January 27, (THEWILL) – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has named eight athlete ambassadors to help raise awareness of the issue of competition manipulation in the run-up to the 2019 Winter Olympic Games.
Yang Yang, the Chinese Olympic short track speed skating gold medalist and chair of the Beijing 2022 Athletes’ Commission, is one of the individuals who will discuss the issue with athletes, support staff, and officials as they prepare for the Games.
Pernilla Wiberg of Sweden, a two-time Olympic winner, has been picked, as have former Alpine skiers Andrej Miklavc and Jakob Spik of Slovenia.
Emma Terho, an Olympic ice hockey medalist from Finland who chairs the IOC Athletes’ Commission, and Danka Barteková, an Olympic shooting medalist from Slovakia who is a member of the IOC Ethics Commission, are among the other ambassadors, as are Andreas Linger, a two-time Olympic luge gold medalist, and Nicola Minichiello, a former bobsleigh world champion from the United Kingdom.
The eight athletes will promote the IOC’s “Make the Right Decision” campaign, which was created ahead of last year’s Olympics in Tokyo to raise awareness about the issue of competition manipulation.
“Competition manipulation harms the essence of sport, fair play and the trustworthiness of the result,” said Terho.
“Prevention is key, and in this sense, it is essential that athletes are informed about the risks of competition manipulation and the possible consequences on their career.”
Match-fixing and illicit betting, according to Bartekova, “completely ruin the passion of sport” and she emphasised the significance of education on the topic.
“No athlete begins their career with competition manipulation in mind, but either through adversity or through not understanding the rules, athletes can find themselves in a situation that could ruin everything they have worked hard for,” Bartekova added.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
