(ATR) Angela Ruggiero, the head of the IOC Athletes' Commission, has told Around the Rings that the body is determined to keep athletes up to date with the overhaul of anti-doping in sport.
She is also fully supportive of the proposal for independent testing.
One of the main points to come out of last month’s Olympic anti-doping summit was the recommendation that testing should be conducted independently of sports organizations.
Speaking to ATR in Lausanne just days after a meeting of the Athletes' Commission, Ruggiero said she was behind the proposal and a need to overhaul the current anti-doping system. But she believes that athletes have to be involved at every step of the way.
She said: "We had a good discussion on it [anti-doping] and I want to make sure that when we do come out with a position, we’ve discussed it and reached out to athletes who we assure are going to be a part of the process.
"Everyone agrees that the system has to be overhauled and [we’re] ensuring the athletes are part of that process."
She continued: "Right now we’re in support overall of what was discussed at the Olympic summit last month, but some of the specifics coming out of that we want to make sure – like the whistleblower policy or the entourage being held more accountable -- there’s more areas of the governance structure that we want to have a position on.
"So right now we’re in support of the direction and we’re excited we’re a part of the conversation to figure out what that actually means. That’s the first step, to understand where we are in the field."
Ruggiero, who succeeded Claudia Bokel as Athletes' Commission chair earlier this year, welcomed 10 new members into the commission, with seven of those who were present inducted officially in Lausanne.
The input of the new members was already having a positive impact, with Ruggiero praising the "fresh perspectives" that were already in abundance this week.
There were four absentees, as Hayley Wickenheiser (ice hockey), Saina Nehwal (badminton) and Luis Scola (basketball) were involved in competitions, while Daniel Gyurta (swimming) pulled out through illness.
The Commission was in favor of a blanket ban on Russian athletes ahead of Rio 2016, in light of the doping allegations – although they were not as vocal on the issue as some argued they could have been.
When asked if athletes could be assured that the Commission will do all it can to protect clean athletes at future Games, such as the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, Ruggiero evaded the former controversial issue. She says that a blanket ban would have to depend on the situation but that athletes would be kept in the loop of any decisions taken.
She said: "We’re here this week, we’re on the WADA Foundation Board, we’re on the IOC Executive Board, we talk about it, we have great dialogue. If they want to talk to us about it we want to hear.
"In terms of insurance, no one knows where we’re going to be in three months or six months or 12 months or at PyeongChang. But the message I’m trying to send is we are listening and we are at the table discussing it and care about it. This is the most important issue for us at the moment."
During a discussion about her role so far, in which Ruggiero simply said it was going "great", she mentions how Thomas Bach was on the original Commission in 1981 – and that he is now, of course, president of the IOC.
Could that be a path that she may wish to follow?
Ruggiero laughs before saying: "My focus right now, if all I deliver to our commission is I help us really think through our priorities and what we want to achieve, and really help us set our strategy I think that’s enough. I got so much from the Olympic Movement, I played in four Olympics in a sport that was not traditional it allowed me to get a great education.
"I feel like I’ve benefited so much from ice hockey and I’m here to give back. I feel a different sense of responsibility now. I think all the people around our Commission’s tables are sports leaders in their own right and they’re here for a reason with great thoughts and input.
"So, my focus is on right now and not any time in the future."
Written by Christian Radnedgein Lausanne.
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