Highlights of the week
IOC ACTIVITIES
PRESIDENT
IOC President Jacques Rogge met International Luge Federation (FIL) President Joseph Fendt on 5 August at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne. The following day, he met Richard Rubatscher, Chairman of the Innsbruck 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee, and presented the Pierre de Coubertin Medal to Eric Monnin, a lecturer at the Université de Franche-Comté (UPFR Sports) in Besançon (France). On 7 August, President Rogge met with Nick Hayek, CEO of the Swatch Group, and Stephen Urquhart, President of Omega. From 8 to 12 August, the IOC President will be in Moscow (Russian Federation) for the joint meeting between the IOC Executive Board and the Council of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). President Rogge will attend the opening ceremony of the Athletics World Championships on 10 August.
INTERNATIONAL SPORTS FEDERATIONS
SUMMER IFS
On 4 August, the International Swimming Federation (FINA) met with representatives of the United Nations, UNICEF, UNESCO and the IOC in Barcelona (Spain) to establish a common platform for the development of a worldwide “Swimming for All” programme. The initiative is aimed at preventing and reducing the number of casualties due to drowning around the world and, at the same, at promoting the improvement of the level of physical activity among young people. More info at: www.fina.org.
NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES
The Angolan Olympic Committee has announced that it has elected a new Executive Commission for the 2013-2016 quadrennial, led by President Gustavo Dias Vaz da Conceição.
In order to strengthen women’s participation in sports organisations and encourage them to take on responsibilities within national sports administrations, the Peruvian NOC, through Olympic Solidarity’s Women and Sport programme, has implemented several training workshops. To date, two of the 10 scheduled workshops have taken place, with the participation of institutions such as the Peruvian Sports Institute, ministries, city authorities and other sports-related organisations. These workshops are held in the la Videna Albergue Olímpico in San Luis. Info at www.coperu.org.
An IOC Olympic Solidarity team visited the NOC of Portugal in Lisbon last week. Over four days, the team held meetings and visited sports facilities where Portuguese Olympic athletes train and compete. The Olympic Solidarity visit was one of the two annual visits made to Europe this year (the other was to the NOC of Albania) to learn about the work the local NOCs are doing and to discuss the IOC Solidarity programmes to which local NOCs apply.
ORGANISING COMMITTEES FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES
RIO 2016
On 5 August, Rio de Janeiro celebrated three years to go until it hosts the 2016 Olympic Games, with the Rio 2016 Organising Committee (Rio 2016TM) announcing that the project is on track to make Olympic history by delivering the first Games ever held in South America. At the heart of the Rio 2016 project is a commitment to use the Games as a catalyst to accelerate the development and improvement of Rio in areas such as urban infrastructure, transport, security, accommodation, education, and sports participation, in order to leave a lasting legacy for generations to come. Due to the legacy of hosting the 2007 Pan American Games, almost half of the Rio 2016 venues are already built, with construction projects for the new permanent and temporary venues under way, ahead of a full test event programme, which is planned to run from August 2015 to April 2016.
RECOGNISED ORGANISATIONS
The World Games 2013 came to a spectacular end on 4 August during a closing ceremony at a sold-out Pascual Guerrero Stadium in Cali, Colombia. During the 10 days of competition, over 3,000 athletes took part in 26 official sports and five invitational sports and were supported by some 1,500 officials and 4,500 volunteers. More than 500,000 spectators turned out for the event, which included rugby sevens, one of two new sports (along with golf) to be added to the Olympic progamme beginning with the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The next edition of the World Games will take place in Wroclaw (Poland) in 2017. For more information, please consult the web site of the International World Games Association (IWGA): /www.theworldgames.org
As the build-up continues to the 2013 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Swimming World Championships from 12 to 18 August in Montreal (Canada), the IPC, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and some of the world's leading swimmers have announced they will host a day dedicated to promoting clean sport. “Say NO! to Doping Day” will take place on 13 August with the aim of raising awareness of anti-doping so that all athletes compete on a level playing field. Athletes will be encouraged to demonstrate their commitment to clean, honest sport by wearing green Say NO! to Doping (SNTD) swimming caps and temporary tattoos displaying SNTD and IPC logos. There will also be a Twitter and Facebook competition providing spectators with the opportunity to win signed caps worn by world and Paralympic champions. Say NO! to Doping was recently embraced by the sporting community at the World Games in Cali, . More info at www.paralympic.org