Olympic Highlights 15/05/2023
IOC
PRESIDENT
IOC President Thomas Bach has been to China for the first time since the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. His visit (Friday 5 May until Tuesday 9 May) took him to Beijing, Qufu City, Hangzhou and Shanghai. During his entire tour he was accompanied by the IOC Members in China, Yu Zaiqing, Li Lingwei and Zhang Hong.
In Beijing, the IOC President was welcomed by Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) President Gao Zhidan. The IOC President congratulated the COC President again for the great success of the Chinese athletes at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. They discussed the plans of a number of International Winter Sports Federations to make use of the Games’ venues by organising future World Cups and international competitions there. This will strengthen the legacy of these Games even further. The role of China as the host of many upcoming major international sports events was also mentioned. The two leaders also exchanged information about the preparations for the Olympic Games Paris 2024, which are extremely well underway. In this context, the unifying power of the Olympic Games and the COC’s commitment to support the respective efforts by the IOC were reaffirmed. Read the full story here.
IOC President Bach met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing. They discussed the great success and legacy of Beijing 2022. President Bach thanked the Chinese government for its support to hold the Games amidst the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Both leaders highlighted the mission of the Olympic Movement to unite athletes from all National Olympic Committees in peaceful competition without any discrimination. Premier Li noted that the IOC has played a significant role in maintaining world peace and promoting the progress of humankind, in particular during this difficult period and during the pandemic. He stressed the fruitful cooperation with the IOC and underlined the importance of the development of sport and China’s readiness to make an even greater contribution to the Olympic Movement and its unifying mission. Read the full story here.
During his visit, the IOC President announced that the IOC will contribute its share of the surplus of USD 10.4 million from the organisational budget of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 to support the legacy of these Games. The IOC’s share will be given to the COC and is intended to support the development of sport in China, in particular the continued engagement of 346 million Chinese people in winter sports, with a special focus on young people. Read the full story here.
The IOC President was also welcomed by Yin Li, Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party of the Beijing Municipal Committee, to talk about the legacy of the Olympic Games Beijing 2008 and the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.
While in Beijing, President Bach watched the newly released Official Film of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. The film, which was produced by Zhang Yimou and directed by Lu Chuan, premiered at the opening ceremony of the 13th Beijing International Film Festival. It will be released in Chinese cinemas on 19 May. “This film wakes up the emotions about these truly exceptional Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. It shines a spotlight on the athletes, the volunteers and the people who made these Games happen. Congratulations to the production team,” said the IOC President.
Thomas Bach also visited the China Media Group (CMG) headquarters. CMG is a Media Rights-Holder for the Olympic Games. At CMG, he was welcomed by Shen Haixiong, President and Editor-in-Chief. The IOC President expressed his high appreciation for the great coverage of the Olympic Movement through the CMG Olympic Channel. In this respect, the exchange of content with the Olympic Channel was agreed. Both leaders also discussed the development potential and risks of e-sports and e-games.
In Beijing, President Bach also met WADA Vice-President Yang Yang and Li Quanhai, the President of World Sailing.
In a meeting with Jeffrey Lu, CEO of Worldwide Olympic Partner Mengniu, and the executive leadership of the Chinese dairy company, the upcoming Olympic Games Paris 2024 were discussed. The Mengniu CEO updated the IOC President on their plans. During the meeting, the IOC President also invited Mr Lu to visit Lausanne. Read the full story here.
On Sunday 7 May, the IOC President took the high-speed train to Qufu, the hometown of Confucius, where he toured the Confucius Temple and visited the Confucius Cemetery and the Confucius Museum. The great philosopher Confucius had also emphasised the importance of physical fitness and healthy living. During his visit, Thomas Bach learnt about a Confucius quote: “The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential: these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.”
A tour of the venues for the Asian Games in September this year, including the Main Operations Centre, marked the start of Monday 8 for the IOC President in Hangzhou. “Hangzhou has world-class facilities and is operationally ready. The athletes and the spectators can look forward to exciting Asian Games Hangzhou 2023. They will be brilliant,” the IOC President said when he spoke to the media.
