BIU holds two sessions at IBU-IOC development camp
The BIU contributed two theoretical training sessions – one for athletes and one for coaches – at an IBU-IOC development camp in Antholz, Italy on 14 October.
The event was one of a series of training camps held for National Federations each year by the IBU, in conjunction with the IOC, with the aim of supporting them with both practical and theoretical knowledge and training.
The BIU contributed two theoretical training sessions – one for athletes and one for coaches – at an IBU-IOC development camp in Antholz, Italy on 14 October.
The event was one of a series of training camps held for National Federations each year by the IBU, in conjunction with the IOC, with the aim of supporting them with both practical and theoretical knowledge and training.
Athletes’ session
The session involved basic anti-doping education, including an interactive quiz in which athletes could test their knowledge.
Coaches’ session
Coaches were presented with information on safeguarding and its importance in Biathlon, which included group discussions on case studies.
After the coaches’ session, Martina Seidl, a youth coach from Ruhpolding (GER) and Olympic Champion, commented: “For me, as a coach of youth athletes, safeguarding is very important and, in my opinion, it fell short in past education in many federations.
“As coaches we have a duty to take care of our athletes as well as we can and provide them with a safe setting while training and competing. Safeguarding education helps to deal with different cases, discuss them and find solutions and/or support.”
Katharina Gatterer, Safeguarding and Education Manager at the BIU, added: “Safeguarding is quite a new topic for many, so I was extremely pleased with the coaches’ active participation in the discussion.
“They seem to have understood that their role goes beyond simply improving their athletes’ performances, and that they need to act when they feel something is not right. Our next step is to inform athletes about their right to train and compete in a safe sport environment.”
Another session is planned for the second edition of the camp in Martell, Italy on 26 November to 3 December, as the BIU continues its mission to support athletes and coaches in all integrity related matters.
Meet the BIU team
The BIU has published the first three in a series of staff profiles, with the aim of helping the Biathlon community to identify and engage with staff members more easily, whether at events or at the BIU headquarters in Salzburg.
Each short profile includes a picture, plus a description of the staff member’s role and background, including education and practical experience and expertise in the field.
Profiles also indicate where the staff member is most likely to be found at events.
The BIU hopes that increasing familiarity with BIU staff will encourage more athletes and support staff to interact with them, leading to greater awareness of integrity issues that are crucial to protecting the sport of Biathlon for the benefit of all participants.
Greg McKenna, Head of the BIU, said: “As an integrity unit, building trust is fundamental, so it is important the community we support know who we are. The BIU Team is here to provide help in a number of areas, including the general welfare of members of the Biathlon Family and we have a lot of expertise in this area! I hope our athletes, support personnel and wider biathlon family can have confidence that the experience and skills within the BIU will further strengthen the integrity of biathlon.”
Now let’s meet the team.
Biathlon Integrity Certificate
Beginning with the first event of the 2022-23 season, all Biathlon team staff members (including coaches, medical personnel and technicians) participating in any IBU event (Junior Cup, IBU Cup, World Cup) must hold a ‘Biathlon Integrity Certificate’ issued by the BIU.
The purpose of the certificate is to ensure that everyone dealing with athletes has a basic knowledge of integrity and anti-doping matters.
They should also be aware of the influence their words and actions can have over athletes, and know their obligations under the IBU Integrity Code.
A certificate can be obtained by completing a short online course, which can be found here.
The course is available in three languages (English, Russian and German) and will take between 45 and 60 minutes to complete.
The course is divided into three main modules:
1) Safeguarding and Integrity (definition of safeguarding, how to recognise signs of abuse and how to react);
2) Basic information on anti-doping;
3) Your role as Athlete Support Personnel and your influence on athletes’ behaviour and attitudes.
After completing the course, participants have to upload the certificate (valid for two seasons) to the IBU Membercenter.
Save the date
At 16.00 CET on 5 October, the BIU and IBU will jointly host a webinar on functions of the Membercenter, with an opportunity for participants to ask questions.
For more details on the Biathlon Integrity Certificate, contact:
Lucie Rothauer
BIU Prevention Manager
Lucie.rothauer@biathlonintegrity.com
Katharina Gatterer
BIU Safeguarding and Education Officer
Safeguarding Workshop
During the recent 15th Ordinary IBU Congress in Salzburg, the BIU held a well-attended and informative workshop on safeguarding.
The aim was to discuss relevant safeguarding issues in Biathlon, and the workshop began with a short presentation defining safeguarding and its importance in Biathlon. NFs’ obligations under the IBU Safeguarding Policy were also discussed.
