AFTER a year at the helm of the Panam Sports Athlete Commission, fraught with unprecedented challenges and uncertainty, Guyana’s Aliann Pompey has learned that any adversity can be overcome by uniting behind a common cause. At the Lima 2019 Pan American Games, thousands of athletes throughout the Americas elected Aliann Pompey of Guyana to be the new leader of the Panam Sports Athlete Commission. After just a few months adjusting to her new role, the Olympic Movement and the entire world drastically changed due to the coronavirus pandemic. 2020 tested my resilience and ability to adapt to changes I couldn’t predict or control. It forced me to reassess what our goals are and how we will achieve them despite the restraints imposed upon us because of the pandemic,” said Panam Sports Athlete Commission president, Aliann Pompey.

As the leader of the eight athletes chosen by their peers, to give athletes a voice in important decisions within Panam Sports, Aliann is focussed on increasing representation and making the athlete experience better for everyone across the 41 countries of Americas’ Olympic Movement.
“As a president, I want to make sure that all of our athletes’ views and concerns are considered when important decisions are being made, that our diversity is fully reflected in our offerings to athletes, and that our various groups feel represented. I want to make sure that athletes are actively involved in all aspects of what we do. Having the full support of the Panam Sports executive board and staff continues to make those things possible.”

Before becoming president of the Commission, Aliann enjoyed a successful athletics career that included a Pan American Games bronze medal at Santo Domingo 2003 and four consecutive qualifications to the Olympic Games in which she was the flagbearer for Guyana on two occasions. Despite ending her athletic career in 2012, she knew she did not want to leave the sporting world behind. But her goal of increasing representation in the Olympic Movement and influencing change doesn’t stop with athletes, and she is adamant in advocating for more women to become leaders in the world of sport. “As counter-intuitive as it sounds, we need the support of men.

First, we need their support to change the systems that have been responsible for the legacy of inequality we see in sports leadership – a legacy with limited leadership opportunities for women. Second, we need their assistance in providing leadership opportunities for women,” Aliann said.
She adds that adding people you trust and admire to help you along your journey is essential to success not only in the Olympic Movement, but in all careers.
As the athletes’ representative on the Panam Sports Executive Committee, Aliann continues to help Panam Sports take these steps towards greater representation for athletes and women throughout the Americas.