They also announce athlete driven initiatives to support and protect clean sport in Ireland
Today, the Team Ireland Athletes’ Commission welcomed three time Olympian and Chair of WADA Athlete Commission Beckie Scott to Dublin as they announced athlete driven initiatives to support and protect clean sport in Ireland. Scott is Chair of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Athlete Committee and a former member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission. A long-time advocate for the athlete voice, in 2018, Scott stepped down from her role as Chair of WADA Compliance Review Committee following their recommendation to end Russia’s drug suspension.
Over the coming nine months, the Team Ireland Athletes’ Commission will hold three workshops for Irish athletes and High-Performance Directors. They will discuss the Irish anti-doping system, look at the role of education and early intervention, and at how clean sport can be protected by athletes themselves. The process will be led by Brian MacNeice of Kotinos Partners who will produce a report to be submitted in early 2020 to Sport Ireland. The Athletes’ Commission has worked with Sport Ireland to develop this initiative and welcomes their commitment to ensuring that the athlete’s voice is central to planning.
At the event Beckie Scott also took part in a panel discussion alongside Team Ireland Athletes’ Commission members, David Gillick and Shane O’Connor, and Olympian Arthur Lanigan O’Keeffe and World Championship medallist Jenny Egan, on the importance of ensuring the voice of the athletes is represented in sports policy.
Since their election in June 2017, the Athletes’ Commission has made major steps forward to represent the athletes’ voice and is now represented on major sports policy groups including the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport’s Sports Leadership Group, the High-Performance Strategy working group and the Tokyo 2020 Planning Group.
Speaking at the event with Beckie Scott, Team Ireland Athletes’ Commission Chair, Shane O’Connor said: “The Team Ireland Athletes’ Commission is committed to ensuring that the experience of Ireland’s Olympic athletes is represented in sports policy decision making. In particular, we are committed to the role we can and should play in the promotion and development of clean sport. We invited Beckie to Dublin as we felt there was much we could learn from her given her track record and brave stance that she has taken on ensuring the athlete voice is recognised within the anti-doping system.”
Beckie Scott said; “I am delighted to have been invited by the Team Ireland Athletes’ Commission to Dublin to speak at this progressive event hosted by the Athletes’ Commission in conjunction with Sport Ireland. This event and this initiative is a big step, not just for Irish Sport, but for Olympic sport on a global level and I really admire the Team Ireland Athletes’ Commission for taking the lead on this initiative surrounding anti-doping. It is so important for athletes’ voices to be heard when defining the policies which ultimately affect them and this programme of workshops will offer a forum for athletes to play a meaningful role in the protection of clean sport. I really commend this and look forward to seeing the results that come from it too.”