Thomas Bach visited the impressive headquarters of Worldwide Olympic Partner Alibaba, where he was welcomed by the Chairman and CEO of the Alibaba Group, Daniel Zhang. He presented the newest Alibaba technologies to the IOC President and gave an outlook on new projects. Afterwards, with their teams they discussed Alibaba’s Worldwide Olympic Partnership and the topic of digitalisation and sport. “I want thank Alibaba very much for their great commitment to the Olympic Movement and their great contribution to the success of the recent editions of the Olympic Games. Our partnership was always intended to be a transformative one. It is about transforming the Olympic Games, and with this the Olympic Movement. If we want to get better, we have to change and digitalise. We also have to answer the question of how Artificial Intelligence is going to change the Olympic Games. Our excitement and our passion for this topic are as great as yours,” the IOC President said.
Later that night, Thomas Bach witnessed the first final of the Chinese Basketball League. The home team, the Zhejiang Golden Bulls, lost the game 99:107 to the Liaoning Flying Leopards in front of their home crowd in a packed arena, which will also serve as a venue for the Asian Games. Afterwards he received a phone call from legendary basketball player Yao Ming, who is now the President of the Chinese Basketball Federation.
The final day of his China visit took the IOC President to Shanghai. The city wants to host a stop of the newly created Olympic Qualifier Series, which will premiere next year ahead of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Thomas Bach visited the Huangpu Riverside with the Dock 1 Skatepark, where he witnessed some exciting urban sports action, and joined children and young athletes for some BMX, skateboarding and roller sports fun. The Huangpu Riverside is the venue for the Olympic Qualifier Series which will include four sports – BMX freestyle, breaking, skateboarding and sport climbing. The series of festival-style events will bring together the best athletes from each of the four sports in one urban park, as they compete to qualify for the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Hosted in compact city centre venues over four days, between March and June 2024, the festivals will offer a new Olympic experience to fans from around the world, blending sport with music, art and culture.
In a meeting with Gong Zheng, the Mayor of Shanghai, the IOC President thanked him for his city’s interest in hosting the Olympic Qualifier Series. He confirmed that the city will be awarded one of the stops of the series, subject to the approval of the IOC Executive Board.
In all the provinces the IOC President visited, he was welcomed by the highest political authorities, and also met a number of other personalities from sport, culture and business.
The President flew from Shanghai to New York to attend a dinner in honour of the IOC Honour Member Henry Kissinger on the occasion of his forthcoming 100th birthday.
During his stay in New York, he met with IOC Member Luis Moreno, Permanent Observer of the IOC to the United Nations, to discuss the geopolitical situation and other Olympic topics of mutual interest.
At the same time he held courtesy meetings with Brian Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation; David Zaslav, President and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery; Adam Silver, NBA Commissioner; and Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner.
COMMISSIONS
The preparations for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 have stepped up a gear, the Organising Committee told the IOC’s Coordination Commission – chaired by IOC Member Sari Essayah - during an online meeting this week. This is reflected in the growing excitement building in Italy, with celebrations for 1,000 days to go planned to kick off this weekend. Some of the key highlights presented during the meetings included updates on Games planning, the venue masterplan, governance and commercial developments, projecting an optimistic outlook for Games preparations. Read the full news release here.
OTHER OLYMPIC NEWS
The Olympic Movement has learnt with sadness of the death of Eli Wolff, a passionate educator, athlete, activist and advocate for sport as tool for social good, who died unexpectedly aged 45. Wolff was a United States Paralympic soccer team member at the Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004 Paralympic Games before devoting his career to working for more inclusion in sport. Through his academic research, teaching, policy work and advocacy, Wolff had a profound impact and inspired many people on a personal and institutional level to take responsibility and promote sport for development, disability inclusion, human rights and peace.
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATIONS
SUMMER IFS
International Basketball Federation (FIBA)
On 6 May, FIBA Oceania’s Zone Assembly elected David Reid as the new Oceania President for FIBA's upcoming cycle (2023-2027) in Gold Coast, Australia. Reid thus became the first elected member of the FIBA Central Board for the 2023-2027 term. This appointment will take effect after the conclusion of the FIBA Congress 2023. Note that a FIBA delegation led by its President Hamane Niang, was present at the Assembly. More details here.
