This month marks ten years since the inception of the British Olympic Association’s (BOA) Athletes’ Commission.
The commission, which is made up of 13 current and retired athletes from across summer and winter sports, is designed to put the athlete’s voice at the heart of the BOA’s work. It ensures the expertise, experience and opinion of the athlete body is fed into the many initiatives and programmes that make Team GB what it is. All members are voted for by their fellow athletes with elections held every two years for new members.
The commission meets every two months and feeds into all areas of the BOA with a particular focus on the athlete experience in and around the summer, winter and youth Olympic Games. Their collective views are paramount to the successful planning and delivery of an Olympic Games for Team GB and the commission plays a key role in helping the BOA retain the athlete-first focus which has helped the success of the last decade.
The current Chair of the Athlete’s Commission, three-time Olympic hockey player Ben Hawes, has been part of the commission from day one as a founding member alongside the now Chair of UK Sport Dame Katherine Grainger. As part of the 10-year anniversary, Hawes has reflected on the work done by the group, the value it has offered the BOA and it athletes as well as the challenges athletes face in the coming months building-up to Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022.
It’s often hard to step back and look at the achievements but I definitely remember the early days of the Athletes’ Commission and it being quite a forward thinking move. To bring together a group of athletes in the build-up to London to work closely with the BOA on decision-making with a view of supporting and boosting performance at the Games was a huge success.
Internationally, athlete bodies weren’t a new thing at that time, but the BOA’s decision to not just inform athletes of their plans but bring them into shaping these decisions which were relevant to them is something I’ve kept with me this whole time and is at the heart of what we try to do.
The important thing for us leading up to London and thinking beyond was ensuring we had a finger on the pulse of the athlete community and having a direct line to them. The whole organisation needed to have their eyes open as wide as possible and not just see the success in Beijing or even London and assume it knew what it was doing. Embracing that through an athlete lens is going to help us grow, learn and develop for future Games.
As a commission we are there to represent the much wider Olympic athlete body in the best way possible and to ensure the BOA are getting what they need from us in terms of input and feedback on their operations. We’re involved in decisions ranging from the kit the team wear and the Village set-up to supporting on the BOA’s commercial programmes and advising on issues such as athletes' rights.
We’ve seen over the years the BOA listening to the voice of the athlete and acting on it. The challenge with some Athlete Commissions is that it can be a tick-box exercise, but what we’ve seen over the last 10 years is that this is a joint venture and is delivers for all parties.
Some of the good bits to work on like the Olympic kit, kitting out and the athlete experience at Games-time, now come as an expectation, but they didn’t appear from nowhere and were built from the ground up by the BOA with help from the Athletes’ Commission. They’re great examples of where athlete input makes a real difference.
More recently there’s been some more fundamental work around Rule 40 and Rule 50, where it’s an on-going process of consultation, but it’s an indication of where the Olympic Games are going and we need to find the balance of what’s needed operationally and what is required by the athlete.
Other challenges are clear for us and covid is obviously the huge one currently. We’ve heard good things from the IOC and Tokyo on the Games next year but what they look like we’re still not sure on. We are going to have to work very closely with the BOA and the IOC’s Athletes’ Commission to ensure the health and safety of athletes is the first consideration.
With all this in mind there’s never been a more important time for athletes to have a voice within these organisations. You can’t separate sport from cultural issues anymore and we have to help athletes formulate a position and share their voice and action at the appropriate time. We should embrace that and see it as a positive as we move into a really interesting 2021 and beyond.
We are always interested and keen to hear from the athletes we represent so please contact me on [email protected] should you like to discuss any relevant issues or the commission itself.