07 August 2025 - On the occasion of Safe Sport Day, the IOC highlights some of the new measures put in place during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games to protect athletes and their entourage members. Amid the spectacle of over 200 national teams vying for gold, there was another team quietly driving the success of the Games behind the scenes: the NOC Welfare Officers. In total, 154 NOC Welfare Officers worked in Paris to safeguard the physical, emotional and mental well-being of athletes and staff, playing a vital role in the delivery of the Games. Their work, often unseen, was essential to creating a safe and supportive environment, helping make the Games not only a sporting spectacle, but also a model for athlete welfare.

Since Beijing 2022, Welfare Officer accreditation is offered to staff members of participating NOCs at each Olympic Games. To qualify, Welfare Officers must either be nationally certified mental health professionals or internationally certified safeguarding practitioners.

Many of the Welfare Officers in Paris were graduates of the IOC Certification: Safeguarding Officer in Sport programme funded by Olympic Solidarity’s Olympic Values Programme. By the end of 2024, some 343 safeguarding officers from over 99 countries had officially been certified through the programme.