IOC EXECUTIVE BOARD DISCUSSES FUTURE GAMES AND ANTI-DOPING

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board (EB) this Wednesday approved the Event Programme Principles for the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Gangwon 2024. It also heard a report from the Disciplinary Commission (DC) that had followed up on the doping confession of weightlifter Rattikan Gulnoi.

Regarding the Winter YOG, Gangwon 2024 has been working in close partnership with the IOC to advance its Games planning since its election in January 2020. It has been drawing upon the successful delivery of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 and the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020.

The objectives of these principles are to assist in providing a sustainable model for organising the Winter YOG, ensure the alignment of youth development pathways, maintain overall gender equality, and foster innovation, understandability and credibility with regard to the event programme. The event programme will be finalised by the IOC Executive Board in the first quarter of 2021.

The Event Programme Principles reflect the YOG 2.0 vision approved by the IOC Session in 2016 and have been adapted based on the feedback from IFs, NOCs and athletes following the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020.

ANTI-DOPING

IOC EB member Denis Oswald gave a report on the work of the Disciplinary Commission chaired by him that was set up to follow up on the doping confession by Rattikan Gulnoi, an Olympic bronze medallist from London 2012, and her entourage made to a TV programme by German broadcaster ARD.

The DC delegated the investigation of the case to the International Testing Agency (ITA), which is already responsible for selecting samples stored from past Olympic Games to be reanalysed.

The ITA then submitted a report of its investigation to the Commission.

The DC examined the elements provided in the ITA’s report and took the decision to close the file. The DC deemed that the case was not under the IOC’s authority as the athlete’s confession specifically excluded the periods of the Games.

The Disciplinary Commission noted that investigations on the same case currently being conducted by the ITA on behalf of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) may eventually lead to an impact on the athlete’s results at the Olympic Games. The IOC will therefore now wait for the outcomes of the ITA investigations for the IWF.

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