Paula Radcliffe Wants to Tweak Anti-Doping Focus -- Conferences & Conventions

(ATR) Paula Radcliffe tells the Partnership for Clean Competition (PCC) Conference "anti-doping is about principle, vision and morals".

The world record holder and three-time London marathon winner was the headline speaker on the final day of the anti-doping conference in London on Thursday.

Radcliffe told the audience that dealing with doping allegations helped her fight for clean sport and the sport she loved.

"As I learnt through my own experience, the system doesn’t have a tool for athletes to prove they have not doped. The system is better at proving when someone has done something wrong, than on protecting athletes who want to prove to the public that they are clean. Clean athletes need that gift to dispel allegations, they deserve it."

Former WADA Director General David Howman described the anti-doping system as "at a crossroads with the handbrake firmly on" when he opened the three-day conference on Tuesday.

Howman believes that the clean sport community must break out of its current rut and adopt radical thinking if the fight against doping is to succeed. He says modernizing testing, a PCC priority that was discussed in numerous sessions throughout the conference, would be a good start. Howman adds it is imperative "to listen to the rising chorus of athletes voices calling for change to the way the system is run at the top".

Radcliffe also spoke about the growing effort by athletes to get their voices heard in the Olympic Movement.

"It’s shocking it has taken this long for the athlete voice to come through, and to start to be noticed – particularly as athletes don’t understand the power they have. For the first time, we are starting to see the tide turn and some governing bodies start to listen.

"I think the IAAF has done a good job at recognizing and welcoming this [athlete input] and been much further advanced [with championing athletes’ rights] than other governing bodies such as the IOC who have taken a more tokenistic approach where they want to keep control of their fiefdom."

The Partnership for Clean Competition Conference was hosted by King's College London, the first time it's been held outside the United States. The first four editions were in New York.

Ban Ki-Moon to Open SportAccord Summit

Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon will deliver the opening welcome address at the SportAccord Summit in Gold Coast, Australia on May 8.

"Of 2019 SportAccord programs, SportAccord Summit will be an important stage to share the knowledge and information on the topic of "The Future of Big Data and Analytics" among leaders in the sporting world," he said in a statement.

Delegates can register and hear first-hand from a stellar line-up of Summit speakers and panelists, as well as take part in the newly formed interactive Summit Hub sessions planned for Day 2 of the SportAccord Summit. The hubs (five in total) will be led by a Summit speaker, and are designed to enable attendees to discuss the Summit conference sessions from Day 1 in more detail with peers.

SportAccord Summit is one of fiveconference streams - along with LawAccord, CityAccord, HealthAccord and MediaAccord - that will take place during SportAccord, which runs from May 5-10.

The former South Korean foreign minister, who is currently a chairperson of the IOC Ethics Commission, will also speak at this year’s United Through Youth Opening Conference taking place May 7 during SportAccord. The conference forms part of the Sports Festival hosted by United Through Sports.

Future events and host cities for the SportAccord organization include Regional SportAccord Pan America which is set to take place in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from December 10-12, 2019 and SportAccord 2020 in Beijing from April 19-24, 2020.

Inaugural Urban Sports Summit Set For Next Month

The first Urban Sports Summit will be in Montpellier, France on May 29-30.

Organizers Hurricane say they are gathering world-class speakers to learn and share the scope of urban sports.

Panels and sessions are organized for host cities, key actors of the sport movement and brands.

Innovative conferences, including sponsorshipX, have joined the summit which takes place during FISE Montpellier, the world’s biggest action sports festival.

FISE Montpellier 2019 runs from May 29 to June 2.

THE SPOT a Showcase for Start-Ups

The second edition of THE SPOT will again feature opportunities for start-ups in the fields of sport, physical activity or technology to showcase themselves.

ThinkSport’s sport and innovation event will be back at the the SwissTech Convention Center in Lausanne on May 28-29. More than 1,000 people from the words of sport, academia, and business are expected to attend.

About 80 start-ups are expected to line up in a head-to-head battle, operated by Venturelab. Organizers say they will compete for prestige, financial support and attractive opportunities to work with respected companies. The judges for the competition will be experts from the academic, business and sports world.

There will be two different categories, one for early stage start-ups who will pitch their innovative ideas as discovery projects and another one for more mature start-ups who will present their ready-to-use products.

"The start-up battle at the first edition of THE SPOT got a lot of adrenaline pumping and was a big hit. This year, we are keen to give even more young entrepreneurs from our region and abroad the chance to present their innovative ideas and solutions," said Anna Hellman, Director of ThinkSport.

THE SPOT will also feature a conference program around four topics featuring athletes, industry, society and entertainment.

Tickets at an early bird rate are still available here.

SportsPro Live Transformed for 2019

This year's SportsPro Live is less than two weeks away.

More than 700 delegates are expected for the sixth edition, which will be held at The O2 in London on April 30 and May 1.

There will be 75 speakers across 50 sessions and tech demos.Former IOC member Angela Ruggiero, who is the CEO and co-founder of Sports Innovation Lab, will be speaking on tracking trends in sports investment.

The event will feature what organizers say is "a future-focused sports agenda looking at the meeting point between tech, business and fandom".

Alongside the main agenda, five new specific forums have been added, including finance, artificial intelligence, esports, digital transformation and broadcasting.

The artificial intelligence forum will include speakers from Intel, Red Bull Media House and ATP Media.

Other Conferences:

May 23-24: Soccerex China inHaikou, Hainan Province

May 29-30:Intersport Brand Engagement & Content Summit in Chicago

June 13: Sports Digital Business Networking Seminar in London

June 24-26: Los Angeles Sports Summit

June 25-27: Major Events Summit in Birmingham, UK

Aug. 29-31: Sport India 2019 in New Delhi

Sept. 4-7: VISTA 2019 in Amsterdam

Sept. 5-6: Soccerex Europe in Oeiras, Portugal

Sept. 10-12: Esports Business Summit in Las Vegas

Nov. 14-16: Vietnam Sport Show 2019 in Hanoi

Nov. 18-20: Sports Business Japan/Stadia & Arena 2019 in Saitama, Japan

Nov. 25-27: Host City 2019 in Glasgow, Scotland

Dec. 10-12: Regional SportAccord Pan America in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Written by Gerard Farek

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