Future Olympic hosts gaining valuable Games-time insights during Beijing 2022

Across 19 days, more than 60 officials from the future Organising Committees of Paris 2024, Milano Cortina 2026, Brisbane 2032 and the Youth Olympic Winter Games Gangwon 2024 are participating in a variety of venue and site tours, expert panel sessions and discussion forums.

According to Christopher Payne, the IOC’s Associate Director of IKL, the programme represents one of the key components of the knowledge transfer process between current and future Games organisers, providing valuable insights into Games-time operations by offering participants the unique opportunity to observe and experience a live Olympic environment.

He said: “Mounting the Olympic Games is all about knowledge, intelligence and creativity, so learning and sharing experience has to be at the core of what we do. Learning through seeing the realities on the ground is fundamental and complements all the other forms of education we provide to Organising Committees and other stakeholders.”

Payne continued: “By providing a ‘behind the scenes’ look at Games operations, the IKL programme allows each future Organising Committee to not only witness how things are done, but also study specific function areas so that they can learn and improve upon those subjects within their own organisational and cultural context.”

Participants follow a tailored guide to the individual functions of the Games, observing the operation of everything from the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, efficient ticketing systems and transport infrastructures to medical facilities and press and media operations.

For Milano Cortina 2026, which will host the next edition of the Olympic Winter Games, the IKL Programme in Beijing provided an opportunity to experience the Main Operations Centre – which acts as the headquarters for Games-time management – and experience areas such as venue operations, sport delivery and presentation.

According to Andrea Monti, Milano Cortina 2026 Director of Communications, the experiences in Beijing will be integral to the Organising Committee’s preparations for 2026. He said: “Attending the Games in person is itself a source of inspiration. Being able to attend the Games in a context other than the European one, was certainly a cultural enrichment for which we are grateful to the IOC and the Beijing 2022 Organising Committee. All the colleagues I spoke to, each for their own functional area, took a lot of notes.”

In addition to the IKL Programme, which operates during each edition of the Olympic Games, the IOC’s IKL Unit offers a wide range of services, materials and learning opportunities to Organising Committees throughout their preparations, in order to support the successful planning and delivery of the Games.

This includes interactive training sessions, a vast library of Games reference guides and access to knowledge and learning platforms that contain vital information from previous Games editions. All of these resources aim to help Organising Committees develop their own vision and understand how a host city and its citizens can benefit from the long-lasting impact and legacy of the Games, which aligns with the aims of Olympic Agenda 2020+5 – the IOC’s new strategic roadmap.

Speaking about this, Payne said: “The IKL Programme offers a mix of the ‘now’ and the ‘strategic future’ – helping future hosts think through their very next decisions, and those which will impact the decades to come.”

The IOC first developed a knowledge transfer programme during preparations for the Olympic Games Sydney 2000. This led to the 2003 creation of the Olympic Games Knowledge Management (OGKM) programme to enhance the transfer of knowledge to Organising Committees.

Now known as IKL, the programme remains focused on putting each Organising Committee on the pathway towards the successful delivery of its edition of the Olympic Games.