The Athletes’ Rights and Responsibilities Declaration (Athletes’ Declaration) is a historic athlete-driven initiative, developed by athletes and for athletes through a worldwide consultation process. Led by a 20-strong athlete representative Steering Committee, it has been shaped by 4,292 elite athletes from 190 countries and more than 120 sports disciplines.
Its overarching goal is to further support athletes — no matter their sport, age, gender or nationality, by outlining a common set of aspirational rights and responsibilities for athletes within the Olympic Movement. It covers topics such as anti-doping, integrity, clean sport, career, communications, governance, discrimination, due process and protection from harassment and abuse.
A two-stage athlete survey has been at the core of this process − firstly with Athletes’ Commissions and athlete representatives, to obtain in-depth and quality feedback from athlete representatives globally. The results of this first survey shaped the first draft of the Athletes’ Declaration, as well as the second stage survey. Additionally, and in parallel, there has been stakeholder consultation to ensure that the document is meaningful and has a positive impact for athletes globally.
The Athletes’ Declaration was presented to and adopted by the 133rd IOC Session (9 October 2018) in Buenos Aires on behalf of the Olympic Movement and is also referenced in the Olympic Charter, signifying its important status within the Olympic Movement.
Learn more about this exciting global journey and download the Athletes’ Declaration, here.