Global Athlete

Re-release: The Olympic and Paralympic Sport Landscape with Rob Koehler

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This is a re-release of our interview with Rob Koehler, originally published within GA Podcast EP02.

Without athletes, the Olympic and Paralympic Games would not be possible. Noah talks with Rob Koehler about why it’s imperative to understand athletes’ rights and why more accountability is needed in both the IOC and Court of Arbitration for Sport. 

In this episode, we talk about…

  • The emotional story of Navid Afkari
  • Athlete activism in Belarus
  • Relationship between IOC Athletes’ Commission and the IOC
  • Rule 50 and it’s current implications for Olympic/Paralympic athletes
  • Double standard of how athletes are treated vs. IOC members
  • IOC financial priorities and why Global Athlete is pushing to abolish Rule 40
  • Issues with Court of Arbitration for Sport
  • What happened to British hammer thrower Mark Dry
  • Impending problems of the Tokyo Games and what it means for athletes’ safety 

    • Memorable Quotes:

    • “Athletes that want to see better communities, want to stand up for social, racial justice—are being told that they can’t do it, and if they are going to do it—we’ll tell you when you can do it. And that is not freedom of expression. You cannot tell someone when they can’t speak up and when they can speak up.”
  • “If we’re going to look at the entire anti-doping system, we can’t look at things in silo, we need to look at it as a complete picture, and one of those pieces of the pie is the Court of Arbitration of Sport.” 

    • Guest Bio:

    Rob Koehler is the Director General of Global Athlete and formerly the Deputy Director General of the World Anti-Doping Agency and a strong independent voice for athlete rights. 

     

    Links to resources:

    IOC 

    United for Navid Campaign 

    IOC Athletes’ Commission  

    Olympic Commercialization and Player Compensations: A Review of Olympic Financial Reports 

    WADA: World Anti-Doping Agency 

    Court of Arbitration for Sport  

    Follow Rob on Twitter @RobKoehler2 and follow Global Athlete @GlobalAthleteHQ. Get in touch at [email protected] and join the movement at globalathlete.org. 

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