Statement from IOC Athletes’ Commission Chair on upcoming publication of the “Independent Person Report”

8 | 12 | 2016

In the light of the second edition of Professor Richard McLaren’s “Independent Person Report”, set to be released on 9 December 2016, IOC Athletes’ Commission (AC) Chair, Angela Ruggiero, released the below statement.

Dear Athletes,

As the Chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, in the name of all clean athletes, I wish to comment on the efforts undertaken by the IOC and WADA in the fight to protect clean athletes.

Ensuring the health of athletes and maintaining a level playing field is a core tenet of the Olympic Movement. The IOC Athletes’ Commission is fully committed to continuing to work closely with all relevant stakeholders and contributing to the best of our ability in the fight against doping and at the service of the clean athletes.

We, the IOC AC, have been actively engaged in all discussions and are fully committed to building a stronger and more effective global anti-doping system. This is our number one priority because, as clean athletes, we are directly affected more than anyone else, and enhancing the credibility of sport is in our fundamental collective interest.

In this context, the IOC Athletes’ Commission fully supports the IOC’s efforts to reanalyse doping samples from previous Olympic Games. To date, over 1,500 samples have been re-analysed, revealing a total of 101 adverse analytical findings and preventing 41 athletes from participating in Rio 2016* (more here). This re-analysis sends a strong signal of zero tolerance to drug cheats and demonstrates, from our perspective, the IOC’s commitment to protecting the clean athletes even after the Games are over.

Strengthening the global anti-doping system, enhancing the protection of athletes’ data security linked to the TUE process, improving independence and governance structures, as well as sanctioning the athletes’ entourage and all those involved in doping, are just some of the key priorities which will need to be tackled by all of us and will remain a central focus of the IOC AC.

As the democratically elected IOC Athletes’ Commission, we have been fully engaged with the discussion and decision-making processes to address these challenges, and, while a robust and independent anti-doping system will not appear overnight, it is clear that the athletes must continue to take an active role in shaping the reforms that are so important for the future of sport.

The IOC Athletes’ Commission will continue to be the voice of the athletes and defend your interests as our first priority throughout this process – a process that is of such fundamental importance to us all.

You can find more information here about the IOC Executive Board’s Declaration related to the imminent release of the completed version of the “Independent Person Report”.

I encourage any additional feedback from other athletes’ commissions or from Olympic athletes at athletes@olympic.org.

Thank you,

Angela Ruggiero

IOC AC Chair

* IOC reanalysis programme – Beijing 2008 and London 2012

You can read the original statement on the Olympic Athletes' Hub.