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Two-time Olympian Mike Dawson has just concluded his term on the NZOC Athlete’s Commission and says the advisory body has gone from strength to strength over the past four years.

“I’ve loved my time working with the great team at the Athlete’s Commission and it’s been awesome to see it really grow,” said Dawson.

The New Zealand Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission is an advisory group made up of Summer and Winter Olympians and Commonwealth Games representatives which acts as the athletes' voice to ensure that athletes views are represented, heard and considered within the NZOC and in its decision making.

“The Commission is a great sounding board for sporting bodies and it’s being consulted more and more. I’ve noticed a real increase in the engagement we got from both athletes and sporting bodies which is pretty great to see,” said Dawson.

With athlete wellbeing an increased area of focus across the sporting landscape, Dawson says it will remain a major area of work for the commission in the coming years.

“As a commission we’ve always been really focussed on athlete wellbeing. I feel like we’re really influencing change for the better in this space, we’ve been really passionate about this and I’m looking forward to seeing even more positive change in this space.”

Personally, Dawson says he gained a lot of skills in his time on the commission and hopes to stay involved in sport governance.

“It was a great opportunity to work on some timely and important issues for sport and athletes and was a great learning experience for me. Being involved in the commission gave me better insight into how sports organisations and high performance sport works in New Zealand, it was inspiring to see what goes on behind the scenes.”

Outside of his work on the commission Dawson is a coach for Canoe Slalom New Zealand and is undertaking a Governance internship with the Antarctic Heritage Trust.


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