Putting Athletes First

(ATR) Seven months into her term as President of the Panam Sports Athlete Commission, Aliann Pompey could have never imagined that her first year in this position would come with a major, external obstacle.

Regardless of the Covid-19 pandemic, Pompey’s mission from before her election in December has not changed. She was already involved in discussions concerning what "serving" the athletes of the region should look like.

"We decided we wanted to absolutely, absolutely be driven by the athletes in our region," Pompey said, "when the pandemic hit, it became even more important for us to engage the athletes."

Pompey, who represented Guyana in the 400 meters for four consecutive Summer Games from 2000-2012, set a goal to have more interaction between Panam Sports and its athletes. She has been able to do this by implementing new support systems including weekly psychology classes as well as guidance videos on how to train and maneuver during the pandemic.

The amount of conversation has increased since the introduction of these initiatives, as well as support for the commission.

"All the topics for the (videos) have been kind of driven by the needs of the athletes and what they’ve communicated with us," said Pompey, "I think it’s absolutely working."

Pompey wants her athletes to feel like they are heard and that they have a big enough platform to air out whatever message they choose to spread, noting the IOC’s Rule 50, often referred to as the "protest ban rule."

In early July, Pompey was directly involved in conversations with her athletes about Rule 50, to get a general consensus on how they felt about the controversial regulation set by the IOC.

The conversation has been "non-stop dialogue", but there is still not a definitive answer with respect to all athletes in Panam Sports, as some athletes want things to be left as is, while others want the rule to be amended.

"We still don’t have a resolution," said Pompey, "it’s going to take a while for us to get to the end of that road."

Due to the number of differing opinions, the commission has had "informal conversations" with the different athlete commissions of the region in an attempt to get a grasp on how athletes in various countries feel about the topic.

It was able to send out surveys in order to gather more concrete information that will eventually be shared with the IOC, as IOC president Thomas Bach has previously said that he is open to ideas and discussion.

The commission is still receiving surveys and information, and is in no rush to get the responses to the IOC.

"This conversation has been happening for a very, very long time," said Pompey, alluding to the 1968 podium protests of Dr. John Carlos and Tommie Smith. "It's still something that we're dealing with today, right? I want to be able to give the athletes some time to truly think about it.

"Everyone is going to get a chance to say what it is that needs to be said."

As soon as an "undeniable" solution presents itself, Pompey is curious as to how it is going to be implemented on the global stage.

"Once we're faced with the information that this is what the athletes want, this is what the athletes think is best. How do we tie that into the Olympic framework? That's what I'm interested in seeing. That's what I'm interested in seeing play out." said Pompey.

With the amount of interaction that Pompey has been having with athletes, coupled with the delay of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, she is optimistic that a decision on Rule 50 can be reached by the time the Olympic Games start in 2021.

"I think it’s optimistic, but it’s also realistic," said Pompey, "Even if we can't come to a full resolution or something that works for everyone. There has to be something we can do in the meantime, that works for everyone."

Written and reported by Jose Chavez

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