WADA announces Athlete Council Group 2 elected candidates

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is pleased to announce the eight members who have been elected to WADA’s Athlete Council Group 2ⁱ for 2025-2027. The election was held virtually via an online voting platform between 10-12 December 2024 and was available only to International Federation (IF) Athlete Commissions (ACs) that were registered and deemed eligible to vote. A total of 55 out of 60 IF ACs voted (91.7% participation rate). 

WADA President Witold Bańka said: “On behalf of WADA, I would like to extend our congratulations to the eight athletes that have been elected to Group 2 of the Agency’s Athlete Council for 2025-2027. I am confident that these eight members, both returning and newly elected, will apply their passion for clean sport and their commitment to amplifying athlete voices to ensure WADA remains focused on being athlete centered. I look forward to getting to know the new members and to continuing our collaborative work with the Athlete Council.”   

The eight newly elected athlete members, all of whom have been confirmed by the Election Scrutineer, are listed below in alphabetical order by last name.  

WADA’s Athlete Council Chair, Ryan Pini, and WADA’s Head of Athlete Engagement, Karine Henrie, were both pleased to see that the voting process went smoothly and that there was good participation from IF ACs. They said: “First and foremost, we would like to congratulate the eight Group 2 members elected by their peers. To the new members, warm welcome, and to the four members that have been re-elected, welcome back! We look forward to working with you all over the next three years and to further strengthening the collaborative relationship between the Athlete Council and WADA’s Athlete Engagement team. We are heading into 2025 with an exciting Athlete Council Action Plan and a strong foundation of athlete-centered initiatives that will allow us to advance existing projects and begin new ones.  

To those candidates who were not elected, we also want to thank you for your keen interest in clean sport and in the work of the Athlete Council. We encourage you to continue to be strong advocates for athletes and to consider opportunities to join the Athlete Council next year via the Group 3 appointment process. Finally, we also wish to express our deepest gratitude for our outgoing members, Clare Egan, Kristen Kit, and Alessia Zecchini. Your contributions to the Athlete Council and to other WADA projects and Committees were invaluable and we thank you again for your commitment to clean sport.”  

Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact our Athlete Engagement team at athlete@wada-ama.org. For more information on the Athlete Council, please visit our website. 

Note: 

[i] The Athlete Council is composed of the following three groups of athlete representatives: 

• Group 1: Five athletes appointed by the International Olympic Committee’s and International Paralympic Committee’s Athlete Commissions (ACs); 
• Group 2: Eight athletes elected by International Federation ACs; and 
• Group 3: Seven other athletes, selected by an appointment panel made up by a majority of athletes, to fill skills and diversity gaps.