Olympic Highlights 17/12/2024
IOC
PRESIDENT
On Friday 13 December, IOC President Thomas Bach was awarded the order of Officier de la Légion d’Honneur by French President Emmanuel Macron at an official ceremony at the Élysée Palace in Paris.
This prestigious award, France’s highest order of merit, recognises President Bach’s outstanding achievements in the remarkable success of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. These history-making Games, which were modern, inclusive and had an unprecedented global impact, delivered on the ambitions of the IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020 and ushered in a new era for Olympism.
In his address, President Macron said: "Dear Thomas, on 14 September, you presented the Olympic Cup to the people of France. Three months later, it is the French people who are honouring you for your commitment, your sense of excellence, your friendship, and your vision of sport, which is sport for the people, democratised and inclusive – sport as a school of life, sport that does not separate people, sport that educates and brings people together and that can do so many things. Sport and Games for all.
"Your election as President of the IOC launched 11 years of Herculean work, 11 years of extolling the ideals of Olympism, 11 years in the role of conductor, executing Olympic Agenda 2020, focusing on the athletes, harmonising, tuning, promoting more polyphonic, more responsible, sustainable and diverse Games, and ultimately, more human Games. Ones that, under your leadership, pursue an ambition for peace. The International Olympic Committee is also a diplomatic vision, with which France identifies very closely, with a desire for something shared and universal.
"Your personal commitment to promoting multilateralism, respect between peoples and peace must be commended. You have done everything an IOC president could do in these troubled times to try to secure peace, to secure the possibility of those moments of truce that the Games can offer.
"With you, the word of the IOC has been its bond; and Olympism will always have France by its side to uphold our common ideals and protect the autonomy and unity of the international sports movement.
"Throughout your terms of office, from Rio to Tokyo and Paris, from the COVID years to the return of war, you successfully gave the whole world something to celebrate, brought thousands of people together around a common magic, shared emotion and a rediscovered sense of pride. Making the Games beneficial was probably your biggest accomplishment of all.
"You were able to resolutely adapt Olympism to the new realities and aspirations of sport.
"2024 marked your final Games as IOC President. And it was a happy coincidence, given that you are a great friend of France, that these Games were held in our country. The world will forever remember those magnificent scenes at the Opening Ceremony on the Seine, the music, the victories earned through sweat and tears, the turmoil of Advent, the adrenaline of self-betterment and the joy of triumph. This summer, you made a country proud of itself.
"You are an Olympic champion, a skilled fencer, a diligent lawyer, a German and a keen Europeanist, and it is probably this perfect combination that enabled you to lead the IOC so magnificently. You are leaving it in the best possible shape, and somewhat in mourning too. But in the spirit of the institution and its best interests, you decided to pass on your work.”
The award ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Michel Barnier, several ministers and former ministers, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Paris 2024 Organising Committee President Tony Estanguet, representatives from the French authorities, and numerous personalities from the world of sport, politics and culture, celebrating the historic cooperation between the IOC and France.
Speaking after the ceremony, President Bach said: “I am deeply honoured to receive this distinction. I share it with all my colleagues and friends in the IOC and the Olympic Movement. It also celebrates the collective success of the Paris 2024 Games and the IOC’s universal mission to bring the world together in peaceful competition. These Games showcased the transformative power of sport, creating a culture of peace based on the Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship. They will leave a long-term sporting, social and environmental legacy in France.” He went on to thank President Macron and the people of France: “I would like to sincerely thank President Macron and the French nation for their trust, their unwavering commitment to the Olympic ideal and their exceptional welcome.”
The IOC President was accompanied by IOC Members Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant, Chair of the IOC’s Paris 2024 Coordination Commission; David Lappartient, President of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF); Jean-Christophe Rolland; and Martin Fourcade; as well as IOC Director General Christophe De Kepper.
The Paris 2024 Games, which were the most followed of all time, marked a turning point for the Olympic Movement. Under the leadership of President Bach, Olympic Agenda 2020 made the Games younger, more urban and more sustainable, with gender parity achieved on the field of play for the first time. From the candidature phase, Paris 2024 embodied this innovative vision, working closely with the IOC to organise inspiring Games that reached more than five billion people around the world. The Organising Committee’s ambition and creativity led to a historic event that brought people together and gave them hope, meeting the aspirations of a global society looking for meaning and unity.
Created in 1802 by Napoléon Bonaparte, the Légion d’Honneur is awarded to individuals, from France or abroad, who have rendered outstanding services to the nation or embody ideals of excellence in a number of fields. With this decoration, France is paying tribute to the positive impact of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, under the leadership of President Bach, and their long-term legacy for sport and society.
Earlier in the week, President Thomas Bach was in Pristina to help celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Kosovan NOC. He was accompanied by the President of the European Olympic Committees and IOC Member, Spyros Capralos, and was welcomed in the capital by Kosovan NOC President Ismet Krasniqi.
Kosovo’s NOC was officially recognised early in President Bach’s term, in 2014, and the IOC President told the special gala, celebrating the anniversary, that it was “a very emotional moment” for him to be there for this milestone. Also present at the event were the President of the Republic of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, the Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, athletes from Kosovo and representatives of NOCs from around the world.
Just before the gala dinner, President Bach met three of Kosovo’s Olympic medallists, all of them judokas and all of them women, including Majlinda Kelmendi, who won gold– Kosovo’s first Olympic medal - at the Olympic Games Rio 2016.
Earlier in the day, he met with the Prime Minister, Albin Kurti. The Prime Minister emphasised the vital role that sport plays in society. He informed the President that his government was concentrating on sport in schools, linking education to the sports system and starting this education for younger children.
