Anti-Doping

WADA Launches ‘ALPHA’ and ‘Coach True’ Certifications for Wrestling Community

Friday, July 17, 2020 - 01:13 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (July 17) – Without opportunities to compete on the mat, hundreds of top wrestlers and coaches have made the best of their recent downtime and earned certificates delivered through the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) educational tools, ALPHA and CoachTrue.

These educational programs are made available to all athletes and coaches by WADA via the e-learning platform ADeL. The programs intend to provide education and information about the dangers of doping, and the importance of anti-doping controls. They also provide solutions for clean progression in sport rather than simply focusing on what is not allowed.

In the framework of its anti-doping education program, United World Wrestling selected 500 wrestlers from 50 countries and around 150 coaches from 41 countries via their national federations and requested them to complete these programs. Participants who complete all sections of the course, as well as the post-course and the final exam, earned a certificate from WADA.

The wrestlers included those who have already qualified a place for the 2020 Tokyo Games as well as several top-ranked Junior and Senior level wrestlers from countries with a higher risk of doping. That risk was based on an assessment which considered several factors (rank, track record of positives in a country, number of tests collected).

UWW will gradually request all wrestlers and coaches planning to enter a major event (Games, World Junior and Senior championships) to hold their respective certificate (or a recognized equivalent delivered by a National Anti-doping Organization) as a pre-requisite for attending. This has already been successfully implemented in past regional events.

The program also exists for medical professionals such as sports physicians, physiotherapists or sports nutritionists. UWW will extend the requirement to this population so that the athletes’ entourage become more knowledgeable and learn about their role in protecting clean sport.

UWW encourages all wrestlers and wrestlers’ entourage not yet selected to proactively take the course.

Click here to access the platform.

#WrestleParis

Olympic champion Focken carries Olympic torch for Paris 2024

Thursday, June 27, 2024 - 09:38 By Vinay Siwach

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ALSACE, France (June 27) -- Tokyo Olympic champion Aline FOCKEN (GER) was part of the Olympic Torch Relay on Wednesday in Alsace, stage 41 of the relay for the 2024 Paris Games.

"It was magical," Focken said. "It was a short run for only a few minutes but I enjoyed it. I felt the Olympic spirit and pride to run with the torch. We were briefed a lot, about the significance of the torch and it's for peace and I felt it all the time. It was special."

The relay began from the European Parliament and then passed in front of the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe. It also lit up the city’s covered bridges, the Grande île district, the Alsatian Museum and the Notre Dame gothic cathedral before finishing at Place Kléber, in the city’s heart, where the celebration venue was located.

 

The Olympic Torch Relay continued its voyage through eastern France with a distinctly European tone. In addition to putting the spotlight on the gems of Alsace, the Olympic Torch Relay also highlighted fraternity between people, such as Franco-German links, which were celebrated during an exceptional collective relay on the Three Countries Bridge in Huningue. Another collective relay took place in Strasbourg, dedicated, as each day, to a specific sport.

Focken carried the torch at the start of the three country bridge for 250 metres. The starting point of Focken's run was in Germany while her finish was in France. She then handed over the Olympic Torch to Frenchman Eric Kueny, representative of the host country in Huningue.

Aline FOCKEN (GER)Aline FOCKEN (GER) with the Olympic torch on Wednesday. (Photo: Lewis Joly)

Focken, who won the gold medal in 76kg weight class in Tokyo, became the first woman from Germany to win gold at the Olympics in wrestling. She said her feeling was similar to Olympic Games but she was nervous before the run.

"I was nervous," she said. "It's different and all the TV is around you. I was relaxed but nervous. It was a really special moment and I thought that this may be the last Olympic moment for you so just enjoy it. I took my family with me to the relay."