Athlete Corner
Welcome to Athlete Corner!
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In our first edition in December, we invited you to vote on a name for this newsletter, and the results are in. You have officially named it Athlete Corner, and you can find the full breakdown of the vote later in this issue to see just how close it was.
We are back with our second edition, and there is a lot to cover.
Here’s a quick list of what you’ll find:
- Everything you need to know about the 2027 World Anti-Doping Code.
- Updates on the Human Rights Impact Assessment and our Athlete Anti-Doping Experience project.
- Our first Behind-the-Scenes video, with experts from the Prohibited List team answering the questions we hear most from athletes.
- Highlights from the African and Asian Youth Games as well as the Olympics and Paralympics.
- Key dates to add to your calendar, including Play True Day and WADA’s upcoming Regional Symposiums.
- Two surveys in the Feedback Center:
- Anti-Doping and Independence – help us strengthen fairness, transparency, and confidence in clean sport
- Therapeutic Use Exemptions – let us know what you’d like us to cover on TUEs in our next edition
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Exciting Athlete Council news, including new members and leadership announcements.
We hope you find this issue informative, and as always, we look forward to hearing from you.
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2027 Code and International Standards
The final version of the 2027 World Anti-Doping Code (Code), which will come into force on 1 January 2027, is now available in both English and French. You can review the Summary of Major Changes for a clear overview of what is new in the 2027 Code. Our team is working on a specific Athlete Guide to ensure changes are clear to you. More on this in our next newsletter.
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Initial Human Rights Impact Assessment
We are pleased to share the publication of the Initial Human Rights Impact Assessment (IHRIA), which is a big step for athletes’ rights! In November 2022, WADA's Executive Committee appointed Senior Independent Expert Ms. Snezana Samardzic-Markovic to lead this work, and the final report has now been completed and published (in English only). The IHRIA is a concrete demonstration of WADA's commitment to making sure athletes’ rights are at the heart of the anti-doping process. Its 24 recommendations are designed to bring meaningful improvements to athletes’ experiences within the anti-doping system, and we are proud that half of them have already been fully implemented or are underway. We will continue to involve athletes every step of the way and keep you informed on progress.
To read the IHRIA and its findings and recommendations, please click here.
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Athlete Anti-Doping Experience
This project aims at mapping the athlete journey from education and testing all the way through to results management, identifying what works well and what needs improvement. It can only be successful with your input and involvement. We've reached an exciting milestone in our project, with feedback from over 744 athletes.
Now that the survey is concluded, we are conducting interviews with athletes to understand the deeper nuances of the Athlete Anti-Doping Experience. More updates will be provided in the next edition of Athlete Corner.
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We promised you a video in this issue, and here it is! Behind the Scenes is designed to break down the different aspects of anti-doping in a clear and accessible way, and we are kicking things off with a topic which triggers a lot of questions: the Prohibited List.
Our experts from the Prohibited List team are here to answer some of the questions we hear most often from athletes.
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To explore the List and see answers to more frequently asked questions, check out The Prohibited List page on our website. If you would like to go even deeper, the Anti-Doping Education and Learning (ADEL) platform also has an e-learning guide to the 2026 Prohibited List for athletes and athlete support personnel, so you can update your knowledge at your own pace. You can find it here. For anyone who benefits from a different format, a PDF copy of the course is available here.
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This section is where we celebrate clean sport in action: from major Games to grassroots initiatives happening across the anti-doping community. If there's a highlight you think we should feature here, let us know through the form in the Feedback Center!
Over the past few months, we've had the privilege of engaging with athletes from around the world at several major Multi-Sport Games, including the 2025 Asian and African Youth Games as well as the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which saw past and present members of our Athlete Council and other athlete representatives on the ground at our engagement booths, connecting directly with athletes about clean sport.
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During the Olympics Games, we had Athlete Council members assisting the Independent Observer team in gathering athlete feedback. For the Paralympic Games, a former Chair of the Para Badminton Athletes’ Commission was on the Independent Observer team. These teams monitor, evaluate, and provide live feedback on testing processes during the Games, with the goal of identifying and implementing improvements in real time and for future events. Having athletes embedded in these teams allows for the athlete perspective to be meaningfully integrated.
Our next highlight goes to Asia, where some great strides are being made in athlete representation and engagement.
Congratulations to the Anti-Doping Agency of Malaysia (ADAMAS) for establishing their first Athlete Commission.
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Play True Day — 17 April 2026
Play True Day is back on 17 April—and we want you at the heart of it.
Now in its 12th year, this global movement brings athletes and the wider anti-doping community together to celebrate clean sport. This year’s theme, “Play True. It Starts with You” highlights the role each of us plays in protecting the integrity of sport.
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How to take part:
- Share a post on 17 April to celebrate Play True Day
- Use #PlayTrueDay and tag @wada_ama
- Amplify WADA’s content across your platforms (share and/or like)
For those who wish to go further, they can also take part in the #PlayTrueChallenge until 16 April.
