Athletes must be at the forefront of shaping the future of global sport, British Olympic cycling champion Callum Skinner said on Wednesday as he fronts a new athlete-led organization launched following scandals.
Global Athlete, the creation of which comes after a Russian doping crisis and USA Gymnastics sexual abuse scandal, said it would empower Olympic athletes to speak up and work toward addressing a disconnect between competitors and sports leaders.
The independent body is to focus on issues such as calling for a more robust anti-doping system, better athlete welfare and ensuring athletes receive some Olympic revenue or prize money.
Sports governance lags far behind other sectors of society in terms of engaging their constituents, Skinner said, adding that athletes care about how sport is run and want an opportunity to provide input in shaping its future.
Skinner, who won a gold medal in the team sprint at the 2016 Rio Olympics, decided to get involved with the organization after becoming frustrated at how the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) lifted a ban on the Russian Anti-Doping Agency last year.
Skinner was among those on Britain’s Anti-Doping Athlete Commission who sent a letter to WADA to say that readmitting Russia before it fulfilled the road map to code compliance would be to ignore the wishes of the athletes WADA is there to protect.
“My thoughts on that was really disappointing that we didn’t get the result that we wanted, but on the other hand it was incredibly positive how we all came together as a group and a nation,” Skinner said in a telephone interview. “So it seemed a bit of a waste to let that [momentum] fizzle out.”
Skinner jumped on board with Global Athlete, saying a sporting landscape that is democratic, representative and in-touch with wider society and opinion is critical to progress and staying relevant.
The body, which expects to have more high-profile athletes on board in the coming days, also said that it has appointed former WADA deputy director-general Rob Koehler as director-general.
Koehler, who abruptly left WADA last year, is to lead a “listening exercise” with athletes in all countries over the next eight months to gain a full understanding of the changes they want to see.
It is time competitors had a greater role in decisionmaking after too many years of being on the sidelines, Koehler said.
Global Athlete would be humble in its approach and it would take time before the movement bears fruit, he added.
“We have time to work with the athletes, we have time to be able to make sure we do it right,” Koehler said in a telephone interview.
Global Athlete is being funded initially by independent foundation FairSport along with individual donors who would have no part in decisionmaking or operations.
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