Nominate a coach for an
IOC Coaches Lifetime Achievement Award
The awards recognise the outstanding contributions coaches make to athletes’ Olympic journeys and give you a chance to have that contribution celebrated.
Nominations for the awards are now open and close on 26 October 2022. Make your nomination via Athlete365 today.
Coaches are pivotal in helping athletes fulfil their potential and be at their best. Not only are they experts in their sporting fields, but they are also pillars of support and guidance throughout an athlete’s career, both on and off the field of play
Sergii Bubka
The IOC Coaches Lifetime Achievement Awards are an opportunity for you to celebrate those who have gone above and beyond in assisting you on your Olympic journey.
Run by the IOC Athletes’ Entourage Commission, and now a well-established honour after three successful editions, the awards provide a platform to acknowledge a coach’s contribution to your career and their commitment to the Olympic values.
You can put forward your coach not only for their sporting accomplishments or for providing expert sporting and technical insight, but for their work off the field as well – whether that be offering invaluable support and advice, work in the community, or their efforts to create safe and supportive sporting environments.
Celebrating your unique partnership
“Coaches are pivotal in helping athletes fulfil their potential and be at their best. Not only are they experts in their sporting fields, but they are also pillars of support and guidance throughout an athlete’s career, both on and off the field of play,” said Sergii Bubka, Chair of the IOC Athletes’ Entourage Commission. “The relationship between athlete and coach is fundamental to performance and fulfilment, and we are delighted to be able to celebrate it with these awards.”
Reflecting on her success at Tokyo 2020, New Zealand’s two-time Olympic medallist golfer Lydia Ko summed up the holistic impact a coach can have. “My coach has helped me from a technical standpoint, but also to clear questions in my head. Every time I talk to him, I feel like I get a lot of his great energy and great advice. He’s been much more than just a technical swing coach to me – he has been like a mentor and has helped a lot.”
Making a nomination
The nominations period is now open and will close on 26 October 2022. Nominations can be made by Olympians, International Federations, National Olympic Committees, members of the IOC Athletes’ or Athletes’ Entourage Commissions, and IOC Members.
Your nominated coach can be either active or retired, and must have trained an athlete who participated in at least one edition of the Olympic Summer and/or Winter Games.
The winners will be selected by a panel appointed by IOC President Thomas Bach, with awards presented to one female coach and one male coach – who will follow in the footsteps of athletics coach Malcolm Arnold from Great Britain and artistic gymnastics coach Ulla Koch from Germany, the most recent recipients of the awards. Look out for the announcement of the winners in November.