Learning to compete clean: Anti-doping education at the IHF U16 Women’s World Championship

ITA Education Ambassador, Sang Eun Lee, visited participating teams at their hotels on 16–17 October to host an interactive clean sport education booth, helping athletes understand some of the key things they need to know about their anti-doping rights and responsibilities. Through educational activities and resources, athletes learned how to check their medications and supplements, when and where doping controls can take place and what to expect during the testing process. By the end of the sessions, young athletes could demonstrate their understanding of clean sport values and the basics of the doping control process.

For some teams, this was their first introduction to anti-doping education. A member of the Egyptian team’s ASP shared how useful the session had been: “We have never received any education about anti-doping before, and we often struggled because the girls don’t always have access to their mobile phones, so they didn’t know how to verify medications when they were by themselves. Now they know, thank you!”

Other teams had already received education from their National Anti-Doping Organisations and were happy to test their knowledge, put what they had learned into practice and win small giveaways along the way.

Reflecting on the experience, Sang Eun said: “Many of the athletes were attending international events or experiencing the doping control process for the first time, so I found this work very crucial and was grateful for the opportunity to deliver it.” The success of the clean sport booth highlights the IHF’s and the ITA’s commitment to ensuring young athletes have the knowledge and tools they need to compete clean throughout their sporting careers and to guarding the integrity of sport.