It’s done. Four months after its creation was announced, the new World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Athletes’ Council is now complete. The names of the last seven members have just been revealed. They were selected by the Athletes’ Council Nominating Committee. As a reminder, this new entity of WADA is composed of twenty members, divided into three groups. Group 1 includes five athletes nominated by the IOC and IPC Athletes’ Commissions. Group 2 consists of eight athletes elected by the International Federations’ Athletes’ Commissions. Finally, Group 3 is made up of seven other members selected by the Athletes’ Council Nomination Committee with the aim of filling gaps in skills and diversity. This last group, whose composition was unveiled on Wednesday 4 January, is made up of Gaby Ahrens (Namibia – Shooting), Adriana Escobar (El Salvador – Rowing), Inaki Gomez (Canada – Athletics), Patrick O’Leary (Ireland – Para Canoeing), Olumide Oyedeji (Papua New Guinea – Swimming), and Yuhan Tan (Belgium – Badminton). A total of 54 athletes applied to the Sports Council, of which 50 were deemed eligible. The twenty elected or appointed members will meet for the first time in March 2023 in Lausanne, Switzerland, on the occasion of WADA’s annual Symposium. They will then elect the various positions they are to hold, including their President, who will hold a seat on the Executive Committee, and two representatives who will sit on the Foundation Board, one of whom will be an athlete from Paralympic sport.
