Athletes' rights and Olympic reform: a discussion with Johann Koss, Ann Peel and Alexandra Orlando

In 1999, athletes' anger and sense of betrayal about the Salt Lake City bribery scandal and the IOC's seeming indifference to doping inflamed the pressure for reform, and many athletes' proposals for change found their way into the IOC 2000 Commission's eventual recommendations. Ten years later, another generation of athlete representatives continues to push for the full realization of those reforms. In this discussion, four-time Olympic speed-skating gold medalist Johann Koss, an athlete representative on the IOC Athletes' Commission, reflects upon his experience on and the recommendations of the IOC 2000 Commission; Ann Peel, race walker, founding chair of Athletes CAN and a founding member of Olympic Athletes Together Honorably (OATH) recalls the concerns that led to the creation of OATH; and Alexandra Orlando, who competed in rhythmic gymnastics in Beijing, describes her own transformation into an athlete activist and outlines the challenges athlete representatives face today. Notes 1 Ed shared this story at the conference, and we have patched it together from our memories, which may be incomplete. 2 Athletes CAN is the independent association of Canada's national team athletes, founded in 1992. 3 The CBC is the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's public broadcaster. 4 CitationUnited Nations General Assembly, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948. 5 Center for Sport in Society, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts. 6 Work by Eli Wolff at the Northeastern University Center for Sport in Society; Robert Steadward and the international Paralympic Movement, among others. 7 See www.kristenworley.ca for an example of such work. 8 It is not possible to cite the many contributions worldwide to further the cause of women's participation in sport. Great work has been done in Canada by the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport, and in the US by the Women's Sport Foundation. In 1991, the Islamic Federation of Womens Sport was established and hosts annual conferences. The International Olympic Committee also participates in and hosts conferences on women's sport. However, the dominant paradigm in sport remains the able-bodied male. 9 Magna International's Employee's Charter can be found at www.magnainternational.com. 10 The OATH Report, OATH, October 1999. 11 Athletes do have direct recourse to resolve disputes with sport organizations through the International Court of Arbitration for Sport and, in Canada, the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada. Canadian athletes also have access to pro bono legal advice through Athletes CAN's The Sport Solution. 12 On 13 November 2009 British Columbia's Appeal Court stood by the decision of the BC Supreme Court to deny recourse to female ski jumpers. In BC Supreme Court ruling, Justice Lauri Ann Fenlon said that while it was discriminatory to exclude the women's event, Vancouver's Olympic organizing committee (VANOC) could not be held responsible, since they are accountable to the IOC, an international body not within the jurisdiction of Canadian laws. The Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the women's appeal from the BC decisions. Sagen v. Vancouver Organizing Committee for the Citation2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, 2009 BCSC 942. 13 See CitationBruce Kidd, 'Another World is Possible' for account of alternative Games. Perhaps it is time for athletes to organize an Athletes' Games. 14 CitationCarter, 'Athlete Social Responsibility'. 15 Gandhi, indirect quote recorded by his grandson, Arun Gandhi.