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WADA Leadership and Athlete Engagement team promote Clean Sport at 2023 European Games

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Today, the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA's) President Witold Bańka and Director General Olivier Niggli were on the ground in Kraków, Poland, alongside the Agency’s Athlete Engagement team, for the opening of the 2023 European Games, which began yesterday and will run until 2 July.

WADA’s Athlete Engagement team will have a presence at the Games until 25 June to deliver the ‘One Play True Team’ campaign while raising awareness of doping and promoting clean sport. The team will run the program jointly with the Polish Anti-Doping Agency (POLADA), which will take over the athlete engagement activities from WADA for the remainder of the event.

Today, Messrs. Bańka and Niggli were in the Kraków athlete village, located on the grounds of the AGH University of Science and Technology. There, along with the Athlete Engagement team and Gerd Kanter, Chair of the European Olympic Committees Athletes' Commission, they engaged athletes collaboratively and discussed a number of anti-doping topics and clean sport initiatives with participants and their entourages.

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“WADA is pleased to have partnered with the Polish Anti-Doping Agency, the local organizing committee, and the European Olympic Committees Athletes' Commission to promote clean sport at these European Games,” said Mr. Bańka. “Our Athlete Engagement team continues to have a marked impact at every event it attends, and it was a pleasure for us to spend some time alongside them this week, to have thoughtful and inspiring discussions with the competing athletes and their entourages.”

The Athlete Engagement team will be moving to the Silesian Park in Chorzów, Poland on 23-24 June and then, will return to the athlete village in Kraków for its final day on 25 June before handing off to POLADA.

The Athlete Engagement team includes:

  • Ivan Ćosić (Croatia), World ParaVolley Athlete Representative and WADA Athlete Council member;
  • Katarzyna Rogowiec (Poland), former WADA Athlete Committee member and Paralympic gold medalist;
  • Stacy Spletzer-Jegen (USA), WADA Senior Manager, Athlete Engagement;
  • Dr. Yuhan Tan (Belgium), Member of WADA Athlete Council and Olympian in badminton; and
  • Maja Martyna Włoszczowska (Poland), Member of WADA Athlete Council, member of International Olympic Committee and four-time Olympian in mountain biking.

Also, as outlined in WADA’s media release of 7 June, the Agency is running an Independent Observer Program during the Games, which is designed to enhance athlete and public confidence as to the quality, effectiveness, and reliability of anti-doping programs during major international multisport events.