IOC Athletes' Commission
[1] The IOC AC aims to provide athletes with a platform to share their voice and experiences, and be part of change and decisions shaping the future of sport.
Olympic Agenda 2020[2] and 2020+5 recommendations further support and protect clean and fair sport, and promote athletes' rights and responsibilities, which is at the heart of the commission's work.
The current Chair of the IOC AC is Finnish double Olympic bronze medallist and ice hockey player Emma Terho.
Her role is to set the commission's focus and lead strategy implementation following on the work of her predecessor, Kirsty Coventry.
The IOC AC was established in 1981 by then-IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, who described its purpose in a letter to the man who would become one of his successors, Thomas Bach: "This Commission will act as the spokesman of all athletes to the International Olympic Committee."
The first IOC AC meeting took place in Rome, Italy, in May 1982 with members Thomas Bach (Germany), Sebastian Coe (Great Britain), Edwin Moses (United States), Ivar Formo (Norway), Kipchoge Keino (Kenya), Vladislav Tretiak (Soviet Union), Svetla Otsetova (Bulgaria) and Bojan Križaj (Yugoslavia).
They discussed topics still relevant to athletes today, including the fight against doping, gender equality, and the elimination from the Olympic Games of political influence and pressure.
One of the recommendations highlighted the need to support athletes both on and off the field of play, leading the commission to launch the IOC AC Strategy in September 2017.
Members of the IOC AC are volunteers, driven by their desire to represent athletes and support them to succeed on and off the field of play.
[9] The next election will take place at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Games, with candidates replacing current members Emma Terho, Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen and Zhang Hong.
The aim of the Forum is to bring the global community of athlete representatives together and to emerge stronger and more united as a network, advocating change with one clear voice.
The Forum includes panel discussions, Q&A sessions and interactive workshops to empower, inspire and unite the global athlete community.
Key focuses included exploring how athletes could ensure they were set up for a career after retirement, and the roles of the NOCs, IFs and entourage in this transition.
The recommendations of this 2nd Forum emphasised the need to support and inform athletes during and after their sporting careers in order to create a smooth transition to life away from competition.
Key focuses included different aspects of athlete life, the role of the entourage, communication and social media, safety and security, anti-doping, and the Games-time experience.
[19] 2017 The 8th International Athletes' Forum (11-13 November) was organised in Lausanne, Switzerland, and focused on the newly launched IOC AC Strategy and other important topics.
IOC President Thomas Bach expressed his support for the Declaration and encouraged athlete representatives to make their voices heard.
The IOC AC played a central role in the concept and delivery of Athlete365, which consists of a digital platform coupled with physical engagement during the Olympic Games.
Learning is central to all Athlete365 themes, and a dedicated platform hosts accessible and expert-led courses for all athletes and entourage members.
The IOC AC published new Rule 50 guidelines in January 2020 to provide further clarity on existing opportunities to express views at the Olympic Games and where it is not considered appropriate.
The consultation began in July 2020 with qualitative discussions with various ACs; a quantitative survey was launched in December 2020 on Athlete365 to gather input from athletes globally.
