Katharine Merry
British 400m bronze medallist at 2000 Olympics

There were times when I was popping 1000mgs of ibuprofen every single day for two, three or four days because I had a race. That was my opportunity and I had to take it. I made a decision on what I had to do there and then.

Did I think about the process afterwards? No. Because I’d go to a doctor or medic and say I need to race, I need to run round a track to earn money. I’d ask ‘is this banned?’ ‘No it’s not.’ ‘Will I die from it?’ ‘Probably not.’ ‘Right let’s get going.’

Athletes do that day in day out. It’s not just an abuse of painkillers in football, you are talking collectively around numerous sports because that is what sports people do.

What needs to be put in place is structures, or personnel, to keep an eye on the athletes, to ask questions and make sure they know what they’re doing.

Katharine Merry
British 400m bronze medallist at 2000 Olympics

Athlete welfare is a collective responsibility from numerous groups of people. When masses of amount of money are involved, that comes with responsibility.

You have national governing bodies, receiving millions of pounds, they are under pressure to deliver the performances and the medals, and that filters down to the people they employ.

They need to get the medals, they need to get the job done, that filters down to the medics and the physios. They need to get the stars on the pitch or on the track.

They therefore might make decisions that they may not make on a normal basis but it is their job to make sure the big wig in the team is ready and fit. That filters down to the athletes who might have one opportunity in their life to get this done.

Benni McCarthy
Former South Africa footballer

There were cases during my career where I was told if I don’t take an injection I will never play in this team again. 

The pressure was really on. And because when you are a foreigner it is worse. 

So I was like 'OK if that’s the case then it is only a little bit, it is not going to hurt me or do damage in the long run'.

I didn’t want to lose my place in the team.

Helen Richardson-Walsh
GB hockey player

Society is changing. 

"In hockey, gone are the days where you get shouted at on the sideline at international level because I don’t think that’s acceptable in society anymore and it is kind of being phased out in sport.

I don’t think it is an issue of welfare or medals, you don’t need to go down that route to win medals.

I’ve seen the other side where hockey is now at the moment and what we developed as team in the last two Olympic cycles was so far removed from that old fashioned in your face coaching and we were more successful."

The honour of asking the first question from the floor goes to Chloe Newton-Mann.

Chloe, a PHD student at Manchester Metropolitan University, asks:

"With recent concerns over injuries in sport such as concussion in rugby, how important do you think player welfare and injury prevention and recovery is?"

Time for some audience participation...

Liz Nicholl
UK Sport chief executive

It is clear the system is not as good as it can be. This is a wake–up call for sport to be much more aware of the responsibilities, beyond the responsibility to help athletes to achieve what they all aspire to achieve.

If they enter the world class programme they want to be medallists, no-one is pushing them more than they want to push themselves in terms of their aspirations to succeed.

But it is a wake-up call for sports and the system – it’s clear it can be better, and it will be better. This is a big step-up for the Tokyo [2020 Olympics] cycle.

Liz Nicholl
UK Sport chief executive

First of all we should applaud the courage of any athlete that has spoken out and expressed concerns about the experience that they’ve had in the world class programmes in their sport and actually in any aspect of life as well.

It takes courage and the most important thing is what happens then when that courage comes to the forefront and that information about not good practice at all, actually, is clearly evidenced.

Tanni Grey-Thompson
11-time Paralympic champion

It is not the job of a performance director to think about what an athlete does once they’re retired - their job is to deliver medals. It is the way they do that that we need to be more mindful of.

There are some really good sports out there; there are sports that need to do much more. I wasn’t asked to look at each sport by sport. My report is really forward-looking. It doesn’t mention a sport,  it doesn’t mention a person in it. It’s the principles of how sport - how myself and the panel believe  - sport should be as we go forward.

Tanni Grey-Thompson
11-time Paralympic champion

Winning medals was what all the athletes are asked to do and that is what they have done, but as her athletes go through the programme it’s just important they understand - and they take some personal responsibility themselves - that they have a life beyond sport and we are able to maximise the investment.

It is about getting the best talent all the way through and not leaving athletes broken at the end of it. It’s the same for coaches and performance directors it is a really tough pressurised environment.

We can’t make it all warm and cuddly – because that is not what elite sport is.

Tanni Grey-Thompson
11-time Paralympic champion

The sport minister Tracey Crouch asked me to look at duty of care and it covers concussion,  safeguarding, diversity, equality, inclusion – it’s probably not a surprise that the athlete transition piece has garnered so much interest because of the amount of coverage around Olympics, Paralympics and professional sport.

The report I was asked to do is very forward looking, it’s about how we support people as they go through the system. It’s not just about athletes its coaches, performance directors, it is where does our duty of care lie?

We’ve proved we can win medals, my personal view is we need to prove we can win medals with a duty of care. I don’t think that by having a duty of care it diminishes our chance so winning.

Let's get this debate started.

David Eades begins by asking Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson about the issue of welfare.

She, as we told you a few moments ago, is leading a major 'Duty of Care' review for the Government into athlete welfare.

Image source, Getty Images

• British 400m runner who won bronze at Sydney 2000
• Retired in 2005 because of recurring injury
• Now a commentator at all major international athletics events

Image source, Getty Images

• All -time leading scorer of South Africa's national football team
• Played for top clubs in England, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and South Africa
• Now taking his coaching badges and a regular television commentator

Image source, Getty Images

• Key member of GB's Olympic-winning women's hockey side at Rio 2016
• Enjoyed an incredible international career, racking up 291 games for GB and England
• Now playing club hockey in the Netherlands

Image source, Getty Images

• One of Britain's greatest Paralympians
• 11-time gold medallist, also winning four silvers and a bronze
• Chairing a government-commissioned review into safety and wellbeing in British sport

Image source, Getty Images

• President of the World Anti-Doping Agency
• Former vice-president of the International Olympic Committee
• Played key role in making badminton an Olympic sport as International Badminton Federation president 

Image source, Getty Images

• Chief executive of UK Sport
• A former Welsh international netball player
• Been called 'the most powerful woman in British sport'

We have six stellar names from the world of sport sat on our top table.Here's who they are...

Lights. Camera. Action! 

Now we are fully up to speed with the key issues, let's get the debate under way.

You should now be able to see the programme at the top of this page. Or on the BBC News Channel. Or BBC World. 

We've got you covered.