The ITA supports pre-Games education for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022

With the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 taking place less than half a year from now in February 2022, it is the opportune moment for athletes and athlete support personnel to enhance and update their clean sport knowledge and become familiar with the anti-doping rules for Beijing 2022. The ITA, with a firm belief that anti-doping education is a key doping prevention strategy, is involved in the development and delivery of various pre-Games education activities for the event.

Launching today, WADA’s ‘ADEL for Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022’ is an interactive education course that was developed in collaboration with the ITA and the IOC. It will enable athletes and coaches to gain an understanding of the specificities of the Beijing 2022 anti-doping rules, procedures and requirements – including how to check medications or apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE). It also explains how to provide whereabouts information during the Games and what the athletes’ rights and responsibilities during the testing process are. The course outlines important Games-time information, such as key dates and the roles and authorities of the organisations involved in the Games. Additionally, the new course will provide important information on modifications to the 2022 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods, which will be published by 1 October 2021 and will be in force for Beijing 2022.

The ADEL Beijing 2022 course is accessible to anyone who creates a free account and is currently available in English, with French and Spanish translation coming soon. Any organisation interested in translating the course to other languages is invited to request this service by following this link. More information on the process, which requires a minimum investment of time and is free of charge can be found here.

ITA’s support to the development of the ADEL Beijing 2022 course is part of a larger pre-Games education project within the framework of the IOC’s delegation of the anti-doping program to the organisation. A key pillar of ITA’s education work in the lead up to Beijing is enabling participating National Olympic Committees (NOCs) to conduct pre-Games education in their respective countries. In collaboration with WADA, the ITA’s goal is to make sure that the NOCs have the necessary tools to educate their athletes and Athlete Support Personnel bound to participate in the Games. The ITA aims to consult with all NOCs and their National Anti-Doping Organisations (NADOs), and to enable those requesting support by providing ongoing individual assistance, customisable templates, resources and a pre-Games education guidebook.

The ITA is also responsible for developing the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 Education Plan on behalf of the International Olympic Committee. The Education Plan is a document that both ensures Code Compliance of the IOC in anti-doping education and provides a clear outline for development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of educational activities before and during the Games.