04 December 2025 - A strong call for unity within the anti-doping community in support of the world’s athletes was made by the IOC President and double Olympic champion in swimming, Kirsty Coventry, during the opening of the 6th World Conference on Doping in Sport (1 to 5 December 2025) in Busan, Republic of Korea.
“So if I have one main request this evening, it is: let’s promise to focus our energy on what truly matters. Let’s put the athletes first, let’s work as one global team, and make sure that our actions match our words,” Kirsty Coventry said, addressing the 1,500 delegates from over 140 countries, who have come together in the South Korean city at the invitation of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and its President, Witold Bańka. Among the delegates are also two former WADA Presidents and IOC Honorary Members, Richard W. Pound and Sir Craig Reedie.
The IOC President went on: “Because clean sport is not just a policy — it’s a promise. A promise to every athlete who dreams of competing on a level playing field, and to every young person who believes in the values that sport represents. Let’s make sure that we honour this promise — and that we do it together.”
During her visit to the Republic of Korea, President Coventry was welcomed by Korean President Jae Myung Lee. During the meeting in Seoul, she was accompanied by the IOC Member in Korea, Jae Youl KIM, and the NOC President, former IOC Member, former IOC Athletes’ Commission member and Olympic table tennis champion Seung min RYU.
The IOC President highlighted the role that sport plays in Korea and the fact that the country has long been a strong partner of the Olympic Movement. She in particular mentioned the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games and the Gangwon 2014 Winter Youth Olympic Games. President Coventry invited President Lee to the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games and to Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland.
“We have a very strong partnership with the National Olympic Committee. The commitment from the government to continue to pursue sports and sporting events is a high priority, and we will continue to work closely with them. I am sure they will continue to be a really strong partner for us,” the IOC President said after the meeting.
Addressing the members of the anti-doping community in Busan, IOC President Coventry emphasised that the fight against doping is very personal to her: “I am an athlete, and I remember standing on the starting blocks, knowing that I had trained clean, knowing that everything came down to that final moment. What made it meaningful wasn’t only the competition — it was the trust that everyone next to me had earned their place the same way. That trust is what gives sport its magic. It’s what brings people together across all our differences. And it’s what every clean athlete deserves.”
There has not always been unity in the anti-doping community in recent years, Coventry added: “Too often, we’ve seen energy spent on division, finger-pointing and competing agendas. It has been difficult to watch this divide within our community. There is only one fight that we should be fighting — and that is the fight against doping. But instead, at times, we have been turning on each other. The only people who benefit from this disunity are the drugs cheaters. For the sake of the athletes, we need to move past that.”
At the same time, she called for athletes who have been pressured into doping to come forward and to “show courage by speaking out and helping us expose those who exploit them. This is how we protect others from suffering the same fate. We need zero tolerance for anyone who enables doping.”
The anti-doping community, the sports movement and in particular the public authorities must work to hold the athletes’ entourage members accountable if they support doping, the IOC President said: “Only public authorities have the power to take real, deterrent action — to ensure that anyone who betrays the health and trust of athletes faces serious consequences.”
Read the full speech of the IOC President here.
Arriving in Busan, the IOC President had been welcomed by Korea’s Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Hwi young Chae. In a meeting with him and NOC President Ryu, Coventry praised the work of the NOC under Ryu’s leadership.
Kirsty Coventry also attended the International Testing Agency (ITA)’s Foundation Board meeting, at which Jacques Antenen was appointed as the new ITA Chair. The meeting marked the final session chaired by Dr Valérie Fourneyron, who has led the Board since the organisation’s creation in 2018, and whose term concludes at the end of 2025. Coventry thanked Fourneyron for her strong leadership and her excellent work.
The ITA’s mission is to manage anti-doping programmes, independently from sporting or political powers, for International Federations, Major Event Organisers and all other anti-doping organisations requesting support. The IOC founded the ITA and has since delegated its anti-doping testing ahead of the Olympic Games to it.
