Launch of Olympic Athletes' Hub Caters to Olympians' Needs

(ATR) In our current era of cluttered social media and information overload, the recently launched Olympic Athletes’ Hub aims to streamline essential information and tools for Olympians.

The Hub is a digital one-stop-shop where athletes can learn about and share experiences on career-related topics on and off the field of play. Fellow Olympians can easily connect through profiles and links to social media accounts.

The web-based platform, which can be downloaded as a mobile application for android and iOS, was re-launched by the International Olympic Committee on Feb. 24.

"The concept behind the Hub has been to give a virtual home for all athlete-related content and projects that the IOC has so athletes can find anything they need throughout their careers," said IOC athlete relations project manager Ana Jelusic.

"The goal was to provide the platform that covers an athlete's path from when they are just becoming an Olympian all the way until they are retired and transitioning into whatever else they want to do," Jelusic said.

The Hub was developed in accordance with Olympic Agenda 2020 recommendation 18, focused upon strengthening support to athletes, and recommendation 23, encouraging athletes to engage with communities.

Although the hub is targeted towards Olympians, certain sections of the Hub are also available to team officials, coaches and the general public.

As a virtual home for athletes, the site is divided into four main sections: Rio 2016, the Athletes’ Library, News and Features and the Olympians Social Media Forum.

The dedicated section to Rio 2016 offers a preparation kit; medical, anti-doping and ceremonies information; social media guidelines and various materials pertaining to staying in the Athletes Village.

Jelusic advised that a big activation phase is planned in the Rio 2016 Athletes Village. Olympians will receive phones with the application already uploaded.

"It will serve as a pocket guide to the Games for athletes with relevant information like the menus in the Olympic Village, the transport schedule or events of the day in the Village," Jelusic said.

The Athletes’ Library provides essential information on Olympic solidarity, anti-doping, education, employment and life skills among other important topics.

News provided on the Hub includes athlete spotlights and features, competitions and venues content, sport-specific tips, historical tidbits and quotes, IOC news and guides to Olympic sports.

The Olympians’ Social Media Forum allows athletes to interact and share information, but can only be accessed by past and present Olympians. Olympians can take advantage of special offers from The Olympic Partners (TOP) and other Olympic Movement stakeholders.

"It’s an open platform for Olympians to talk to each other, exchange experiences and open new topics, but it’s not accessible to the public," Jelusic said of the Forum section. "We wanted to create a protected environment where ideas, thoughts and suggestions could be shared among athletes."

As the Olympic Athletes’ Hub continues to evolve, the IOC will focus on showcasing the best social media content created by Olympians worldwide. According to the IOC, more than 6,000 Olympians are currently registered on the site.

"We had a big brainstorm during the International Athletes Forum in Lausanne and we seem to be able to tick most of the boxes that the athletes have requested so far," Jelusic said. "As technology develops further, we are very keen on keeping an eye out on whatever is new and implement that into the Hub.

"Ideally, we want to reach as many athletes as we can and make it a platform where they come back regularly."

Written by Brian Pinelli

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