ISSF athletes from across the world have added their voices to those promoting Play True Day, the long-running social media campaign established by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to raise awareness of the importance of clean sport.
Today (April 19) sees the annual celebration of a concept first introduced at a WADA-hosted Education Conference in 2013.
What started as a small South American initiative has grown into a huge global campaign, achieving a potential social media reach of 161 million worldwide and nearly 160,000 social media engagements in 2023, according to a WADA release.
Among the ISSF athletes involved in today’s celebrations is Serbia’s 37-year-old Zorana Arunovic, the 2010 world champion in 10m air pistol women who set the current world record of 246.9 points in that event at the 2017 European Championships in Maribor, Slovenia.
“I believe in the message of One Play True Team,” she said in a message recorded for ISSF social media channels.
"I believe it is important that us athletes promote anti-doping and raise awareness across shooting sport and beyond.
“Anti-doping is important to allow fair play and true skill to flourish on the range.”
That message was echoed in another recording made by Egypt’s Azmy Mehelba, who has won skeet men gold and bronze respectively at the last two World Championships.
ISSF Women’s Athlete of the Year for 2023, Doreen Vennekamp of Germany, added her voice to the cause:
“Fair play and clean sport are essential for sport,” she said. “It shows the athlete’s loyalty to the sport and respect for the other competitions.
“Play True Day is a statement and a reminder of what sport teaches us.”
Slovakia’s 39-year-old skeet women athlete Danke Bartekova, bronze medallist at the London 2012 Olympics and current world champion, commented:
“Respecting rules, playing fair and treasuring values such as respect and friendship is what makes sport really special and unique.
“Let’s make every day a Play True Day!”
WADA President Witold Bańka commented:
"WADA is proud this year to be celebrating its 25th anniversary. Born out of an urgency to tackle the doping problem in sport, the Agency’s creation in 1999 activated the global collaborative movement for doping-free sport.
"Since then, athletes worldwide have benefited from the commitment of the global anti-doping community – past and present.
“Development of the global anti-doping system has been and will always be a true team effort. We have come a long way together and we must go further in raising the game for athletes worldwide, so please join us this Play True Day in celebrating 25 years as One Play True Team.”