During the preliminary self-study period prior to any ITU Coaches’ Course, candidates are required to familiarise themselves with the basics of anti-doping, reading texts as well as completing quizzes on ITU’s on-line education platform. One of the assignments is to complete the World Anti-doping Agency’s (WADA) own CoachTrue e-learning course and to upload their certificates to the ITU Education HUB (https://education.triathlon.org/) for their Facilitators to verify.

On Day Four of the current 2019 Incheon KTF-ITU Coaches Level 2 Course, this learning experience was enhanced thanks to a hands-on anti-doping education session delivered by KADA (Korea Anti-doping Agency). An anti-doping officer visited the afternoon class sessions of both groups and, after a 15-minute introduction about the process, performed a demo out-of-competition doping control examination.

One coach from each group took the role of the athlete being tested, while another assisted the officer with the mimicked sample collection and the related administration and a third acted as an athlete’s representative. The exercise proved to be a good lead up to real-life doping control situations, for which coaches must prepare their athletes.

A Q&A session concluded the anti-doping activity, where participants had the chance to freely discuss athletes’ whereabouts, Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs), WADA protocols and any other related topics.

“Most athletes attribute their success to not only their hard work and talent but because of their support network,” said Leslie Buchanan, ITU Anti-doping Director. “This entourage includes everyone who gives them physical and psychological support, such as their family, friends and coaches. Athletes look to their coaches for guidance and leadership on and off the field of play, so if we educate coaches about all aspects of life and sport, not just anti-doping, that can have a far reaching effect as those coaches can educate many athletes over their coaching career.”