BIU Education Webinar Series

The Biathlon Integrity Unit (BIU) has recently been collaborating with the International Testing Agency (ITA) to host a series of Webinars on Anti-Doping Education during the Biathlon off-season. The series of four 90-minute webinars - two of which have now taken place, with the final two taking place in the coming weeks - have been available for biathletes and their support personnel via video conferencing platform Zoom. 

The first two sessions of the series took place on 18 and 25 May. The 18 May session focussed on Registered Testing Pool athletes, who learned about how to file whereabouts correctly, as well as some practical hints and tips. 

The 25 May session centred on anti-doping rights and responsibilities for all athletes, particularly the 11 different types of Anti-Doping rule violations which affect not just athletes but all individuals that are bound by the IBU Integrity Code. In addition, in this session, participants heard about the Athletes’ Rights Act and what it means for athletes. 

The two remaining sessions, which are set to take place on 1 and 8 June, are on medications and supplements; and a dedicated session for coaches. 

The webinars have been well received by the international biathlon audience, as a result of their interactive quiz approach. Both webinars have offered the athletes and support personnel attendees plenty of opportunities to ask questions and discuss the topics in real-time. Following both sessions, a PDF slide presentation has been sent to all participants as a reference point and reminder of the key learnings. 

“The BIU is thrilled to have continued its association with the ITA to bring biathletes and their support members the very best in anti-doping education. Education is today one of the most significant and continually growing, tenets of the global anti-doping rules, and so we believe it’s been valuable to devote more off-season time to ensuring biathletes and their teams have every opportunity to understand the rules, why they are in place and why doping is not the right course of action. We look forward to the remaining two webinars and hearing what the biathlon community has to say about these sessions,” said BIU Head, Greg McKenna.

Each webinar is provided in English with simultaneous translation in Russian. 

The remaining Webinar sessions are scheduled as follows:

◦ Tuesday 1 June, 17.00 CET – Medications and supplements

◦ Tuesday 8 June, 17.00 CET – Coaches session

To register, biathletes and others should visit the relevant link above