World Olympians Association

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "World Olympians Association" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The World Olympians Association (WOA) is an independent association of Olympic Games competitors. Its stated objectives are to promote the Olympic ideals and fair play, advance environmental protection, educate against doping and drug use, supply educational resources, work against violence and intolerance, support diversity and equality, contribute to sport-related charities, host special hospitality centres, involve Olympians in social support, display positive role models, advance sport management and promote a culture of which sport is an important part.^{[citation needed]}

An Olympian is any competitor who has competed in a Summer or Winter Olympiad. Olympians are WOA members through their local National Olympians Associations. Globally, there are over 100,000 Olympians.^{[citation needed]}

IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch created the World Olympians Association following the Centennial Olympic Congress, Congress of Unity, held in Paris in 1994. Formally, the WOA was established during a meeting held in the Olympic Museum on 21 November 1995 by 25 founder members.^{[citation needed]}

In November 2011, Joël Bouzou, an Olympic medalist from France, was elected president of the association. He is the founder of Peace and Sport and the secretary general of the International Modern Pentathlon Federation (UIPM).^{[citation needed]} In January 2012, Prince Albert II of Monaco was announced as patron of the association. Both the Prince and his wife Princess Charlene of Monaco are Olympians. In 2015, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach attended the World Olympians Forum in Moscow, Russia.^[1][2]