Olympic Highlights 01/10/2021
IOC ACTIVITIES
PRESIDENT
The IOC held an Executive Board (EB) meeting by videoconference on 29 September, in the presence of the President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), IOC member Andrew Parsons. Beijing 2022 informed the EB of the principles that will help deliver safe and successful Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Considering the above objective, the IOC and IPC fully respect the principles established by Beijing 2022. These principles are based on wide-ranging consultations with international experts and the Chinese authorities, as well as the experience of Olympic and Paralympic stakeholders. The principles presented by Beijing 2022 will be detailed in the Playbooks. The first version of these Playbooks will be released in late October. A second version will then be published in December. Read here the full news release about spectators, vaccination and COVID-19 countermeasures.
In a conference call with IOC Members following the EB, President Bach outlined the current status of the preparations for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. During a Q&A Session, the Members were able to discuss the various challenges and opportunities that the Olympic Movement is facing with regard to the upcoming Games. Calls will also take place with the NOCs, the Winter International Olympic Sports Federations and athletes’ representatives.
This week, President Thomas Bach met Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, in Bern. The two leaders discussed various subjects, including the relations between the IOC and Switzerland, the place and role of Switzerland in the Olympic Movement and the upcoming Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. IOC EB member Denis Oswald was at the President’s side. Mr Cassis was accompanied by Jürg Stahl, President of the Swiss NOC.
The success of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and the preparations for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 were discussed during a meeting between the IOC President and Alisher Usmanov, the President of the International Fencing Federation (FIE).
President Bach has urged more sports bodies to join the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework and commit to meaningful climate action. He was speaking at the Sport Positive Summit, the annual gathering of Framework signatories, of which there are currently more than 270. “We are in sport, and we know that we do not want to rest on past success or lower our ambition,” he told the Sport Positive Summit in a pre-recorded video. “As the leader of the Olympic Movement, the IOC has a responsibility to be a part of the solution. And we have a responsibility to be ambitious about leading the change in the sporting world because it is clear that we are now in a race against time towards a climate-positive world.” Full news release here.
The President will take part on Saturday 2 October, in the "fun run" as part of the "20km de Lausanne", one of the biggest popular sporting events in Switzerland.
MEMBERS
IOC member René Fasel has been named Life President of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) after serving as President for 27 years. Fasel was also inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in a special ceremony in St Petersburg (Russian Federation), which hosted the 2021 IIHF Semi-Annual Congress. More details here (see also under ‘Winter IFs’).
IOC member Spyros Capralos has been re-elected President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) for a fourth term. Capralos is also President of the European Olympic Committees (EOC). More info here.
OTHER OLYMPIC NEWS
On 30 September, the IOC issued a statement on the incident involving Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Full text of the statement here.
Forty years ago, the XI Olympic Congress, held from 23 to 28 September 1981 in Baden-Baden, turned out to be of paramount importance in the history of the Olympic Movement – for the first time, athletes were invited to speak; it was decided to give women a bigger role in sports administration; and it was the turning point that led to a change of rules regarding athletes’ eligibility and the understanding of professionalism in sport. Find out more here on the important decisions taken during this Congress, which changed the Olympic Movement forever.
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATIONS
SUMMER IFS
The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) have published the International Basketball Migration Report 2021. This 10th edition provides the basketball community with insight into the global migration of players for the 2020-21 season. More info here.
David Lappartient (photo) was re-elected for a second four-year term as President of the International Cycling Union (UCI) during the 190th UCI Congress held on 24 September in Leuven (Belgium) during the 2021 UCI Road World Championships in Flanders. During this Congress, four new federations joined the UCI: South Sudan, the Solomon Islands, Equatorial Guinea and the Vatican (the UCI is the only IF to have the Vatican among its members). The number of UCI National Federations is now 201. Furthermore, the newly elected UCI Management Committee has awarded the different UCI World Championships for the 2022-2027 period among which the 2025 Road World Championships to be organised for the first time in Africa, in the Rwandan capital of Kigali. Full news release here. In addition, the UCI Management Committee held the election of the Federation’s four Vice-Presidents for the next four years. Full details here.
From 1 to 3 October, about 240 of the world’s best short course swimmers will compete at the 2021 International Swimming Federation FINA Swimming World Cup in Berlin (Germany). The circuit next stops in Budapest (Hungary) from 7 to 9 October, Doha (Qatar) from 21 to 23 October and Kazan (Russian Federation) from 28 to 30 October. All four stops of the 2021 World Cup are qualifying events for the postponed 15th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) to be held in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) from 16 to 21 December. More details here on the FINA website.
WINTER IFS
During the 2021 Semi-Annual Congress of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) held in St Petersburg (Russian Federation), Luc Tardif (photo) was elected as the new IIHF President, succeeding René Fasel. Tardif, who has French and Canadian citizenship, was elected to the IIHF Council in 2012 where he served as Treasurer. He played junior hockey in Canada and professional hockey in Belgium and France. In 2006, he was elected as the first President of the newly created French Ice Hockey Federation, a position for which he was re-elected in 2010, 2014 and 2018. He was also Chef de Mission of the French Olympic delegation at the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018. More details here.
National Olympic Committees
Jean-Michel Saive (photo) was elected President of the Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee (BOIC) at its Extraordinary General Assembly in Brussels on 10 September. He succeeds Pierre-Olivier Beckers, who was head of the BOIC for 17 years. His term runs until 2025. Mr Saive was President of the National Table Tennis Federation, and competed at seven editions of the Olympic Games, from Seoul 1988 to London 2012. More details here.
On 9 September, Alexánder Zamora Gómez (photo) took up the presidency of the Costa Rican NOC. A physical educator by profession and holder of a master’s degree in sports organisation management, Mr Zamora Gómez succeeds Henry Núñez, who was NOC President for the past 13 years. More details here.
Since 22 September, the Moroccan NOC has held a series of meetings with Royal Moroccan Federations to discuss Moroccan athletes’ preparation for and participation in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The aim is to conduct an objective evaluation and comprehensive assessments on the technical, administrative, financial and medical aspects, in order to improve support and monitoring for the athletes for the next major international sporting events. Info at www.cnom.org.ma.
The Spanish NOC’s Permanent Commission and Executive Committee met on 28 September for the first time since the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The meeting was chaired by NOC President Alejandro Blanco, and was attended by 24 participants. The agenda included a report on the NOC’s activities, the Spanish delegation’s results at Tokyo 2020, the latest information on the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, and the next NOC presidential election, which will be held in December. More details here.
Recognised organisations
Isidoros Kouvelos (photo) has been re-elected President of the International Olympic Academy (IOA) for the period 2021-24. This is his fourth term at the helm of the IOA. The elections were held at the headquarters of the Hellenic Olympic Committee. In addition, the IOA premises in Ancient Olympia, which were fully renovated with the financial support of the IOC, will be inaugurated on 17 October, in the presence of the President of the Hellenic Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, and the IOC President. More info here.
The International Masters Games Association (IMGA) has announced Lombardy (Italy) as the host for the 2024 Winter World Masters Games. The IMGA and Lombardy region will work together to deliver sustainable and excellent Winter Games in January 2024, four years after the success of the 2020 Winter World Masters Games in Innsbruck (Austria). Full news release here.
Ahead of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has announced the launch of a new interactive education course on its Anti-Doping Education and Learning Platform (ADEL) for athletes and coaches aiming to attend the Olympic Winter Games. This latest ADEL course, entitled “ADEL for Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022”, was again developed by WADA in collaboration with the IOC and the International Testing Agency (ITA). Full details here.