Successful IWF/ITA “Clean Sport Webinar” attracts more than 260 participants
More than 260 members of the IWF family, including athletes, support personnel, and officials from National Member Federations took today part in a “Clean Sport Webinar”, jointly organised by the IWF and the International Testing Agency (ITA). In this successful initiative, participants were briefed on five important topics related to anti-doping activities: anti-doping landscape; 2023 Prohibited List; medications & supplements; risk of using anabolic agents; IWF 2023 Anti-Doping Rules – summary of changes.
The webinar – held in two identical sessions taking into account time-zone differences around the world – was moderated by Armando Urban, a member of ITA’s Education Team. From the IWF side, Forrester Osei, Athletes Commission Chair and Executive Board member, and Melody Exhenry, Anti-Doping manager, welcome all those who attended the webinar.
“This kind of webinars is essential to properly educate our athletes and respective support personnel, thus ensuring our Sport is protected in the Olympic movement. All those taking part, in any capacity, in our Sport should know that we are doing our utmost to ensure a safe environment and fair events for everyone. I am sure that you will all find this learning time a very rewarding and fruitful one,” considered Osei in his introduction.
Urban then briefed all participants on the importance of correctly knowing all aspects concerning the procedure of anti-doping rules, especially the knowledge of the substances that are part of the Prohibited List. An entire section of the presentation was devoted to the risks of having an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) associated with the intake of supplements, with ITA clearly defending a food-first approach to cover and provide all necessary nutrients athletes need during training and competition.
After emphasising the rights, but also the responsibilities all athletes have in this matter, the ITA lecturer was also very clear on the associated, severe, and sometimes irreversible risks that the ingestion of prohibited substances may have on the lifters’ health.
Following the conclusion of the Q&A period, Melody Exhenry thanked all the participants for their presence and contribution. “We will continue and reinforce these webinars in the future. In parallel, please be aware that many anti-doping activities will be held during the IWF World Championships in September in Riyadh, namely the organisation of an anti-doping seminar, the implementation of an information booth, and the presence of an ITA Ambassador to provide all necessary data on this so important field. For the ones not travelling to Saudi Arabia, the next available webinars will be staged a couple of months after the conclusion of IWF’s major event,” Exhenry concluded.