International Hockey Federation (FIH)
The FIH has joined the Centre for Sport and Human Rights (CSHR) as an Engaged Organisation, the first IF to join the CSHR in this new membership category. It has done so in order to uphold and promote its commitment to universal humanitarian values, including diversity, inclusion and non-discrimination, across its governance, operations, activities and events. As part of its new sustainability strategy, the FIH has set out specific commitments to follow the UN Strategic Framework on Human Rights. As such, the FIH is seeking the CHSR’s support to identify risk areas related to human rights and work on appropriate measures to address them. Full info here.
World Athletics
World Athletics, together with the International Athletics Foundation (IAF) and members of the Diamond League Association, has renewed the Ukraine Fund established last year to support professional athletes affected by the conflict in their home country. It is expected that up to 100 members of the Ukrainian athletics community may require financial support this year. More details here. World Athletics and the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to continue and strengthen their collaboration. The agreement seeks to consolidate existing work streams involving athletic shoe regulation. However, it also sets out areas for future cooperation, such as getting more children active and into athletics, and enhancing the presentation and the sustainable development of the sport, to benefit the sport, the athletes and the industry. Full details here.
World Triathlon
The World Triathlon Executive Board has awarded the 2024 World Triathlon Championship Finals to Malaga, in Andalusia, Spain. The annual Congress will also be held in Malaga alongside the Championship Finals. Full details here.
NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES
Dominican Republic NOC
The NOC has asked various state agencies to perform audits on a number of federations, to provide visibility on how they use the funding they receive from the government. This was announced by NOC President Garibaldy Bautista. More details here. The NOC has also announced that it will be celebrating Olympic Day on 10 June at the Los Robles sports complex in Juan López, in the province of Espaillat.
Moroccan NOC (CNOM)
On 3 May, CNOM Secretary General Abdellatif Idmahamma attended a meeting in Rabat to set up a national platform based on the Macolin Convention to combat match-fixing in sport. More details on www.cnom.org.ma.
RECOGNISED ORGANISATIONS
South American Sports Organisation (ODESUR)
On 5 May in Buenos Aires, Argentina, San Luis officially became the host city for the 2025 South American Youth Games. The signing ceremony was attended by ODESUR President Camilo López Moreira, ODESUR Secretary General Miguel Ángel Mujica, the Governor of the Province of San Luis, Alberto Rodríguez Saá, and the President of the Argentine Olympic Committee, Mario Moccia. The host city contract was signed by ODESUR, the Argentine Olympic Committee and the Province of San Luis. More details here. On 10 and 11 May, a seminar for the Chefs de Mission of the 2023 South American Beach Games was held in the host city of Santa Marta, Colombia. ODESUR-member NOCs participated in person and virtually. More info at www.odesur.org.
International Committee of the Mediterranean Games (ICMG)
For the first time, the ICMG leadership has visited Albania, with ICMG President Davide Tizzano and Secretary General Iakovos Filippousis paying an official visit to Tirana at the invitation of Albanian NOC President Fidel Ylli, to take part in the National Sports Congress organised by the Ministry of Education and Sport. The main topic of the Congress was the achievements and the challenges for the future of sport in Albania. The ICMG leaders met the Minister of Education and Sport, Evis Kushi, the Minister of Youth, Bora Muzhaqi, and the Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, They also visited the NOC’s newly built premises and the Tirana Olympic Park, home to all the country’s sports federations. The many topics discussed during the visit included cooperation between the two entities for the greater development of sport in the country. Full details here.
World Antidoping Agency (WADA)
On 9 May, the WADA Executive Committee (ExCo) held its first meeting of the year in Montreal, Canada. The ExCo members were updated on WADA’s progress on key priorities, took a number of decisions and made certain recommendations to the Agency’s Foundation Board, which will shortly be put to a circulatory vote. The world antidoping programme, governance reforms and an update on the current status of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) were among the topics on the agenda. More info at www.wada-ama.org.