Olympic Highlights 12/09/2023
IOC
PRESIDENT
IOC President Thomas Bach welcomed the statement issued by the Heads of State and Heads of Government of the G20 – who met in New Delhi (India) – in which they declared their strong support for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024. The G20 presidency is currently held by India with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The G20 Leaders said in their G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration: “We also look forward to the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024 as a symbol of peace, dialogue amongst nations and inclusivity, with participation of all.” President Bach said in Lausanne: “We would like to thank very warmly the G20 Leaders, who include for the first time the African Union, for their invaluable support. The IOC will continue to work with full commitment to achieve these goals, which are also our goals.” Full news release here.
French President Emmanuel Macron explained in a recent interview that the decision about the participation of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport as Individual Neutral Athletes in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 is in the hands of the IOC. “This subject should not be politicised. I want this to be a decision in the conscience of the Olympic world and I have complete confidence in Thomas Bach,” Macron said. “Obviously, there cannot be the Russian flag at the Paris Games, I think there is consensus. […] I think it is not the host state that should decide what the IOC should do. This is the balancing act that we will have to carry out,” he also said.
On 8 September, President Bach chaired a remote meeting of the IOC Executive Board (EB) from Olympic House in Lausanne. The EB discussed the current international situation, the upcoming editions of the Olympic Games and various Olympic institutional issues. The agenda also included the preparations for the 141st IOC Session in October in Mumbai, India. IOC Vice-President Ser Miang Ng and IOC EB member Ivo Ferriani were present in Lausanne.
The IOC EB agreed to propose eight new IOC Members for election to the 141st IOC Session. In doing so, it is following the recommendations of the IOC Members Election Commission. The EB also proposed the re-election of seven IOC Members within the age limit, as well as the extension of the terms of office of two IOC Members. Full details here.
The EB has also approved the qualification systems for speed skating and the revised short track speed skating qualification system for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. Detailed info here.
The IOC is following up on its human rights commitments and has announced its plans to amend the Olympic Charter accordingly. The IOC EB submitted a change in the Olympic Charter to the 141st IOC Session. The proposal aims to include additional wording in the Fundamental Principles of Olympism as an overarching commitment to the respect for human rights, specifically in Fundamental Principles of Olympism 1 and 4. Full details here.
Last week, at Olympic House, President Bach welcomed a delegation from France which visited the IOC to further discuss their interest in hosting a future edition of the Olympic Winter Games. The Presidents of the Regions of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region, respectively Renaud Muselier and Laurent Wauquiez were accompanied by David Lappartient, IOC Member and President of the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF) and Marie-Amélie Le Fur, President of the French Paralympic Committee (CPSF), and IOC Members from France Guy Drut and Martin Fourcade. The visit, initiated by the CNOSF, was to learn more about the new approach to electing Olympic hosts and to present the vision and initial Games plan of the French project.
Among the French delegation was biathlete Vincent Jay, who won gold and bronze medals at the Olympic Winter Games Vancouver 2010, and was presented with a diploma and an OLY pin by President Bach, before signing the Olympians Wall.
President Bach spoke on the phone with International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) President Johan Eliasch. The two leaders discussed a number of Olympic topics, including the preparations for the upcoming Winter Youth Olympic Games Gangwon 2024 and Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
On 11 September, President Bach welcomed the International Winter Sports Federations to Olympic House in Lausanne. Ahead of the winter sports season, they discussed the status of the preparations for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. Also joining the meeting was Kristin Kloster, the new Chair of the IOC Coordination Commission for Milano Cortina 2026.
The preparations for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and the Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026 were discussed during a courtesy meeting with Namibian NOC President Abner Xoagub, Secretary General Joan Smit and Advisor Jesse Schickerling.
The IOC President also met David Hill, former 21st Century Fox Executive Vice President, and Michael Payne, former IOC Marketing Director.
MEMBERS
On behalf of the IOC President, the IOC Vice-President Ser Miang Ng presented the participants of MEMOS XXV (Executive Masters in Sport Organisation Management) with their certificates. Earlier, in the Olympic Museum auditorium, the participants, who came from 30 different countries across the five continents, presented their MEMOS projects in public.
COMMISSIONS
The IOC President has announced the IOC commissions for 2023, maintaining gender equality across the commission positions following the historic milestone first reached in 2022. For the first time in history, the IOC is also looking ahead to the future of esports with the creation of a new Esports Commission. Read the full news release here.
OTHER OLYMPIC NEWS
The Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF) and Nike have entered into an agreement, which includes making a financial contribution dedicated to supporting the ORF in its work to ensure displaced women and girls benefit from safe sport through the ORF’s flagship Terrains d’Avenir programme in Paris. As part of the agreement, Nike will also make a further in-kind donation to the Foundation for the provision of training and competition uniforms for the Refugee Athlete Scholarship-holders and the IOC Refugee Olympic Team competing at Paris 2024. Read the full news release here.
The IOC, the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 have signed a new tripartite agreement, with the goal of extending the social legacy left by Paris 2024 at international level. Read the full news release here.
The official Olympics channel on YouTube recently reached the significant milestone of 10 million subscribers, becoming one of the most followed sports channels on the platform. Launched in 2008, the channel has seen rapid growth over the past three years, doubling its subscriber base from 5m to 10m since the start of 2021. This has been powered by consecutive Games-time collaborations with the platform for Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022, and the rise of Shorts, YouTube's recently launched vertical, short-format content format. To celebrate this achievement, the IOC received the YouTube Diamond “Play Button” Award. Justine Ryst, Managing Director, YouTube France, and Joel Derriennic, Director, Technology Services, EMEA, YouTube, presented the award to Anne-Sophie Voumard, Managing Director of IOC TMS, and Leandro Larrosa, Director, Digital Engagement and Marketing, at Olympic House on 6 September.
