Young athletes with their branded shirts at the European Athletics anti-doping initiative ©European Athletics

Svein Arne Hansen has outlined a new “driving licence” approach to anti-doping education to be put in place during his Presidency of European Athletics.

Hansen said he would like to see young athletes take part in a mandatory anti-doping education programme in order to be allowed to compete in major European Athletics events.

"Athletes would need this licence to be eligible to take part in our youth, junior and under-23 championships,” said Hansen.

“I will be asking our Medical and Anti-doping Commission to work together with our Member Federation Development Commission to propose a programme for the Council to approve.”

Hansen was speaking at a press conference prior to the European Athletics Under-23 Championships in Estonia's capital Tallinn, where an anti-doping education programme for competitors at the event is taking place.

Participating athletes are invited to complete a quiz on their knowledge of doping control regulations.

Those who successfully complete the quiz receive a t-shirt with the slogans of the programme – "I Run Clean", "I Jump Clean", "I Throw Clean", "I Walk Clean".

European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen (second right) and vice-president Jean Gracia at the launch of the new anti-doping initiative in Tallinn
European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen (second right) and vice-president Jean Gracia at the launch of the new anti-doping initiative in Tallinn ©European Athletics

A Twitter campaign using the hashtags #irunclean, #ijumpclean, #ithrowclean and #iwalkclean is being used to promote the programme and help raise awareness about the dangers of doping.

A project page has also been created on the European Athletics Young Leaders Community.

Explaining that the programme will be repeated in Eskilstuna at next week’s European Athletics Junior Championships, vice-president Jean Gracia said, “Our work here, which is supported by the national anti-doping agency in Estonia, WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) and IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations), is an important way to engage with the competitors and the coaches.

“We will use the experience to develop a programme that reaches all young athletes across Europe.”

Hansen added: “It is the Member Federation’s responsibility to ensure that all athletes are fully informed.

“I see European Athletics’ role is to support them in this work, and the idea of the licence is that we can be sure that every athlete has the same level of knowledge.”

The athletes at the press conference on Wednesday, Dutch decathlete Pieter Braun and German discus thrower Shanice Craft, along with Estonian shot putter Kätlin Piirimäe, multi-eventer Janek Õiglane and heptathlete Grete Šadeiko, were the first ones to receive their tee-shirts with the European Athletics anti-doping message.



Related stories
April 2015: Svein Arne Hansen elected new European Athletics President