SYDNEY, Australia -- Former world aerials skiing champion Jacqui Cooper has joined the World Anti-Doping Agency's new athletes committee, which aims to work more closely with athletes in the locker room and training venues.
The Australian Olympic Committee on Thursday said it had nominated Cooper for the committee and WADA chairman Dick Pound had endorsed it.
The committee, created in response to IOC President Jacques Rogge's call for more "intelligence" to be gathered out of competition, is led by Russia's sports minister, two-time Olympic ice hockey champion Vyacheslav Fetisov, the AOC said.
Cooper is training for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. The World Cup freestyle champion in 1999, 2000 and 2001, Cooper missed the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics after injuring her knee in training.
The 32-year-old Australian has worked with the Australian Olympic Committee's Live Clean, Play Clean drug education program.
"I have no respect for athletes that cheat," Cooper said in a statement. "I would rather see a mediocre performance that wins, than an outstanding performance that only won because their performance was enhanced by drugs."
"Through the work of this committee we will do a better job of educating athletes about the consequences of doping," said WADA's Director General David Howman.
