Online Reporter
A STRONG call for unity within the anti-doping community in support of the world’s athletes was made by the International Olympic Committee president and double Olympic champion in swimming, Kirsty Coventry, during the opening of the 6th World Conference on Doping in Sport in Busan, Republic of Korea this week.
“So if I have one main request this evening, it is: let’s promise to focus our energy on what truly matters.
“Let’s put the athletes first, let’s work as one global team, and make sure that our actions match our words,” Zimbabwean Coventry said, addressing the 1 500 delegates from over 140 countries, who came together in the South Korean city at the invitation of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and its President, Witold Bańka.
Among the delegates were also two former WADA Presidents and IOC Honorary Members, Richard W. Pound and Craig Reedie. The IOC President went on: “Because clean sport is not just a policy — it’s a promise. A promise to every athlete who dreams of competing on a level playing field, and to every young person who believes in the values that sport represents. Let’s make sure that we honour this promise — and that we do it together.”
During her visit to the Republic of Korea, president Coventry was welcomed by Korean President Jae Myung Lee. During the meeting in Seoul, she was accompanied by the IOC Member in Korea, Jae Youl KIM, and the NOC President, former IOC Member, former IOC Athletes’ Commission member and Olympic table tennis champion Seung min RYU. The IOC President highlighted the role that sport plays in Korea and the fact that the country has long been a strong partner of the Olympic Movement.
She in particular mentioned the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games and the Gangwon 2014 Winter Youth Olympic Games.
President Coventry invited President Lee to the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games and to Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland.
“We have a very strong partnership with the National Olympic Committee. The commitment from the government to continue to pursue sports and sporting events is a high priority, and we will continue to work closely with them. I am sure they will continue to be a really strong partner for us,” the IOC president said after the meeting.
Addressing the members of the anti-doping community in Busan, IOC President Coventry emphasised that the fight against doping is very personal to her: “I am an athlete, and I remember standing on the starting blocks, knowing that I had trained clean, knowing that everything came down to that final moment. What made it meaningful wasn’t only the competition — it was the trust that everyone next to me had earned their place the same way. That trust is what gives sport its magic. It’s what brings people together across all our differences. And it’s what every clean athlete deserves.”
There has not always been unity in the anti-doping community in recent years, Coventry added: “Too often, we’ve seen energy spent on division, finger-pointing and competing agendas. It has been difficult to watch this divide within our community. There is only one fight that we should be fighting — and that is the fight against doping. But instead, at times, we have been turning on each other. The only people who benefit from this disunity are the drugs cheaters. For the sake of the athletes, we need to move past that.”
At the same time, she called for athletes who have been pressured into doping to come forward and to “show courage by speaking out and helping us expose those who exploit them. — olympics.com.
