The Limits of Athletes’ Commissions

February 18, 2021

Han Xiao: “More and more independent athlete groups have emerged, for example, to represent athletes in various sports, whether domestically or internationally.”

February 18, 2021               

Upon completing his term as Chair of the USOPC Athlete Advisory Committee, Han Xiao put together this commentary on athletes’ commissions. He goes into the positive impacts these bodies can have, but he also points out some of the areas where they come up short. 

Spoiler alert: the short-comings are built into the structure of the body. But this doesn’t mean the model should be scrapped entirely. But there are steps that are needed to allow the athlete voice to be stronger and have more impact.  

Additionally he points to the rise of third party, independent associations that are emerging and advocating for the athlete. This is a promising new trend and hopefully will ultimately provide a counterweight to the overwhelming imbalance built into the current existing structure.