This introduction was followed by round table discussions with NFs, with the aim of answering two main questions:
1. What are the potential / present risk factors or safeguarding issues in your sporting community?
2. What do you as NFs need from BIU to further advance your safeguarding efforts?
NFs generally agreed that there is a need for education for coaches / personnel dealing with athletes, but also for athletes themselves, as they are sometimes unsure of which behaviours are and are not acceptable.
It also emerged that, while good educational material is often available within a country / federation, distributing the material in order to stimulate discussion within the Biathlon community can be problematic.
During the workshop, Sara Studebaker-Hall (USA) and Heather Ambery (CAN) presented insights and good practices from their respective countries. Both countries have centres dedicated to Safe Sport: https://uscenterforsafesport.org/ and https://www.cces.ca/. These also serve as contact points for the Biathlon federations. Sara and Heather concluded that collecting feedback from team members is important (ideally by an independent reviewer), and that it is also crucial for federations to have a responsible person (with necessary training) to deal with safeguarding matters.
The BIU was delighted with the level of interest and the lively discussion provoked by the workshop.
For more details, contact:
BIU Safeguarding and Education Officer Katharina Gatterer – katharina.gatterer@biathlonintegrity.com
Candidate vetting process
Candidates for election to the IBU’s Executive Board and Technical Committee will all be subject to a thorough vetting process.
The elections will be held at the IBU Congress in Salzburg on 16 to 18 September 2022.
This process involves careful screening of the past and present status of candidates, to ensure their character, personal and professional circumstances are in line with the IBU’s values.
The process is conducted by an independent body – the Vetting Panel – supported by the Biathlon Integrity Unit, the BIU.
This ensures that the outcomes of the process are impartial and fair.
The aim is to rule out any potential problems or conflicts of interest before a candidate is appointed.
The vetting process is described in the IBU’s Constitution and Vetting Rules, as follows:
· An application for a role within the IBU is received
· The applicant is asked to complete a vetting form including details on their persona and background
· A qualified researcher from the BIU conducts research on the suitability of the candidate for the position
· Depending on the position the candidate is applying for, a vetting interview could be held, conducted by the BIU
· The candidate is then assessed by an IBU vetting panel, based on the information gathered
· Finally, the IBU and the candidate are notified of the suitability of the candidate.
The vetting process aims to ensure the integrity of Biathlon is maintained.
This will be achieved by appointing only the best, most appropriate and qualified candidates to manage and administer the sport on behalf of us all.
A video explaining the vetting process can be found here.
Spotting the signs of overtraining
What is overtraining and how can you make sure to avoid it?
As a biathlete, you often need to push your limits to reach your athletic goals. At this time of year especially, with the new season just around the corner, many biathletes intensify their training loads.
But more isn’t always better.
There’s a thin line between training hard enough and training too hard. When you don’t give your body the rest and recovery it needs, you risk overtraining. Too much training without sufficient recovery can hinder your progress and lead to a decline in performance.
Common symptoms are not only physical, but can also be emotional and behavioural.
Look out for these signs:
· Long-term decline in sports performance
· Unusual muscle soreness, even after lower exercise intensity
· Decreased motivation to train or compete
· Moodiness
· General tiredness/fatigue; lack of energy
· Decreased quality of sleep
· Loss of appetite
· Irregular menstrual cycles; missing periods
· Increased occurrences of illness
· Increased blood pressure and at-rest heart rate
· Excessive weight loss.
One or more of these symptoms could indicate that you are overtraining.
Overtraining can be hard to spot before it becomes a problem, so it is very important to pay close attention and listen to your body.
What can you do to avoid overtraining?
· Make sure that you eat and drink properly
· Get a good night’s sleep
· Talk to your coach about balancing training with time for recovery; and let them know when you don’t feel great.
It’s hard to fully recover from overtraining. It can require weeks or months without working out. For an elite athlete, that could mean the end of their career.
Make sure it’s not you!
Competition manipulation outreach
The BIU conducted a quiz among athletes and support personnel at the SBWCH in Ruhpolding to provide information on the risks of match-fixing.
Competition manipulation or match-fixing is defined as an intentional act to unfairly change the course or the outcome of a sports competition. One of the BIU’s tasks is to make sure it does not happen in Biathlon.
The aim of the outreach programme was to provide information and education on the risks of competition manipulation, using a quiz format.
The quiz aimed to reinforce the four main rules relating to match-fixing:
· Don’t fix
· Don’t bet
· Don’t disclose inside information
· Report any match-fixing suspicions
The quiz comprised six case studies of potential competition manipulation or match-fixing, and participants were asked to choose whether or not a variety of actions by athletes and/or support personnel were in breach of the rules.
In all, more than 100 biathletes and coaches from 24 countries took part in the quiz over the four days, signing a ‘wall’ to show that they had participated.
