IOC Athlete Learning Gateway to go live on May 28, President Bach reveals

IOC President Thomas Bach revealed the IOC Athlete Gateway will go live on May 28 after a successful test ©Getty Images

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has revealed the IOC Athlete Learning Gateway will go live on May 28 following a successful test at the organisation’s headquarters in Lausanne.

The IOC Athlete Learning Gateway is one of the first projects to come off the back of the Agenda 2020 reforms, unanimously passed at the 127th IOC Session in Monaco in December.

One of the key themes of Agenda 2020 is to try to guide athletes both on and off the field of play, and it is hoped the initiative will go some way to achieving that aim.

Bach officially tested the programme, an online education platform for elite athletes, along with IOC Athletes’ Commission chair Claudia Bokel and triple canoe slalom Olympic gold medallist Tony Estanguet, who is also an IOC member.

They were joined by Olympians Anne-Sophie Thilo of Switzerland, Danish athlete Wilson Kipketer, Australian cyclist Scott Richardson, Rebecca Wardell of New Zealand and American bobsledder Jazmine Fenlator for discussions about the IOC’s role in helping athletes in their careers beyond sport.

Bach helped test the IOC Athlete Learning Gateway at IOC headquarters in Lausanne along with a host of other Olympians ©IOC / Christophe Moratal

The Athlete Learning Gateway will officially go live during the 7th IOC Athlete Career Programme Forum, in the Peruvian capital Lima.

The IOC will provide academic tools to guide athletes into a professional career once they retire and the programme itself features courses and live online seminars aimed at helping them boost their performances academically.

Modules will be offered on a wide range of topics, such as leadership, sports technology and injury prevention, nutrition and psychology, all of which can be linked back to sporting performance.

Olympians, coaches and other sporting institutes, as well as leading academics and sports leaders have already pledged to support the initiative by providing content for the programme.