During the event, the active athletes received a lot of useful information regarding the topic of anti-doping, the rights and obligations of athletes, and the prevention of manipulation of competition results. In addition, they have chosen new members of the Commission.
Stanislav Pozdnyakov, President of the ROC and four-time Olympic fencing champion, addressed the participants of the expanded meeting of the Constitutional Court. According to him, in recent years, Athletes' Commissions have begun to play a much more significant role in making key decisions in the Olympic movement.
Natalya Pakhalenko
A report on the activities of the Constitutional Court for the period fr om 2016 to 2021 was delivered by its chairman, two-time Olympic fencing champion Sofya Velikaya. She spoke about the tasks, priorities and activities of the Commission, as well as educational programs designed to help athletes who are completing or have already completed their careers adapt to life after sports.
Lada Zadonskaya, Deputy Chairman of the ROC Athletes' Commission, provided a brief overview of international activities. In particular, about participation in the annual symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency and the X European Athletes Forum.
– One of the topics of such meetings is the empowerment of athletes. They manage to share experiences and learn about projects implemented by the Athletes' Commissions of individual National Olympic Committees. We regularly participate in teleconferences with the IOC, wh ere we discuss a number of important issues, fr om the reforms of rule 50 of the Olympic Charter to making changes to the Guidelines for the Safe Conduct of the Games during the coronavirus pandemic.
Jonathan Gureiro, Deputy Chairman of the Athletes' Commission of the European Olympic Committees, figure skater, spoke in detail about the activities of the EOC.
Natalya Pakhalenko
– The European Games, Youth Olympic winter and summer festivals are held under the auspices of this organization. She also promotes Olympic values on the continent. In the coming days, I will take part in the second in-person meeting of the EOC COP.
Ekaterina Gorokhova, Secretary of the Athletes' Commission and a leading specialist in the ROC's International Relations Department, highlighted in her report the useful digital resources available to participants in the Olympic movement from around the world. In particular, they talked about the Athlete365 platform and the World Olympic Association, thanks to which participants of the Games can receive psychological help or options for continuing their professional activities after sports.
– In 2020, together with the IOC, we organized several online seminars that stimulate personal growth and self-development, helping athletes find career options.
She also added that the ROC COP is actively involved in supporting the creation of Athletes' Commissions in the OSF, which will allow athletes to quickly solve their problems. At the moment, such structures have been established in no more than a quarter of the 50 all-Russian federations.
Natalya Pakhalenko
Discussion groups were organized for the participants of the expanded meeting of the ROC Athletes' Commission, wh ere they had the opportunity to discuss in detail topics such as the activities and creation of the CSF, educational opportunities for athletes, the Olympic Agenda 2020+5, doping testing issues, athletes' rights, Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter on the example of the Tokyo Games, as well as communications. and interaction with the media environment.
Alexandra Tereykovskaya, a lawyer at the Department for Legal Assistance in Ensuring the Purity of Sports of the ROC Legal Department, made a presentation on the topic "The activities of the IOC in the field of preventing manipulation of competition results." Veronika Loginova, Advisor to the Rector of the Russian International Olympic University (RIOU) for the development of anti-doping programs, spoke about the anti-doping rights of athletes.
One of the key points of the meeting was the election of new members of the Athletes' Commission. So, the delegates had to vote for 7 representatives of the summer Olympic sports out of 10 candidates. In addition, Elena Isinbayeva and Jonathan Gureiro, as well as 2 representatives of winter sports, whose powers will expire after the 2022 Games in Beijing, will continue to work in the Constitutional Court as members of the IOC and the EOC. The President of the ROC has the opportunity to appoint up to 5 more athletes to the team to ensure gender equality and balance of sports.
Natalya Pakhalenko
The updated ROC Athletes' Commission includes Yuri Borzakovsky, Sofia Velikaya, Ekaterina Gamova, Andrey Moiseev, Svetlana Romashina, Stefania Elfutina and Anastasia Fesikova. Tagir Khaibulaev failed to be re-elected, and Pavel Eigel and Elena Prokhorova also failed to gain the required number of votes. Now the ROC Executive Committee must approve the results at a meeting on November 24.
Olympic silver medalist in swimming Anastasia Fesikova:
– I am grateful to everyone for their trust. For me, working in the Athletes' Commission will be a new and extremely interesting experience. We have important tasks ahead of us, so we will work for the benefit of Russian sports and our athletes.
Olympic bronze medalist in sailing Stefania Elfutina:
– It is a great honor for me to be a part of such an important structure, to be near such titled athletes. We will make every effort to promote the development of the Olympic movement and help our colleagues.
Natalya Pakhalenko
Olympic champion in athletics Yuri Borzakovsky:
– I would like to ask the candidates who failed to be elected to the Athletes' Commission not to abandon what they started, but to actively work in the Constitutional Court in national federations. This will help to resolve emerging issues much more quickly.
Olympic judo champion Tagir Khaibulaev:
– It's been a pleasure working with you all these years. I am pleased that new people have joined the Commission. This is a proper update. I would like to wish everyone success so that your work helps our athletes achieve their highest goals.
Savva Timofeev, ROC Information Service.
