ITA Chair addresses National Olympic Committees at ANOC General Assembly

“We are pleased to report that despite the challenging circumstances, the ITA was able to deliver its clean sport activities as planned and support fair and clean competitions for athletes all over the world. This would not have been possible without close collaboration with all National Olympic Committees before and during the Games. We sincerely thank you for your trust and cooperation,” Dr Fourneyron said looking back at the anti-doping program that the ITA delivered for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. She also stressed that with the ITA, they will now have a consistent partner for each edition of the Games and other NOC-driven major events that will work tirelessly to ensure consistency, constant innovation, smoother collaboration and the best on-site anti-doping operations possible.

Dr Fourneyron further noted: “The Tokyo 2020 Games were also historic in terms of their anti-doping program. This most comprehensive Olympic testing program to date included an extensive global pre-Games initiative, the introduction of operational and analytical novelties, a large-scale sample long-term storage strategy, dedicated education for the anti-doping workforce and many other innovations. We can build on these and future improvements for the years to come. These historic efforts in the fight against doping will, I hope, allow us to turn a page in our history and look to the future with confidence.”

She noted that the next Winter Games are only a few months away and that the ITA is already collaborating closely with all participating NOCs to operate a robust anti-doping program yet again for Beijing 2022. Work on this program has already started with the recommendations that the ITA Beijing 2022 Pre-Games Expert group has shared with National and Regional Anti-Doping Organisations and International Olympic Winter Federations and the education initiatives that the ITA is supporting ahead of the Games.

“While we look to the future with confidence, the recent past requires us to remain humble and to anticipate the darker motivations in sport. There is still a lot of work to be done. While the ITA has grown into a veritable centre for clean sport expertise, we must constantly challenge ourselves, continue to innovate and strive to close the gap with the cheaters,” the ITA Chair noted. In this regard, she thanked the European Olympic Committees for delegating to the ITA the coordination of the anti-doping program for future editions of the European Games and invited ANOC and all other Continental NOC Associations to follow suit and consider the benefits of independent clean sport programs for their major events as well: “While each sport and large-scale multi-sport event is and will remain unique, doping knows no boundaries, and the pooling of expertise and exchanges can only help us to progress. In this field more than any other, perhaps, there is strength in numbers and I, therefore, call on each of the organisations present here to join forces with the ITA.”

You can view Dr Fourneyron’s full address to the 25^th ANOC General Assembly that took place 24-25 October 2021 here.