(ATR) Every international sports event seems to claim that its "athlete centered". But what does that label mean?
More than 200 international federation leaders will consider that question over the next two days at the annual IF Forum in Lausanne. Organized by SportAccord, the forum is one of the services provides to the 100+ federations under the umbrella of SportAccord.
IOC President Thomas Bach opened the forum Monday night saluting the sports federations for their role in the Olympic Movement.
Jeanette Kwakye, retired as an Olympic sprinter who’s now a broadcaster in the U.K., delivered the keynote address.
"Are we up to speed with the modern athlete? We need to make sure our core values still represent the athletes. If not, it is time to refocus how we treat athletes," Kwakye told the forum.
Other speakers Monday night included Lausanne 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games President Virginie Faivre and SportAccord president Raffaele Chiulli.
The program covers the next day and a half with a series of closed-door presentations and panels.
Tuesday program includes a "Fireside Chat" with Danka Barteková, IOC Athletes' Commission Vice Chair. BBC anchor David Eades, a regular presenter at the IF Forum, hosted the chat with the IOC member from Slovakia.
IOC Director General Christophe De Kepper will speak on the Future of Athlete Financial Wellbeing.
His comments will be followed by a round table with Kwakye as the moderator.
Sébastien Gillot, Director of WADA’s European Regional Office and International Federation Relations, will speak about Protection of Clean Athletes followed by a panel.
The IF Forum ends midday on Wednesday.
Reported by Ed Hula.
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
