18 November 2024 – Diving coach Jane Figueiredo (Zimbabwe/Portugal) and pole vault coach Vitaliy Petrov (Ukraine) have been announced as the winners of this year’s International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coaches Lifetime Achievement Awards. They were honoured today at a ceremony attended by IOC President Thomas Bach at Olympic House in Lausanne, where they received the coveted Coaches Lifetime Achievement trophy.

Both Figueiredo and Petrov have been recognised for their long-standing dedication to their respective sports and the athletes they coach.

Olympian Figueiredo coached seven Olympic medallists during her career, including British duo Tom Daley and Matty Lee.

Petrov’s athletes have set 36 world records and won a combination of six Olympic medals and 21 World Championship titles.

“The IOC Coaches Lifetime Achievement Awards celebrate two coaches who have gone above and beyond in assisting their athletes both on the sporting and the personal side, supporting them through their Olympic journeys,” said the IOC President. “Jane Figueiredo and Vitaliy Petrov have demonstrated unwavering dedication, inspiring countless athletes to reach their full potential. Their passion for coaching has not only produced champions but has also left a lasting legacy in their respective sports.”

A role model to all her athletes

Jane Figueiredo began her journey in sport as an athlete, diving for Zimbabwe at the 1982 World Aquatics Championships and representing Portugal at the Olympic Games Los Angeles 1984 and the 1986 World Aquatics Championships. After retiring from diving, she was head diving coach at the University of Houston (USA) from 1990 to 2014. She has been the head diving coach for Great Britain’s Olympic team since 2014.

“I am truly honoured to be receiving the IOC Lifetime Achievement Award for my coaching,” commented Figueiredo. “I would like to thank the IOC for recognising my work and awarding me this incredible accolade. I would also like to extend my gratitude to my family, colleagues, mentors and Aquatics GB for their unwavering support and guidance. This award is not just for me, but for all the incredible divers, coaches and support staff who have guided and supported me over the course of my career.

“Coaching has been my passion since I was a young girl, and to receive this award is a dream come true!”, she added. “The Olympic Games are the ultimate dream for many coaches and athletes – we strive every day for excellence, and this award is recognition of all those long hours and years of dedication.”

Congratulating Figueiredo on the award, Tom Daley said: “What an absolute honour to have worked with Jane. She put her heart and soul into every single competition, and throughout the years she has taught me what it means to be a real professional athlete. She has impacted so many people and not just me and my diving career, in and out of the pool. She has set up such a legacy for herself and it is an honour to have been part of that.”

During her career, Figueiredo has worked to inspire female coaches to achieve their potential in a typically male-dominated area, and she is a member of the UK Sport Women’s Leadership group. She has also organised coaching seminars for young coaches at the start of their careers.

“Jane is an amazing strong female coach that many women around the world look up to, and she will leave a legacy of inspiration behind her,” Daley added. “I feel so lucky and grateful to have been able to work with her.”

Elevating the global standard of pole vaulting

Vitaliy Petrov started his career as a professor at the University of Physical Education in Kharkov, Ukraine, before embarking on a coaching career that spans more than 60 years.

His dedication to coaching has been instrumental in shaping the careers of numerous athletes, including Sergii Bubka, whom he coached to an Olympic gold medal and two world titles in pole vault.

“I accept the IOC Coaches Lifetime Achievement Award with great pride, joy, and motivation to continue contributing to the development of the Olympic Movement worldwide”, said Petrov.

“Pole vault has been a passion for me for many years. I had the privilege to work with outstanding athletes, who have earned medals at the world’s biggest competitions and on various continents, reaching an impressive number of world records. I can only thank them for the unforgettable moments I have lived with them and for the trust they put in me every single day.”

The Ukrainian’s innovative methodologies and refinements of techniques have helped pole vaulters to achieve remarkable feats, including clearing six metres in the 20^th century, and he led the first athlete from the Philippines, Ernest John Obiena, to qualify for the Olympic Games in pole vaulting.

Attending the awards ceremony, Obiena commented: “Everyone refers to Vitaly as a great pole vault coach. This is wrong way to frame it. Vitaly doesn’t coach pole vault, he coaches human beings. He uses vaulting as a means to improve people. He has made me a better vaulter, but he has made me a better human being. And this is the ultimate measure of greatness.”

Petrov has striven to share his pole vaulting knowledge through seminars, lectures, clinics and in-depth films.

Honouring the best of the best

The ceremony marked the sixth edition of the IOC Coaches Lifetime Achievement Awards, which were launched in 2017 to recognise the vital role played by coaches in the life of any athlete – both on and off the field of play. Awarded to two coaches each year (one female, one male), they are overseen by the IOC Athletes’ Entourage Commission, led by Sergii Bubka.

“This award puts a spotlight on the unwavering support offered by coaches to athletes. In recognising Jane Figueiredo and Vitaliy Petrov, we celebrate two extraordinary coaches,” said Bubka, who was coached by Petrov from the beginning of his career and to whom he attributes his successes on the global stage.

More than 110 candidatures were received in 2024. Candidates were nominated by Olympians, International Federations, National Olympic Committees (NOCs), members of the IOC Athletes’ and IOC Athletes’ Entourage commissions, and IOC Members.

The previous winners are:

• 2023: Laura Martinel (Argentina, judo) and Taesuk Chang (Republic of Korea, fencing)
  
• 2022: Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi (France/Australia, canoe) and Malcolm Brown (Great Britain, triathlon)
  
• 2019: Ulla Koch (Germany, artistic gymnastics) and Malcolm Arnold (Great Britain, athletics)
  
• 2018: Katalin Rozsnyói (Hungary, canoeing) and Andreas Schmid (Austria, skeleton)
  
• 2017: Kaneko Masako (Japan, synchronised swimming) and Jon Urbanchek (USA, swimming)

There were no awards in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The awards are just one way in which the IOC is working to support and promote coaches’ major role in organised sport. Another is the Women in Sport High Performance Pathway (WISH), a dedicated mentorship and training programme for female coaches supported by USD 1 million of funding from Olympic Solidarity.

WISH was launched in 2022 to support the Olympic Movement’s drive to achieve gender equality at all levels in sport.

The bespoke four-year programme is designed to support women to coach at elite levels – on the continental, world and Olympic stages. In total, 123 female coaches from 22 sports and 60 countries have been equipped with the tools needed to take on roles at the highest level of their sport.

Of these, 10 women, representing nine NOCs and nine sports, were in coaching roles at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.