Angela Ruggiero ’98 was elected as Chair of the International Olympic Committee Athlete’s Commission during the 2016 Rio Olympics this summer. Ruggiero is a former ice hockey player who has competed in four winter Olympics, winning one gold, two silver, and one bronze medal. Her first Olympics was in Nagano, Japan in 1998, while she was a senior at Choate. Ruggiero has played more games for Team U.S.A. than any other person.
The Athlete’s Commission is a 15-member committee that represents all athletes, past and present. As Chair, Ms. Ruggiero will also serve on the executive board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Ms. Ruggiero said, “I am the designated voice of the athletes on that board. We represent all the athletes in the Olympic movement, athletes who compete in every different sport from winter and summer.” She added, “The Chair has to listen to what the athletes want and what the voters want, and try to create policies according to those needs.” Ruggiero wishes to create a long-term plan for the anti-doping system and the athletes’ career and education programs.
Ms. Ruggiero remarked regarding the anti-doping system, “We want to ensure that athletes’ voices are a part of that discussion as we continue to revamp what the anti-doping system looks like and how it operates.”
In regards to establishing educational programs, she said, “If you focus on just the athletics, you’re missing a big part of who athletes are. I look at athletes as more than just athletes – I look at them as people. We want to see what we can do to encourage the holistic development of that person. A big part of what we do is creating guidance for them once they retire. We really want to focus on IOC’s career and educational program.”
Ms. Ruggiero was first elected onto the commission while competing in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Four years after being elected in Vancouver, she was voted in as Vice-Chair, a position that she held for two years.
From her time at Choate up until now, Ms. Ruggiero has been a leader in all that she does. Looking back at how her time at Choate impacted her, Ms. Ruggiero said, “I had an amazing time at Choate, whether it was being class president or participating in a variety of extracurricular clubs. I started to figure out what I liked, and I learned a lot about myself. I have applied those experiences even to what I’ve been doing now.”
Mr. James Davidson, who both taught and coached Ms. Ruggiero while at Choate, commented, “Angela was very outgoing and easy for other students to talk to. She was quick to join in with many different groups of kids. She was modest and a good, all-around person.”
Ms. Monica St. James, Director of Alumni Relations, elaborated on Ms. Ruggiero’s continued support of the school. She said, “She’s always supportive, and she comes to events when she can. She’s one of those alumni who we are incredibly proud of, and she’s also very proud of Choate and the women’s ice hockey legacy.”
Ms. Ruggiero reflected on how her experiences have shaped her into the person she is today: “I want to leverage all of my own educational and athletic experiences for the benefit of all the athletes. I got so much out of my experiences as an athlete, and part of the reason I ran for Chair was to give back and make sure that athletes who come after me have the same, if not better, opportunities and experiences.”
