Athletes are one of the main pillars of the Olympic movement. They and the development of Olympism are a focal point of the activities of the Slovak Olympic Committee. SOC has been trying for some time to strengthen the position of athletes in the Slovak Olympic movement by their bigger representation in the general assembly of SOC, by the establishment of the Commission of Athletes and also by engaging the help of the Slovak Association of Olympians. The Commission of Athletes represents interests of active athletes - Olympians and submits their opinions and standpoints about the matters directly concerning athletes to the president and the Executive Committee of SOC.

EXPERT AND MATERIAL HELP

One of the tasks of SOC is to support the development of top-performance sport and youth sport. Of course, the fact that SOC sends the representations to OG, OWG and EYOF, hence being a certain guarantor of their success at these significant sport events, makes this briefly described task considerably important.

SOC developed a long-term strategy of the training of Slovak Olympians for the period of 2001 - 2008 as well as the strategy in the sphere of training of talented youth, followed by a new strategy for a period 2009 - 2012. Besides that, SOC works towards the improvement of conditions of our best athletes in Olympic disciplines - not only for current best athletes, but also for promising juniors. These activities are ensured particularly by special SOC teams for OG and OWG or for EYOF (these special teams are coordinating authorities with certain decision-making powers), expert commissions of SOC and specific SOC projects.

Through the special SOC teams for OG and OWG, the Slovak Olympic Committee can coordinate activities, provide professional guidance and influence the preparation of our best athletes. The special SOC teams consist of representatives of sports unions, centres of resort sports representation, Ministry of Education of the SR, expert commissions and SOC divisions. They serve as an appropriate platform for effective cooperation of all involved parties. In accordance with the Statutes of SOC, these teams are established as organisational parts of SOC and advisory bodies of the Executive Committee of SOC.

SLOVAK OLYMPIC TOP TEAM

In 1999, the Slovak Olympic Committee with the support of the Ministry of Education started the Olympic Top Team project. In the period before OG 2000 in Sydney, this original project aimed at providing optimum conditions for sports training and participation in sports events in the period before OG and WOG for a target group of athletes having real chances to win medals or take one of the first six places in their discipline. This meant excellent conditions corresponding to high expectations.

The prerequisite for achieving this goal was the maximum use of human, material and intellectual potential in the training of top athletes, the development of a transparent system of funding of their training, participation in relevant events, material and technical support, medical and overall professional care as well as the stipulation of financial costs of separate disciplines and entire sports linked to a specific athlete or team in the training period between OG or WOG.

Before OG 2000 in Sydney, OWG 2002 in Salt Lake City, OG 2004 in Athens and OWG 2006 in Turin, the best Slovak athletes having the highest chances for top results in competitions were accepted into the Olympic Top Team. The Top Team project certainly justified itself. Despite health or performance problems of several individual members or teams, overall the Top Team was undoubtedly successful. Almost all top results of the representations of Slovakia at OG and WOG during the period of 2000 - 2006 were achieved by athletes included in the Top Team.

Despite a success of the Top Team project, sports unions voiced their dissatisfaction with the fact that finances for training and overall support of top athletes were going through SOC. Based on requests of the unions, in 2005 the Ministry of Education of of the SR changed the above described system and introduced a new way of funding of the training of selected athletes when state funding is provided directly to unions.

The Slovak Olympic Committee considered this system less productive as the former one because it doesn't take into account specific requirements of separate sports and disciplines and criteria for the support are stipulated rather mechanically and in an egalitarian way. In 2009 SOC prepared a new project of the Slovak Olympic Top Team (SOTT) London 2012. This way, with the help of state funding, SOC supports specifically the Slovak athletes having the best chance for top placement at 2012 OG in London but also athletes with a real chance to qualify for the Olympic Games and the most promising young athletes. The same system shall be used towards the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi (Russia).

OTHER ACTIVITIES OF SOC IN THE AREA OF SPORTS

In 1999 when the National Sports Institute did not exist yet (at present the National Sports Centre) SOC formed a service and methodical group through which it tried to influence directly the quality of a training process of our top athletes via a team of experts. The activities of this group were directed at practical contributions into training process - diagnostic of fitness level, nutrition, drinking regime, regeneration of athletes, use of permitted supportive means, tuning of fitness level, kinesiological examinations, rehabilitation and psychological services. This was a compensation of the fact that Slovakia was missing a system of this kind.

In the period of the Olympic cycle of 2001 - 2004, the SOC Commission of the Talented Youth took part as an expert guarantor of the performance of the SOC project under the name Team of Olympic Promises, and later under a changed name Team of Olympic Reserves of SOC and present Junior Olympic Team. Its mission was a partial support of talented athletes showing a promise to represent us successfully at the Olympic Games in the period 2014 - 2016.

The Medical Commission of SOC until the end of 2008 influenced directly and indirectly the training of our top athletes. It tooks care of the education and overall awareness of athletes in the sphere of health and fight against the use of doping. Before the Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games the medical commission regularly prepared an information brochure of SOC concerning health and other professional issues relating to the venue of the Olympic Games event. Its members cooperating with other entities professionally direct a health care of our Olympians. They were personally involved in the provision of health care services and medical care at OG/OWG and EYOF working as physicians of our teams.