WADA launches new e-learning course for athletes and coaches heading to Tokyo 2020 Games

With exactly one year to go until the start of the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is pleased to launch a new interactive education course on its Anti-Doping eLearning Platform (ADeL) for athletes and coaches aiming to attend the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The new course, entitled ‘ADeL for Tokyo 2020 Olympics’, was developed by WADA in collaboration with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Testing Agency (ITA), and demonstrates the organizations’ commitment to educate and support athletes and their coaches in the build-up to the Games.

Athletes and coaches taking the new course will gain an understanding of the Tokyo 2020 anti-doping rules, procedures and requirements – including how to check medications and apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE), how to provide whereabouts information, and explanations of the athletes’ rights and responsibilities during the testing process. The course will also allow athletes and coaches to identify key information, such as important dates that they need to be aware of and which organization has jurisdiction over them during the Games.

WADA Director of Education, Amanda Hudson, said: “With 12 months to go, WADA is pleased to share this new addition to our education solutions that Anti-Doping Organizations can use to educate their athletes and support personnel. ‘ADeL for Tokyo 2020 Olympics’ enables Anti-Doping Organizations to help prepare their national team athletes and coaches on all things anti-doping at the Games. We all want a clean Games and to protect athletes. We therefore encourage Anti-Doping Organizations to utilize this new interactive eLearning course as well as our additional course specifically for medical professionals to educate those heading to Tokyo.

“Athletes and support personnel at the Tokyo 2020 Games next year will participate under the new International Standard for Education (ISE). The Standard promotes the principle that those hoping to compete and participate at major events, such as the Olympic Games, should be educated prior to the event. WADA, along with the IOC and ITA, want to support this principle and ensure that every athlete is given the opportunity to understand the anti-doping program that will be in place for the Games, whether this is their very first Games or if they are seasoned Olympians.”

WADA and the IOC, had previously launched the ‘ADeL for Medical Professionals at Major Games’ course which is a mandatory requirement for all medical professionals attending the Games.

IOC Medical and Scientific Director, Dr Richard Budgett, said: “This course builds on the success of the ‘ADeL for Medical Professionals at Major Games’ course and will be an important part of the preparation for the Games for athletes and their support staff. It complements the pre-Games testing program and reflects the importance of education for the protection of clean athletes.”

During the Games, the ITA will independently manage the anti-doping program on behalf of the IOC. The ITA will therefore coordinate testing activities on-site together with processing of TUEs, Athlete Biological Passport notifications and Results Management. As part of this important program, athletes and Athlete Support Personnel will play a key role in ensuring that the Games are clean – and their work starts now with the release of this new education course that can be completed pre-Games.

ITA Director General, Benjamin Cohen, said: “The ITA is delighted to collaborate with WADA and the IOC in the development of this important education initiative for all athletes and coaches preparing for Tokyo. It will ensure that all team members understand, and know how to comply with, the extensive measures that have been put in place to protect them against doping and to ensure a clean Games.”

Completion of this course – which includes a certificate for those who achieve a score of 80% or higher – is highly recommended. WADA, the IOC and the ITA strongly encourage all National Olympic Committees to work in close collaboration with their National or Regional Anti-Doping Organization and their National Federations to ensure that athletes and coaches are properly educated in advance of the Games – a principle that the International Standard for Education, which comes into force on 1 January 2021, reinforces.