Nominations for the 2023 IOC Coaches Lifetime Achievement Awards are now open until 15 October 2023. These awards celebrate the vital role coaches play in the lives of athletes, both on and off the field of play. Full details here.
The IOC has named the first batch of world-class athletes who will serve as Athlete Role Models (ARMs) at the Youth Olympic Winter Games Gangwon 2024. These athletes will play a vital role in mentoring and shaping the future of young, aspiring athletes as part of the ARM programme. Discover the names of the 11 Olympians selected here.
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATIONS
SUMMER IFS
International Basketball Federation (FIBA)
USA legend Sue Bird has been named Global Ambassador for the 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup. The announcement was made at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Manila (Philippines). Bird is the only player to have won the women's flagship event four times, and she also has five Olympic titles. She was the flagbearer for her country at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Bird succeeds Pau Gasol, who fulfilled the ambassadorial role in Sydney in 2022. The 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup will take place in September 2026 in Berlin (Germany). Full details here.
World Athletics
Marton Gyulai, the Executive Director of Sport for the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23, has been appointed Director of Competition and Events at World Athletics. Gyulai has been a member of the European Athletics Council since 2015, was a member of the European Athletics Executive Board between 2021 and 2023, and was elected to the Hungarian Olympic Committee in 2012. He also ran the Hungarian Athletics Federation for 10 years. More details here.
NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES
Chilean NOC
The NOC and ChileValora – the Commission of the National Certification System of Labour Competencies – have presented the four new profiles for certifying coaches. The aim of this certification programme, launched by the NOC in 2019, is to regularise, standardise and verify the training of sports coaches from sports initiation to high level. The NOC has established a strategic alliance with ChileValora so that beneficiaries of this training have formal recognition of their skills by the State. More details here.
Dominican Republic NOC (COD)
The COD has announced that the members of its Ethics and Discipline commissions recently took an oath in front of COD President Garibaldy Bautista. The ceremony was held at the COD headquarters in the presence of executive board members. Full details here.
Mongolian NOC
The 2023 East Asian Youth Games were successfully organised in August in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. It was the first time that Mongolia had hosted a multi-sport event. IOC Member and Mongolian NOC President Battushig Batbold officially declared the Games open. A total of 842 athletes from 7 NOCs from the East Asian region competed in the 11 sports on the programme.
Oman Olympic Committee (OOC)
A workshop was recently held at the Oman Olympic Academy to review and evaluate the projects of women sports leaders who participated in the “Step Forward” programme. The programme is one of the most important organised by the OOC’s Women’s Sports and Gender Equality Committee this year. It aims to develop female leaders in the sports and administrative fields, and provides the opportunity for participants to develop their administrative and leadership skills, enhances teamwork and personal development, and contributes to enhancing the status of women in the sports field. The programme included holding a number of specialised workshops and practical training sessions that have been held since last May. Full detailed info here.
Peruvian NOC (COP)
The COP, through the Peruvian Olympic Academy and the Peruvian University of Applied Sciences (UPC), has launched the 5th edition of its Advanced Sports Management Course, at the UPC headquarters in San Isidro. This course is one of the programmes offered by Olympic Solidarity. Six areas of sports management will be covered: organisation and governance, strategic management, human resources management, financial management, marketing management and sports event organisation. The 30 participants on this course include members of sports institutions and federations, directors of sports organisations, technical managers and administrative managers who are linked to the sports industry. More info here.
RECOGNISED ORGANISATIONS
Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA)
The 2nd ANOCA Gender Equality Forum will be held on 2 and 3 October 2023 on Sal Island, Cabo Verde. Placed under the theme “From meeting room to the playing field”, the Forum aims to share best practices among ANOCA zones, NOCs and internationally. The expected outcomes include the development of tangible and achievable strategies and plans that will ensure the sustainability of gender equality on the African continent. The first edition took place remotely in June 2021. More details here.
International Committee of the Mediterranean Games (ICGM)
On 9 September, the 3rd Mediterranean Beach Games began in Heraklion, Crete (Greece) with an ode to Mother Earth and paying respect to the people of Greece and Morocco after the devastating floods and the terrible earthquake respectively. The opening ceremony included speeches from the ICMG President, Davide Tizzano, the Greek Deputy Minister for Sport, Yannis Vroutsis, and the President of the Organising Committee, Nikos Ntampakakis. The athletes from 26 countries paraded during the ceremony, which was attended by many distinguished guests from the Olympic and Mediterranean family. Full details here. The day before, the ICMG General Assembly elected the host cities for the next editions of the Mediterranean Games: the Portuguese cities of Portimao and Lagoa will host the 4th Mediterranean Beach Games in 2027, and the Kosovan city of Prishtina will host the 21st Mediterranean Games in 2030. More info here.
International Paralympic Committee (IPC)
The IPC has published its 2022 Annual Report. The Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games are a key focus of the Report, which also underlines the launch of the PARA SPORT grassroots-to-high performance programme, and the successful implementation of a new governance model. Full news release here.
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
The Athletes’ Anti-Doping Ombuds website, which is for athletes covered by the World Anti-Doping Programme, has been launched. This website is a secure platform that athletes can use to contact the Ombuds – a free, neutral and confidential resource for athletes with questions or concerns about anti-doping issues. More info here. At the Seventh Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministerial Meeting on Sports held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, WADA President Witold Bańka delivered an opening address, in which he stressed the importance of cooperation and partnership between the ASEAN and WADA and highlighted an action plan to successfully implement the memorandum of understanding signed by the two organisations last year. Full info here.