Monte-Carlo - Over the course of next weekend - Friday 11 to Sunday 13 February - representatives of three most important pillars of the Athletics Community, the athletes, the coaches and anti-doping personnel will gather together under the umbrellas of their respective IAAF Commissions to hold, not only their own individual meetings but also an historic two-hour long joint meeting.

Along with delegates attending IAAF Workshops that will consider the structure and format of One-Day Meetings, and of Female Representation in Athletics, the members of the IAAF Athletes’ Commission, Coaches’ Commission, and Medical & Anti-Doping Commission will gather on the edge of the Principality at the Riviera Marriott Hotel, Cap d’Ail, France for a weekend of discussions and consultations.

Proceedings will be headed by IAAF President Lamine Diack and General Secretary Istvan Gyulai with a number of fellow Council Members, and personnel from the IAAF’s Headquarters in Monaco in attendance. In total there will be over 60 people involved in this historic weekend.

Each of the Commissions will as usual be holding their own individual meetings but what makes the occasion particularly interesting for the development of better understanding and cooperation within Athletics is that on the morning of Sunday (13 Feb), the Athletes, Coaches, and Medical and Anti-Doping Commissions will hold a joint meeting.

“We are very much looking forward to these two hours because it is important that each of these three pillars of our sport, the athletes, coaches and anti-doping personnel know as much as possible about each other’s activities and commitments in order to foster a better joint understanding of how the sport operates,” commented Istvan Gyulai.

The occasion will bring together many household names such as Alberto Juantorena, Igor Ter-Ovanesian, Mike Conley, Stéphane Diagana, Beatrice Faumuina, Debbie Ferguson, Frank Fredericks, Deon Hemmings, Faraj Ibrahim Ismail, Irina Privalova etc… in discussion with the Heads of the Area Coaches’ Associations and the leading Medical & Anti-Doping administrators of our sport.

What is also unique in this the year of an IAAF Congress, is that for the very first time the Athletes’ and the Coaches’ Commissions will be consulted over the 220 rule changes which have been submitted for consideration by Congress, giving these very two important elements of the Athletics family the chance to express their opinions about these proposals which will be considered this summer in Helsinki.

The One Day Meetings’ Workshop on the Saturday afternoon is another crucial fixture this weekend. It will be a ‘brain-storming session’ involving participants representing athletes, coaches, meet organisers, television, written press, sponsors, marketing partners, enabling the IAAF to consider what, if it is necessary, needs to be done to restructure the One-Day meeting system. This Workshop is not a decision making meeting but represents a vital consultative stage in the process.

“We are looking forward to hearing some interesting contributions and the conclusions of this Workshop will be reported to the IAAF Council,” confirmed Istvan Gyulai.

IAAF