Believe in Sport ambassadors leading on education at Milano Cortina 2026

Three ambassadors for the Believe in Sport campaign, the IOC’s initiative to promote integrity and educate athletes on the risks of competition manipulation, led the athlete engagement activities at various Games sites.

Yura Min OLY, a speed skater from Korea, spent 10 days in Milan leading the booth activities. “Knowing the sport and the athletes made it easy for me to engage with them and pass them key messages about the PMC-related Do’s and Don’ts,” Yura explained. “Being an Olympian for me constitutes also a great responsibility in terms of contributing to keeping my sport inspirational and clean, and helping my fellow athletes to understand this topic, recognise any relevant risks and know how to report them.”

Yura was joined in the Olympic Village in Milan by Canadian ice hockey star Mark Fraser, also a Believe in Sport ambassador: “Spending time with my fellow athletes, helping them understand the phenomenon, the relevant risks and relevant rules was a great experience for me. As a former ice hockey athlete, I was well positioned to understand concerns, have concrete discussions and help them relate and have clear stance against any wrongdoing, especially when speaking to athletes from my sport,” Mark said. “Explaining to athletes and entourage members where and how they can report any approach or wrongdoing was also a big part of our educational messages. I trust that it was a message well received by them.”

Italian Olympic medallist, biathlon legend and Believe in Sport ambassador, Dominik Windisch, led the booth activities in Cortina, and also delivered an educational session for athletes in Anterselva/Antholz, the biathlon venue at the Games. “Milano Cortina 2026 were the home Games for me, therefore I considered it as a special mission to ensure that as many fellow Olympians as possible could stay away from any wrongdoing and notably any violation of the PMC rules. I was happy to see so many athletes motivated to meet and discuss with me in both Cortina and Anterselva/Antholz. In simple language I explained them the topic, and I underlined that as athletes we must not be betting on the Games, we must not be manipulating, we must not be leaking information and of course we should speak up in relation to any suspicious activity we notice,” Dominik stated.

Reflecting on the added value of the Believe in Sport ambassadors programme, Laura Valle, the OM Unit PMC’s Ambassadors Programme Manager noted: “The Believe in Sport ambassador programme welcomed 10 new Ambassadors in September last year. These were the first Olympic Games in which this new group of Ambassadors took part, and we were delighted to see their commitment and the way they drew fellow athletes to the booth, who were eager to greet them and left with valuable insights on how to prevent competition manipulation.”