel approach and focus on the athletes, the fund should also be used:

• To institute new methods for less invasive testing for clean athletes

• To support projects benefiting from experts who are not yet part of the anti-doping community and offering a different scientific approach

4. Honour clean athletes (Recommendation 17)

We recommended that the IOC should appropriately honour clean athletes who are awarded an Olympic medal following the disqualification of a competitor for doping.

Such athletes will now receive their medals at a formal ceremony to be organized by the relevant National Olympic Committee or International Federation. Whenever possible, the medal will be awarded by an IOC member, following protocol from the Olympic Games. The ceremony itself will be properly communicated by all parties concerned.

5. Strengthen support to athletes (Recommendation 18)

As I have noted, the IOC has traditionally placed athletes at the heart of the Olympic Movement. We called for this to be reflected in placing the athletes’ experience at the heart of the Olympic Games.

Specifically, this means:

• Including the topic “Athletes Experience” as a theme in the evaluation criteria of cities bidding to host the Olympic Games

• Requiring local organizers of the Olympic Games to consider athletes’ needs when planning the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic Games

• Maintaining the possibility for athletes to stay in the Olympic Village for the full duration of the Olympic Games

• Studying the possibility of establishing a place of mourning in the Olympic Village (which I am happy to tell you has already been implemented in time for next summer’s Games in Rio)

• Further developing the Athletes Friends and Family Program based on the pilot which was in place in London 2012 and Sochi 2014

The IOC has also increasingly focused on engaging with and supporting athletes off the field of play. Successful examples of this support have been the IOC athletes hub, the Athletes’ Career Program and the online education program.

We recommended that the IOC further invest in this support for athletes on and off the field of play, where appropriate with the respective National Olympic Committee of the athlete. In particular, this means:

• An overall communication, education and engagement strategy towards athletes

• Increased engagement with athletes on important topics related to their careers on and off the field of play (including anti-doping, prevention of injury and illness, prevention of harassment and abuse in sport, matchfixing and illegal/irregular betting, and the entourage)

• A one-stop shop for athletes to access all relevant content related to these topics

• The further development of athlete career programs that involve all relevant stakeholders (including NOCs, IFs, Athletes’ Commissions and Commercial Partners)

The clean athletes are the best ambassadors for the Olympic Movement. As President Bach says, “They are our role models, they are our treasure”. Through Olympic Agenda 2020, we remain fully committed to protecting them from doping, match-fixing, manipulation and corruption.

This, of course, is a never-ending battle as, unfortunately, there will always be those who chose to bend the rules to get an advantage. In this respect, sport is no different than any other area of society. But we are dedicated to the fight and committed to honouring the athletes who chose to play by the rules and embrace the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect. They are the ones who give sport its integrity. They are the ones who give it meaning. They are the ones who inspire people around the world, not only during the Olympic Games but year round.

In short, clean athletes are our most cherished assets. Without them, sport truly would be a meaningless spectacle.

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BOKEL Claudia,"Protecting clean athletes",in:K.Georgiadis (ed.), Olympic Movement: The process of renewal adaption, 55thInternational Session for Young Participants (Ancient Olympia,23/5-6/6/2015),InternationalOlympic Academy, Athens, 2016, pp.162-167.

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