The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has announced its 2021 series of athlete-led webinars for athletes. WADA invites athletes and others to register for the first webinar of the series, entitled 2021 COVID-19 and Clean Sport Update. It will be held on 25th February from 13-14:00 EST (18-19:00 GMT) and it will focus on the impact of COVID-19 on athletes and the anti-doping system.
During this webinar, WADA Athlete Committee Chair Ben Sandford and the athlete and expert panellists listed below will discuss the ongoing effect that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on anti-doping for athletes, and will hold an open Q&A regarding its impacts on testing, the role of vaccines and the way forward.
The panellists joining Ben Sandford are:
- Dr. Olivier Rabin, Senior Executive Director, Sciences and International Partnerships, WADA
- James Sclater, Director of Anti-Doping, International Paralympic Committee
- Dr. Lenka Wech, Olympian in rowing and member of WADA’s Health, Medical and Research Committee
Over the last year, WADA and its Athlete Committee have provided information for athletes and others on the topic of COVID-19, in particular regarding the protection of athlete health and how clean sport can be maintained during these challenging times.
“As the situation continues to evolve with COVID-19, WADA is committed to updating the athletes on the effect that the pandemic is having on anti-doping and to answer questions they may have on vaccines,” said WADA Athlete Committee Chair, Ben Sandford. “We want to provide athletes with up-to-date information, and we want to be able to hear and address their concerns. As last year, we hope that this series of webinars will be an effective platform to exchange ideas with athletes, and understand how we can best support them and engage them in further strengthening the global anti-doping system.”
You can register here for the webinar.
WADA will publish a complete 2021 webinar series in the coming weeks. It will include other webinars in this athlete-led series, along with webinars that will be part of the Agency’s Code Implementation Support Programme (CISP), and others as deemed relevant.
The World Games is a multi-sport event staged every four years by the International World Games Association under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee. The 11th edition of The World Games will be held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 7-17 July 2022. 3,600 athletes from over 30 sports and 100 countries will take part in The World Games.