For more information, the Play True Day toolkit is available in English, French, and Spanish and can be downloaded from WADA’s Play True Day webpage.
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WADA Regional Symposiums
WADA is holding Regional Symposiums in 2026 that are bringing the anti-doping community together to address regional needs and challenges as everyone prepares for the 2027 Code and Standards implementation.
Unfortunately, the Regional Symposiums for Europe, which was scheduled to take place in Baku, Azerbaijan on 18-19 March, and for Africa, which was scheduled to take place in Cairo, Egypt on 28-29 April, have both been postponed due to the ongoing war in the Middle East. We continue to monitor the situation and will communicate as soon as possible how we plan to deliver the programs, based on evolution of the circumstances in the region.
In the meantime, planning is well underway for the following Symposiums in June and August:
1. Asia and Oceania: Beijing, China, 2-3 June — register here
2. Americas: Lima, Peru, 13-14 August — registration will open in May, stay tuned!
FEEDBACK CENTER
We are conscious that independence of testing is an important part of how athletes experience and trust the anti-doping system. We invite you to participate in a short survey on anti-doping and independence. Your feedback will help us better understand athletes’ views. The survey takes about 15 minutes, is completely anonymous, and will directly inform efforts to strengthen fairness, transparency, and confidence in clean sport.
In our first edition, you helped name this newsletter — and we loved hearing from you! Now that we have Athlete Corner up and running, we want to take that one step further and invite you to help shape the content of upcoming editions. TUEs have been selected as the topic for our next issue, so let us know what you'd like us to cover. What questions do you have? Which aspects of TUEs do you want to understand better? Have your say in the short survey below!
What do you think this newsletter should be called?
What topic would you like to see explained by an expert in the next newsletter?
Based on your feedback from our first edition, we have made a few improvements to Athlete Corner that we hope make for a better experience.
The carousel speed has been adjusted so that each slide is easier to read and digest at your own pace. We have also added a PDF download option for those of you who prefer to read or save the newsletter in that format.
Finally, we want you to know that our inbox is always open! If you have an athlete-focused initiative you would like to share, send it our way and we may feature it in the Highlights from Around the World section. We love shining a spotlight on the great work being done across the anti-doping community. Email us at athlete@wada-ama.org.
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We have some exciting news to share! Please join us in welcoming three new members to the Athlete Council: Katriona Ross (Squash, Scotland), Bronwen Knox (Water Polo, Australia), and Susan Egoávil (Volleyball, Peru). All three bring tremendous passion for clean sport, and we are thrilled to have them on board.
Athlete Council members serve three-year terms, with different groups of members changing at different times to ensure continuity. This year, Group 3 was renewed, consisting of seven athletes selected by an appointment panel with a majority athlete composition, chosen to bring the skills and diversity needed to represent athletes effectively. To learn more about the Athlete Council and its members, visit the Athlete Council page.
We are also delighted to announce that Ryan Pini (Swimming, Papua New Guinea) has been re-elected as Chair of the Athlete Council, and a big congratulations to Dora Hegyi (Gymnastics, Hungary) on being elected Vice-Chair!
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Elections also took place to select two members to sit on the Foundation Board: Gaby Ahrens (Shooting, Namibia) and Ivan Ćosić (ParaVolley, Croatia). The Athlete Council also designated two of its members to sit on two of WADA’s Standing Committees: Iñaki Gomez (Athletics, Canada) on the Finance and Administration Committee, and Cyrille Tchatchet II (Weightlifting, UK) on the Health, Medical and Research Committee. Congratulations to everyone!
At the same time, we want to take a moment to thank the members who are departing the Council. Adriana Escobar, Yuhan Tan, Hong Zhang, and Emma Terho — thank you for your contributions and dedication to athlete representation. It has been a pleasure working alongside you.
A huge congratulations also goes out to two of our members for their achievements beyond the Council. Maja Włoszczowska (Cycling, Poland) has been elected 1st Vice-Chair of the International Olympic Committee Athlete Council, and Humphrey Kayange (Rugby, Kenya) has been elected 2nd Vice-Chair. These elections are recognitions of their excellent leadership and fierce commitment to athlete representation at the highest level.
Finally, the 2026-2028 Athlete Council Action Plan is currently being finalized and will be released later this year. Stay tuned for our next edition, where we will share the Council's goals and priorities for the next three years!
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THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE
Athlete Corner exists because you are at the core of everything we do. We hope this edition has been informative and that it has given you a clearer picture of the work being done to improve the anti-doping system for athletes.
Thank you for reading, for voting, and for continuing to share your feedback. It all makes a difference, and we look forward to bringing you more in our next edition.
If you have questions or need assistance, contact us at athlete@wada-ama.org or visit www.wada-ama.org.
Don’t miss out — click here to subscribe and receive future editions directly in your inbox.