The BIU was delighted at the high level of interest shown by participants, and in most cases their awareness of the risks of competition manipulation.
However, two questions in particular showed that some participants were uncertain over some aspects of match-fixing:
· Only 58% of participants knew that betting on biathlon competitions is forbidden for anyone involved in biathlon.
· In the case study that produced the highest number of wrong answers, an athlete told her best friend about an injury to a teammate before it was publicly announced. Almost 40% of respondents said that this is not competition manipulation. However, disclosing inside information to anyone outside the team, even to a good friend, is, in fact, against the rules.
Participation in the quiz enabled BIU staff members to engage directly with athletes and support personnel to correct these errors and explain the rationale behind the rules.
Although the main topic of the outreach was competition manipulation (match-fixing), everyone was welcome to ask any questions about other integrity issues such as anti-doping and safeguarding at the BIU booth.
The quiz can be found here.
For more information on competition manipulation, check out BIU’s short video.
CAS Anti-Doping ruling
The Appeals Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport has rejected an appeal by Andrejs Rastorgujevs (Latvia) against his ban for Whereabouts failures.
The Appeals Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has confirmed that an 18-month ban on Andrejs Rastorgujevs (Latvia), which had been imposed by the CAS Anti-Doping Division (CAS ADD), following three Whereabouts failures in 12 months, will remain in place.
Rastorgujevs had appealed the earlier decision. However, the CAS Appeals Division stated that there is no argument or evidence justifying a reduction of the 18-month period of ineligibility.
Last year the CAS ADD issued the following decision on Rastorgujevs:
• ‘Andrejs Rastorgujevs is found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation pursuant to Article 2.4 of the IBU ADR (three Whereabouts Failures within a 12-month period).
• ‘Andrejs Rastorgujevs is sanctioned with a period of ineligibility of eighteen (18) months.
• ‘The period of ineligibility shall commence on 11 March 2021, which is the start date of the provisional suspension imposed on Andrejs Rastorgujevs.
• ‘All competitive results obtained by Andrejs Rastorgujevs from 1 July 2020 until the date on which the CAS ADD decision enters into force are disqualified, with all resulting consequences including forfeiture of medals, points and prizes’.
Greg McKenna, Head of the Biathlon Integrity Unit, said:
“The BIU will continue to provide good-quality educational information on the athletes’ obligations. However, the CAS Appeals Division has clarified that providing accurate Whereabouts information is the responsibility of the athlete. The Whereabouts Rule is fundamental to ensuring clean sport, and the BIU will ensure it is enforced within biathlon. I must stress, all athletes have a personal responsibility to keep their Whereabouts information up to date and to avoid missing any tests.”
Rastorgujevs won the gold medal in the Individual competition of the Open European Championships (OECH) in 2021. This result will now be disqualified.
The BIU has produced a video and article explaining the Whereabouts process and the importance of filing Whereabouts information, which can be found here.
Competition manipulation
BIU produces new video warning against competition manipulation
In a new video, that will be distributed at this year’s Summer Biathlon World Championships in Ruhpolding, Germany on 25 to 28 August, the BIU is warning athletes and their entourages against the dangers of competition manipulation.
You can watch the video here:
Competition manipulation, sometimes called match-fixing, includes athletes deliberately underperforming or losing on purpose, or officials or coaches intentionally making bad decisions – usually in exchange for sporting advantage or money.
In order to avoid breaking competition manipulation rules, the video warns athletes and their entourages against:
· Fixing the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of any Biathlon competition, or accepting bribes or gifts to fix or change any aspect of the competition.
· Disclosing inside information, which is not publicly available, including factual information regarding competitors, conditions, and tactical considerations.
· Betting on themselves or asking anyone to enter into any bet on any aspect of a Biathlon competition, or using or disclosing inside information for betting purposes.
If they are approached to fix a competition or provide inside information, athletes and their entourages must report it as soon as possible, the video continues. Not reporting could lead to consequences such as sanctions or bans.
The best ways to report an approach are:
Complete the form on the BIU website
Email the BIU (reporting@biathlonintegrity.com)
Or call the BIU to leave a confidential message (+43 662 85505016)
Competition manipulation causes long-term damage to the reputation of those involved and to the sport of Biathlon in general, threatening the integrity of our sport.
If athletes or members of their entourage are found to have been involved in competition manipulation, they could be fined or banned from Biathlon. In some cases, a life ban could be imposed.
Addressing athletes directly, the video concludes:
· Don’t fix competitions
· Don’t disclose inside information
· Don’t bet on Biathlon
· Report any knowledge or suspicions regarding competition manipulation
And always perform to the best of your abilities.
