Clare Egan's farewell address

Dear Biathlon Family members,

As my six years as Chair of the IBU Athletes’ Committee (AC) come to a close, I am thankful for the experience and very proud of what we have achieved together.

We earned athlete voting rights in the IBU Executive Board and Technical Committee, built a communication network of team representatives from over 50 nations, engaged athletes through surveys and open meetings, and doubled athlete prize money— an annual increase of around five million Euros. We supported the creation of the Biathlon Integrity Unit and helped shape the IBU’s policies on gender equality and sustainability. Starting in May of this year, the IBU will provide part-time administrative support to the Athletes’ Committee. We earned the respect of IBU leadership and proved that when athletes are treated as partners, sport thrives.

Thank you to my colleagues on the IBU Executive Board for promoting athlete representation and for respecting the voice of the athletes. Thank you to the IBU staff, whose tireless work for the betterment of our sport only became apparent to me once I saw it from behind the scenes. You all taught me a lot.

I am confident that I leave the AC in good hands. Our current members—Ingrid Tandrevold, Sebastian Samuelsson, and Johannes Kühn—already have two years of experience and are dedicated and principled representatives. I’m grateful to them and my 2018-2022 colleagues, Martin Fourcade, Aita Gasparin, and Erik Lesser, for their contributions to the AC and their unwavering support of me as its speaker. Our new staggered election system guarantees the continuity of the AC so that new members will always build on the work of those who served before. Congratulations to Lena Haecki and Simon Eder for winning the recent elections, and thank you to the five candidates who ran. I am committed to ensuring that this transition goes smoothly and will be available for counsel at the request of the AC. But I have no doubt that they will succeed on their own.

It’s been my honor to serve my fellow athletes as Chair of the IBU Athletes’ Committee and a member of the Executive Board from 2018-24. Thank you to all the athletes who entrusted me with their voices. From now on, I’ll be part of the biathlon family as a fan!