Hangzhou, China, September 28, 2023: The Olympic Council of Asia’s aim of championing clean sport has received a massive shot in the arm with more than 12,000 athletes taking part at the ongoing 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou having completed WADA’s Anti-Doping Education and Learning (ADEL) module before the continental showpiece began.
“We are extremely happy to announce that 97 percent of the athletes at these Asian Games completed the WADA ADEL e-learning module for International Level Athlete. This is a huge success in our aim of championing clean sport with all our stakeholders,” said Gobi Nair, a member of OCA’s Anti-Doping Commission.
In an unprecedented move, the OCA took the bold step to ensure all athletes heading to the Asian Games – 12,417 – complete a structured education programme on anti-doping, encouraging all 45 National Olympic Committees to get behind this push.
“We wanted the athletes' first experience of anti-doping to be with education rather than doping control,” Nair said. “We spread the message on our website and social media and also held webinars and forums organised with the OCA Coaching Department targeting Athlete Support Personnel and stakeholders in specific sports.”
Nair paid tribute to the OCA anti-doping education team - along with the Asian RADOs (Regional Anti-Doping Organisations), Asian NOCs and NADOs (National Anti-Doping Organisations) - for a great collaborative effort that ended with 97 percent of the athletes being up-to-date with the World Anti-Doping Agency’s guidelines.
“I’m proud to say that the OCA is the first to implement mandatory pre-Games education of this scale of more than 12,000 athletes. It is a huge success,” Nair added.