Athletes' rights and Olympic reform: a discussion with Johann Koss, Ann Peel and Alexandra Orlando

In 1999, athletes' anger and sense of betrayal about the Salt Lake City bribery scandal and the IOC's seeming indifference to doping inflamed the pressure for reform, and many athletes' proposals for change found their way into the IOC 2000 Commission's eventual recommendations. Ten years later, another generation of athlete representatives continues to push for the full realization of those reforms. In this discussion, four-time Olympic speed-skating gold medalist Johann Koss, an athlete representative on the IOC Athletes' Commission, reflects upon his experience on and the recommendations of the IOC 2000 Commission; Ann Peel, race walker, founding chair of Athletes CAN and a founding member of Olympic Athletes Together Honorably (OATH) recalls the concerns that led to the creation of OATH; and Alexandra Orlando, who competed in rhythmic gymnastics in Beijing, describes her own transformation into an athlete activist and outlines the challenges athlete representatives face today.