Olympic Highlights 16/01/2023
IOC ACTIVITIES
PRESIDENT
This week at Olympic House, IOC President Thomas Bach welcomed a delegation from the Swedish Olympic Committee led by its Secretary General, IOC Member Gunilla Lindberg. The visit took place to introduce incoming NOC Secretary General Åsa Edlund Jönsson, who will take up her post in February. Mrs Lindberg will remain as Senior Advisor, International Affairs. Also present were Acting NOC President Anders Larsson and Acting Vice-President Hans von Uthmann.
Also at Olympic House, the President received the World Aquatics President, Husain Al-Musallam. During their meeting, they addressed a number of Olympic topics, including the preparations for the aquatics competitions at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
This week, President Bach also attended the farewell party for Timo Lumme, Managing Director of IOC Television & Marketing Services (IOC TMS). The IOC will continue to benefit from his expertise as a senior advisor.
IOC HONORARY MEMBERS
On 11 January, the IOC learned with great sadness the death of IOC Honorary Member HM King Constantine at the age of 82. An Olympic sailing champion in the Dragon class at the Games of the XVII Olympiad Rome 1960, King Constantine served the Olympic Movement as an IOC Member in Greece from 1963 to 1974, after which he was elected as an IOC Honorary Member. IOC President said: “In King Constantine we have lost a great friend of sport. He was a fellow Olympic champion and, whenever we met, we shared our passion about sport and discussed our love of Olympism and the life of an athlete.” Over several decades, King Constantine served the world of sport as President then Honorary President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee; Honorary President of the Royal Greek Yachting Association; Honorary President of World Sailing; and patron of several sailing clubs and of the International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM). He was also the Honorary President of the International Olympic Academy (IOA) right from its foundation. Read the full news release here.
Commissions
Ulrich “Ueli” Maurer, the former President of the Swiss Confederation, has been elected by the IOC Session as an independent member of the IOC Ethics Commission. Mr Maurer’s four-year term as an independent member of the Ethics Commission started on 1 January 2023 as a successor of Samuel Schmid, who is also a former President of the Swiss Confederation and had reached the end of his third and last term. Full news release here.
OTHER OLYMPIC NEWS
At the end of 2022, the IOC was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Manolo Romero, the founder of Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS). Mr Romero led the organisation until 2012. He revolutionised the way large sports events are delivered to the world and created the model upon which all future host broadcast organisations would be built. “Manolo Romero has left an indelible mark on the broadcast of the Olympic Games. As the founder of Olympic Broadcasting Services, the host broadcaster for the Games, Manolo was a legend and pioneer in the sports broadcasting industry and respected worldwide for his vision, technological expertise and overall passion for the Olympic Movement,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. Read the full news release here.
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATIONS
SUMMER IFS
World Athletics
World Athletics has confirmed the timetable for the athletics competitions at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Spread over 11 days, athletics action will start with the 20km race walk events on Thursday 1 August, and end with the women’s marathon on the final day of the Games, Sunday 11 August. In between, track and field competition will take place during 17 sessions at the Stade de France. Full details here.
World Aquatics
World Aquatics has announced that, for the first time, men will be allowed to participate in the artistic swimming competitions at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Men will now be eligible to compete in the team event. There are eight competitors in each team, and the new rules will permit a maximum of two men to compete in each team at the Olympic Games. Ten teams are expected to compete. More details here.
International Modern Pentathlon Union
At the end of 2022, the International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) released its competition dates for 2023. These competitions will act as Olympic qualification journeys. The official “Road to Paris” will kick off in Cairo (Egypt) in March, and the circuit will traverse Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. Full info here.
International Surfing Association
The International Surfing Association (ISA) has announced the newest group of recipients to be awarded special ISA Scholarships, a group of 28 young surfers. The 16 young men and 12 young women hail from 12 countries. In addition, the 2023 ISA Scholarship application process is now open (until 30 April 2023). More info at www.isasurf.org.
WINTER IFS
World Curling Federation
Australia’s Kim Forge has joined the World Curling Federation (WCF) Board as Director. Forge was the Australian Curling Federation President from 2014 to 2022 and worked on the WCF Athletes’ Commission from 2016 to 2021. As an athlete, she represented Australia 135 times, competing in eight world championships. Full details here.
NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES
Brazilian Olympic Committee
President Paulo Wanderley and Director General Rogério Sampaio represented the Brazilian NOC on 2 January at the wake of Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pelé, at the Vila Belmiro stadium in Santos. On behalf of the Brazilian Olympic Movement, they paid their last respects to the greatest athlete of the century, who was a great enthusiast and supporter of the Olympic Games and Brazilian sport in general. At the London 2012 Closing Ceremony, Pelé featured in the segment about the upcoming
Games in Rio. Months before the Rio 2016 Opening Ceremony, he received the Olympic Order from President Thomas Bach, in Santos. Pelé also took part in the torch relay for Athens 2004 and Rio 2016. More info here.
Dominican Republic NOC
NOC President Garibaldy Bautista has announced that the Executive Committee has approved the creation of a strategic plan for the next four years. The aim of the plan is to make the NOC more efficient, ethical and different. More details here. At the same time, the names of the chefs de mission and their deputies for several international sports events in 2023 and 2024, including the Olympic Games Paris 2024, have also been announced. Details here.
Estonian Olympic Committee
Freestyle skier Kelly Sildaru and decathlete Janek Õiglane were nominated as the Estonian Athletes of the Year 2022. Olympic champion Gerd Kanter, who coaches Slovenian discus thrower Kristjan Ceh, was awarded the Coach of the Year prize. Sildaru won a bronze medal at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 and was distinguished for the second time after being crowned in 2019. Õiglane took bronze in the decathlon at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich. More details here.
British Olympic Association
Sarah Wallace has joined the British Olympic Association (BOA) as the organisation’s new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). An experienced financial leader, Wallace replaces David Glassey as CFO, following his departure after a successful eight-year career at the BOA. More details here.
Hellenic Olympic Committee
Last December, the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) Gender Equality Commission honoured the athletes who became parents during the year of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
This gesture is aimed at making people realise that a sports career does not end with the creation of a family, something that brings changes in everyday life but does not create insurmountable obstacles in the quest to become a champion. Full details here.
Kosovo Olympic Committee
The NOC hosted a social media workshop during the sixth edition of the “Sport and Media” conference. The participants were social media managers from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, sports federations and clubs, and sports journalists. They were greeted by NOC President Ismet Krasniqi, in presence of the Vice-President, Gazmend Maxhuni. The speaker was social media expert Valon Canhasi. More info at www.noc-kosovo.org.
NOC of Lithuania
At the end of 2022, over 700 guests attended the Lithuanian Sports Awards ceremony, which honoured the most deserving Olympic and Paralympic athletes and their coaches. Organised by the NOC, the event was held for the second year in a row with the Lithuanian Paralympic Committee and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport. Full details here, including the list of the winners in all categories. Read here an article about the Male Athlete of the Year, 20 year-old discus thrower Mykolas Alekna.
Mongolian Olympic Committee
The Mongolian NOC organised the Burte Chono 2022 awards ceremony last December at the Chinggis Khaan Museum. IOC Member and NOC President Battushig Batbold opened the ceremony, which saw judoka Tsend-Ochir Tsogtbaatar crowned as Top Athlete of the Year. Enkhiin-Od Sharavjamts, the first Mongolian player for the Dayton Flyers in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men's basketball league, won the Best Young Athlete of the Year Award.
Moroccan NOC
As part of the launch of the Olympic scholarships programme to prepare for the Olympic Games Paris 2024, the NOC organised a gathering of athletes at its headquarters on 4 January. More details on www.cnom.org.ma.
Spanish NOC
On 10 January, the NOC headquarters hosted the launch of the 15th edition of the “All Olympic” campaign, an educational project run by the NOC to spread the values of sport and Olympism in schools across Spain. Fifteen Olympians and high-level athletes were there to tell the schoolchildren present about their sporting and personal experiences. More details here. At the end of December, the 17th NOC gala honoured the best Spanish athletes of 2022. A total of 19 prizes were awarded in 10 categories. More details here.
ORGANISING COMMITTEES FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES
Paris 2024
On 11 January, Paris 2024 and the French Development Agency (AFD) announced the winning projects of the third edition of the Impact 2024 international call for projects. These initiatives focus on gender equality, education, health and the inclusion of people with disabilities, in line with the shared priorities of Paris 2024 and the AFD for the legacy of the Paris 2024 Games. Ten projects have been selected from among the 202 in 35 different African countries that were submitted for this edition. Full details here.