HANGZHOU, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Anti-doping education is necessary for athletes' entourage and "bad actors" should be held accountable, emphasized World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) vice president Yang Yang in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.
Speaking on the sideline of the Hangzhou Asian Games, Yang, former Olympic short track speed skating champion, shared her experience as a former athlete that made her steadfast in promoting her ideas.
"As a former athlete, I know the valuable role sport has played in my life. All the evidence we have points to the fact that the vast majority of athletes are in sport for the right reasons. That is why we all must protect them," she said.
Yang believed the anti-doping system should strike a balance between "catch and punish" and "support and prevent" while education as a way to "support and prevent" is critical.
"Education is the single best long-term solution that we have for protecting the values of sport - clean sport. It is a critical component of the global anti-doping system," Yang said.
At last year's Global Education Conference in Sydney, WADA president Witold Banka called on anti-doping organizations to focus more on education and make it one of the key pillars of their strategic plans. Yang thought the effort is starting to pay off.
"We learned about the education programs that are making a difference around the world. Education is fulfilling its role in helping athletes learn the behaviors and actions they need - to live their values, their ethics and, importantly, the anti-doping rules," she said.
Since Yang took office in 2020 as WADA vice president and was reelected for a second term last year. She has been an advocate for anti-doping education not just for athletes, but also their entourage.
"I am especially concerned about the management of athletes' supporting personnel. It's necessary for them to get enough anti-doping education and be held accountable if they are 'bad actors'," said Yang.
"I received the congratulatory letter from IOC president Thomas Bach when I was reelected last year."
In the congratulatory letter addressed to Yang, Bach said, "The IOC can only agree with and support your statement that the entourage should be held to the same highest standards as athletes."
Yang pointed out that athletes, especially minors, will be influenced by people close to them, the coaches, medics, parents and other support personnel.
"I know that the vast majority of these people want only the best for the athletes and for sport. Many are well-educated about anti-doping matters but some are not. I am glad that WADA's education program includes the entourage. All stakeholders must be well informed - there can be no weak links.
"Often, athletes rely on their entourage for everything and trust them completely and do as they say. That can be a good thing or a bad thing - if we can educate the entourage and make them understand the importance of clean competition, it will filter down to the athlete, even those of a very young age. If we can get to the entourage, we will get to the athletes," Yang stressed.
For those who "use athletes for selfish reasons, as their route to fame and fortune," Yang strongly suggested they get according punishment.
"We all must do more about the entourage - every department of anti-doping is involved. Governments also play their part. NADOs (National Anti-Doping Organizations) must be properly resourced and governments can help further by passing legislation that holds bad actors to account under the law, when they threaten the health and wellbeing of athletes," she noted.
Yang was happy to see that IOC, WADA and the International Testing Agency (ITA) have started to collaborate in this area.
"In the past few months, there have been discussions and researches regarding education and regulation for entourage and how we make revisions in the World Anti-Doping Code," she revealed.
"I believe there will be pertinent measures implemented in the feasible future," Yang concluded. ■
