17 January 2024 - As part of its efforts to protect athletes from all forms of harassment and abuse, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will run a series of initiatives during the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Gangwon 2024 to promote safe sport.
Education programme at the Youth Olympic Villages
Athlete365 House, which will run the Athlete Education Programme in the two Youth Olympic Villages during the Games, will include dedicated spaces related to athlete safeguarding. Athletes and members of their entourage will be able to visit these spaces to learn more about the topic, including what constitutes harassment and abuse in sport, how to recognise and respond to these behaviours and how to report safeguarding concerns.
Visitors will be engaged in various activities, including writing down their own personal messages on a world map – detailing what safe sport means to them – and leaving messages for their fellow athletes.
The initiatives in place to promote safe sport to athletes form one of the three pillars of the overall IOC strategy to protect and promote holistic athlete well-being at Gangwon 2024. Named “Mind, Body and Me”, the concept aims to empower athletes with the necessary tools and contacts to stay healthy and to recognise when they need support.
In addition to safe sport, mental health and injury prevention are the other two pillars. In the education area of the Youth Olympic Villages, athletes will find tips on how to prevent injuries and learn how to prioritise mental health needs in the same way as their physical health needs, including a mindful VR meditation experience in one of the disconnection pods on site.
New courses to educate athletes and their entourage members ahead of the YOG
New resources on safeguarding have been launched for athletes and their entourage members prior to the start of Gangwon 2024. Two courses – “Safeguarding Essentials for Young Athletes” and “Safeguarding Essentials for Athlete Allies” (aimed at the members of the athletes’ entourage) – are available on Athlete365 as part of the Winter Youth Olympic Games Gangwon 2024 Readiness Programme for Young Athletes and for Athletes’ Entourage Members, respectively.
The courses are offered in 10 languages (English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Italian and Arabic) and aim to educate athletes and members of their entourage about the various forms of harassment and abuse, how to recognise them, ways to prevent these behaviours and how to respond to concerns.
Safeguarding Officers available onsite
As is the case at the Olympic Games, IOC Safeguarding Officers will be onsite at the Youth Olympic Villages for consultation and to respond to any specific safeguarding incidents or concerns during the Games, which can be reported in a number of ways. Athletes will be able to reach out to them in person or make an appointment by sending an email to safeguardingofficer@olympic.org.
Athletes can also report concerns via the IOC Integrity and Compliance Hotline. All reports and consultations will be strictly confidential.
The IOC Games-time Safeguarding Framework
The IOC “Framework for Safeguarding Athletes and Other Participants from Harassment and Abuse in Sport (Games-time Period)”, first implemented at the Olympic Games Rio 2016, has recently been updated. The IOC Games-time Safeguarding Framework is intended to provide specific information and guidance at Games time to ensure safe and supportive environments for all accredited participants.
Specifically, it includes definitions and expected standards of behaviour that will underline the principles by which a participant’s conduct may be challenged as a violation of the Framework; guidance on how and where participants can report concerns; a revised description of the role of the IOC Safeguarding Officer and the role of the NOC Welfare Officer; and the avenues available for reporting concerns during Games time.
Developing and implementing athlete-safeguarding initiatives
These new initiatives highlight the IOC’s ongoing commitment to strengthening safe sport and athlete safeguarding across the Olympic Movement, as part of Olympic Agenda 2020+5.
In recent years, these efforts have also included:
The “International Safeguarding Officer in Sport Certificate”, launched in 2021, which seeks to establish an international network of highly skilled safeguarding officers in sport across the Olympic Movement.
The creation of a fund of USD 10 million per Olympiadto strengthen the prevention of and response to harassment and abuse in sport at local level.
The establishment of regional safeguarding hubs in Southern Africa and the Pacific Islands
Through these actions, as well as with pragmatic tools and workshops, the IOC has been continuously supporting the Olympic Movement stakeholders with the development of accessible initiatives created to strengthen their safeguarding knowledge, policies and procedures.
