Johann Olav Koss didn’t come home with a medal from Athens. The four-time Olympic champion speedskater from Norway didn’t compete as an athlete in the Summer Games this time, but what he came away with was worth as much, if not more, than gold.

It was a golden moment not only for his organization, Right to Play (RTP), which organized and led an Athens Roundtable discussion, but also for the cause of human rights. The forum put the spotlight on children’s rights and peace and development issues. It focused on the potential for sport in peace and development.

Koss has vivid memories of the Olympics.

“The Opening ceremonies were another reminder of the power of sport to unite people across seemingly impossible divides,” said Koss. “North and South Korea, two nations still officially at war, put their hostilities aside and marched together under one flag. This is the second time these athletes have made our hopes soar.”

“In another moving display, the evening’s loudest cheers were reserved for the Iraqi and Afghani athletes. Inside the stadium you could feel the global show of support for these nations affected by war.”

Koss has been dubbed “one of the greatest winter Olympic athletes of all time” and has broken the world record 11 times during his brilliant career. He was named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year in 1994 and made Time Magazine’s list of “100 Future Leaders of Tomorrow”.

This past June, Koss reached another milestone, graduating from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management with his Executive MBA degree. He admits to often juggling a hectic schedule of school, travel, and work.

Koss’ eyes light up as he talks about his new passion-being an advocate for children’s rights. He is the President and CEO of the charity group Right to Play.

In 2002, RTP, formerly Olympic Aid, transitioned from a fundraising body to an internationally recognized non-governmental organization. World-class athletes, politicians, civil society groups, leaders, coaches, and corporations are also involved. Its headquarters is in Toronto, the Norwegian hero’s new home. From 1994-2000, Olympic Aid raised funds for children and built upon the momentum of subsequent Olympics.

At the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002, RTP hosted its first roundtable, which served as a catalyst for the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force Report on Sport for Development and Peace. There was a discussion on the role of sport in relation to development issues including vaccination, HIV/AIDS prevention and refugees.

On August 14, 2004, Right To Play’s most recent panel discussion entitled “Harnessing the Power of Sport for Development and Peace” brought together government leaders from Canada, Norway, the European Union, Israel, Jordan and Sierra Leone, along with high level officials from the United Nations and Olympic organizations. The forum focused on the potential of sport in peace-building and the fight against AIDS, as well as the use of sport as a tool for the reintegration of former child combatants and as a medium for peace education in conflict zones. One of their target areas is the West Bank.

Koss sees the recent RTP forum as a success but also recognizes that real, lasting change requires effort and commitment by all parties: “The Roundtable was an important next step to continue the momentum that is gathering behind Sport for Development.”

Right to Play is an athlete-driven, international humanitarian organization working with children and communities in developing countries through Sport for Development. It runs sport and play programs in 21 countries throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. It recently established projects in Sierra Leone, Sudan, Israel and Palestine.

“Sport for Peace” initiatives bring together Arab and Israeli youths, as well as youth from Bosnia Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro to promote peaceful coexistence. Its “Red Ball Movement” aims to be a catalyst for a global social movement that contributes to health, development, and peace by using the “full humanitarian potential of sport.”

“We believe in the red ball as our symbol. It stands for ‘look after yourself, look after one another’ … It carries a certain number of values, from respect to dignity to hope to compassion to aspiration,” said Koss. “It gives them the meaning in many ways [through sports]. And we believe that if we can spread the red ball everywhere, we [will] create the movement for people to participate who believe in the same type of values, and ideals that we promote through the movement.”

Given the scarcity of opportunities for children affected by disease, poverty and war, Koss sees a need for RTP’s role: “[W]hat’s happening in the [refugee] camps is alienation, boredom, violence, sexual abuse and if you can replace all of these horrible things with a positive factor by activating kids and creating an opportunity, then you have all of these amazing things happening to [them] and their communities.”

The RTP president said that his desire to help others is a very “natural thing” inherited from his family. His parents are both doctors and his grandmother’s example of the “golden rule” has always stuck with him. Koss is a licensed medical doctor in Australia, where he practiced as a general practitioner.

In the middle of his training for the 1994 Olympics, he went to post-conflict Eritrea. After this experience, he said that he started to question his priorities. Koss remembers one boy who was popular among the kids. Koss found out why. He was the only one with a shirt that had sleeves.

“They showed me if they wanted to play soccer, [the boy] took his shirt off and the long sleeves made a knot and that’s how they played with the ball,” said Koss. “The shirt was basically the ball.”

“For me it’s kind of a reflection on life because [of] all the [things] I had and received as a kid and all the opportunities I had. It kind of made me humble [to use] the opportunities that I’ve been given the best way, seeing how they wanted to do anything to get a chance to play and that inspired me also to start the process of building the organization ‘Right to Play’ .”

Koss carried the children in his heart during the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics where he won three gold models in world-record time. He donated a majority of his prize money to Olympic Aid and challenged his fellow athletes to do the same. Many, including the Norwegian people, were up to the challenge, raising $18 million in Norway within 10 days, which, he says, enhanced his Olympic experience even more.

To respond to critics who say that RTP, like other non-governmental organizations, are taking away the state’s responsibility to its people, Koss said that RTP is doing the exact opposite: “It should be run by the people. That’s how we do it. If we run it, they should be able to run it [also]. We basically give them all the tools and capacities and knowledge so that they can run it themselves.”

Right to Play stays for only three to five years, he said, and then it’s the local community that runs the programs. It’s also involved in programs for girls.

Koss is well aware of the culturally sensitive nature of education and sports for girls in many countries. To instill trust within the community, female role models have been leading the projects. The results have been impressive. For example, RTP’s project in Pakistan with Afghani refugees was able to change the minds of many detractors who said the program was not a good idea.

The vaccination effort of RTP and UNICEF during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics for 12.2 million children and over 800,000 women resulted in two Olympic truces: one in Afghanistan that lasted the whole duration the Atlanta Games, and a second truce in the Kurdish region in northern Iraq that went for 48 hours. In Athens, heads of state, International Olympic Committee members, and visitors attended Olympic Truce-signing ceremonies, which are based upon the ancient tradition of declaring a period of peace during the Olympics.

Koss is currently gearing up for his talk on “Sport for Development and Peace” this Wednesday, October 13, which is part of the Munk Centre for International Studies Distinguished Lecture Series.

A version of this article was published on the University of Toronto’s School of Graduate Studies website.