SC Connecticut News

Dr. Yetsa Tuakli-Wosornu, MD, MPH, has dedicated her professional career to making international sports more affirming, welcoming, and equitable for all athletes.

A former Ghanaian track star who founded the Sports Equity Lab at the Yale School of Public Health, Tuakli-Wosornu leads an interdisciplinary group of students, faculty, and scholars whose research has addressed some of the most important challenges facing athletes today.

Her team’s most recent report, "Policy and Legal Frameworks for Preventing Interpersonal Violence in Elite Sport," suggests that a commitment to athlete-centered sports governance among major sports organizations is essential to protecting athletes from harmful interactions unique to sports settings. The report was produced in collaboration with the Global Health Justice Partnership—an initiative of the Yale Law School and Yale School of Public Health—and the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale.

“We need to flip the script,” Tuakli-Wosornu said. “We must start from the perspectives and experiences of athletes because at the end of the day, they're the experts and most valuable people on any sports field. Nothing happens if we don't lace up. Nothing happens if we don't show up for practice or competition.”

The report encourages international sports bodies to draw from fields such as public health in creating organizational structures that affirm the humanity of athletes and adhere to international human rights standards. It states that inherent power imbalances between many athletes and authority figures can lead to various abuses ranging from physical, financial, sexual, psychological, and emotional to unfair working conditions breaching international standards. Existing structures make it difficult for athletes to bring negative experiences forward, exacerbating their feelings of disempowerment.

The International Olympic Committee and other bodies need reform because they remain largely institution-centered, untouchable by public law regimes, and often use internal arbitration methods to settle disputes. By using well-documented public health practices such as implementation science, trauma- and violence-informed practice, and community engagement, sports organizations can better translate research findings into real-life applications while humanely engaging athletes.

The recommendations in the report are based on feedback obtained during a five-hour virtual roundtable with leading athletes, medical professionals, legal experts, sport organization officers, activists, and other elite sport stakeholders in December 2020. The report was published on June 20, 2024.

Tuakli-Wosornu said the lab’s research always starts with athletes: "Starting with a deep listening exercise amongst athletes at various levels of competition puts the reference point – and the power – back where it belongs."

To illustrate her point, Tuakli-Wosornu mentioned U.S. gymnast Simone Biles’s decision to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 due to struggles with trauma and its various health outcomes. Biles criticized how authorities handled investigations into team doctor Larry Nasser’s serial sexual abuse during testimony in Congress. Similarly cited was Naomi Osaka's withdrawal from the French Open in May 2021 due to mental health struggles.

“Elite athletes are already doing the work this report calls for,” Tuakli-Wosornu says. “We just need to listen to them.” Still, individual actions cannot make up for needed structural change in sports governing bodies.

Tuakli-Wosornu’s path began on Ghana's National Track & Field Team until 2016. She became a board-certified physical medicine and rehabilitation physician-scientist helping global athletes prevent injuries and optimize performance.

Her work with committees like those within Paralympic Games opened her eyes further to institutional shortcomings: “There I saw gaping errors many big sports bodies commit probably due to force of habit.” As welfare officer at Rio de Janeiro's 2016 Paralympic Games she helped craft updated policies but met similar obstacles referenced in her latest report.

After joining Yale she recruited master's students forming an interdisciplinary research group focusing on equity/accountability improvements globally within sport sectors: “The MPH students are very visionary... their energy... is why I initially started this lab.”

The interpersonal violence report is one example showing how athlete-centered governance could address complex issues within elite sport levels particularly concerning formal/informal power structures facilitating abuse often left unaccounted especially involving coach-athlete interactions: “If professional coach-training pathways were standardized globally meeting other industry standards we'd likely see positive behavioral changes,” she said emphasizing value derived through qualitative studies documenting abuses providing insights towards accountability improvements adopting epidemiological lenses identifying violence causes thus informing regulatory best practices shaping budding Olympians' developmental environments beneficially influenced through collaborative multi-disciplinary approaches adapting broader wisdom into athletic domains prioritizing athlete-centric perspectives logically foundationally essential guiding these efforts effectively.

Alice M. Miller Co-Director Global Health Justice Partnership co-authoring organizing roundtable affirmed importance integrating gender/race/place dimensions understanding harm/silence/change dynamics fundamentally crucial preventing harms promoting equity worldwide collaborations exemplifying impactful potential multi-sectoral synergies addressing critical sporting challenges holistically effectively harnessing diverse disciplinary insights enhancing overall sectoral integrity/progress sustainability fostering inclusive safer sporting ecosystems benefiting all stakeholders involved ultimately propelling transformative advancements championing equitable accountable humane sporting landscapes globally envisioned collectively pursued resolutely comprehensively inclusively progressively synergistically collaboratively impactfully responsibly sustainably innovatively dynamically holistically strategically thoughtfully conscientiously proactively meaningfully purposefully constructively beneficially ethically equitably accountably inclusively positively respectfully supportively compassionately diligently effectively efficiently prudently sensibly judiciously responsibly ethically transparently reliably sustainably resiliently persistently adaptively agilely robustly steadfastly tenaciously passionately unwaveringly committed continually advancing realizing shared aspirations collectively together harmoniously progressing toward envisioned equitable inclusive sustainable impactful transformative sporting futures aligned coherently unified purpose-driven vision collaboratively forging ahead charting new horizons breaking barriers setting benchmarks inspiring generations fostering legacies lasting positively indelibly significantly memorably enduring triumphantly achieved celebrated appreciated recognized acknowledged valued cherished esteemed honored proudly accomplished timeless testaments unwavering collective resolve dedication passion commitment excellence unity strength resilience determination fortitude perseverance innovation leadership inspiration driving progress realizing shared dreams aspirations goals ambitions achieving greatness collectively uplifting humanity empowering lives transforming worlds positively forever...