President Bach also visited the NOC headquarters, where he heard about the strategic plans to upgrade the country’s sporting infrastructure and try to increase the number of sports that Kosovan athletes can compete in at the Olympic Games. Read the full news release here.
From Pristina, President Bach went to Madrid to visit the National Olympic Committee of Spain (COE), meet the Spanish Prime Minister; and present the Olympic Order to COE President Alejandro Blanco, who accompanied him throughout the visit.
President Bach also visited the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, at the Palace of Moncloa. In a very friendly and fruitful meeting, the two leaders spoke about the great success of the Spanish team at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. President Bach congratulated the Prime Minister on the performance of the Spanish team and thanked him for his great contribution to the ultimately successful effort to have the athletes from the territories of all 206 NOCs present at the Games in Paris. He also thanked him for helping to defend the IOC's political neutrality.
The Prime Minister informed President Bach about a very comprehensive government initiative in Spain to promote and benefit from the social values of sport, and to offer business opportunities to small- and medium-sized businesses through sport across Spain. Finally, they discussed the opportunities, benefits and risks of artificial intelligence for sport, in line with the Olympic AI Agenda. They agreed to explore opportunities for a close cooperation with Spain in this field, in which Spain, in some respects, has already taken a lead.
Later that evening, the President awarded the Olympic Order to the President of the COE, Alejandro Blanco, praising him for his extraordinary leadership of the Olympic Movement in Spain. The Spanish Prime Minister was also in attendance.
Earlier in the day, the President joined a meeting of the Executive Board of the Spanish NOC, before having a celebratory lunch with Spanish medallists from the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Read the full news release here.
At an introduction seminar for the new IOC Members held at Olympic House in Lausanne, President Bach met Aya Medany, Paula Belén Pareto, Gene Sykes, Kim Bui and Allyson Felix – all elected during the 142nd IOC Session in 2024 – and Mehrez Boussayene, elected during the 141st Session in 2023.
Later, the President presented Paula Belén Pareto with an OLY diploma and pin, and she signed the Olympians Wall. As a judoka, Belén Pareto represented Argentina at four consecutive editions of the Olympic Games: Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. She won the gold medal in Rio and a bronze in Beijing.
The President also presented an OLY diploma and pin to the IOC’s new Medical and Scientific Director, Jane Thornton who then signed the Olympians Wall. Thornton represented Canada for over a decade in the sport of rowing and took part in the Olympic Games Beijing 2008.
MEMBERS
IOC Member Kim Bui received this year’s Award for Role Models in Sport during the Annual German Sports Gala. The three-time gymnastics Olympian, who was elected to the IOC Athletes’ Commission this summer in Paris, was recognised for her commitment to supporting athletes; for her courage to address taboo topics, such as eating disorders and psychological abuse in sport; and for sending a powerful signal against the sexualisation of women in sport by wearing a full-body suit in some of her competitions. The prize was awarded by the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, a partner of the German Olympic Team, during a TV show.
OLYMPIC MUSEUM
A new exhibition at the Olympic Museum from 5 December to 27 April 2025 spotlights how the worlds of sport and fashion have greatly influenced each other. Co-produced by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (MAD) in Paris and the Olympic Museum, “Fashion and Sport: From One Podium to Another“ weaves a visually dazzling narrative through nearly 300 sports-related historical and designer pieces. To mark the grand opening of “Fashion and Sport”, the Olympic Museum hosted its first-ever fashion show on 4 December, produced by Yannick Aellen, founder of the Zurich-based Mode Suisse platform. To highlight home-grown fashion in the Olympic Capital of Lausanne, Switzerland, seven of the eight creators presenting their work on the catwalk that wound its way through the museum’s exhibitions were Swiss. Read more about it here.
OTHER OLYMPIC NEWS
The IOC’s Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) was honoured with the prestigious “Nurturing Values and Ethics Award” at the Reimagine Education Awards ceremony in London on 11 December. OVEP was shortlisted from a pool of over 1,300 applications from over 90 countries, and was ultimately chosen from amongst seven other finalists for first place. The programme’s innovation, scalability and global reach were among the criteria for recognition, as its adaptable framework enables its resources to be culturally relevant across diverse contexts. Full details here.
Over 6,000 athletes and members of their entourage have taken part in educational activities on the prevention of competition manipulation during 2024, the IOC announced on International Anti-Corruption Day (IACD). These activities took place during the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and the Youth Olympic Games Gangwon 2024. This year’s IACD theme, “Uniting with Youth Against Corruption: Shaping Tomorrow's Integrity”, gave the IOC an opportunity to look back at the wide range of activities provided for athletes in Paris and Gangwon. Read about all these activities here.
A year on from the Global Refugee Forum, members of the Sport for Refugees Coalition – co-convened by the Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF) alongside UNHCR and the Scort Foundation – have collectively reached almost half a million people affected by displacement through sport and play-based activities. Find out more here.
The IOC, in collaboration with the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), organised a series of workshops for Asian NOCs in Bangkok, Thailand, from 5 to 7 December. On the first day, participants learnt how to develop safeguarding policies and procedures, and how to spread awareness through community engagement and education. A hands-on workshop based on case studies on how to identify an incident and make an initial trauma-informed assessment allowed for lively discussions among participants. The agenda also featured a panel discussion with athletes who spoke about their work advocating for safe and supportive environments, and the importance of working with a holistic and athlete-centric approach that considers their wellbeing as a priority. The safeguarding officers from 43 NOCs who attended the workshop also heard about the work currently being done by the OCA on athlete safeguarding for the Asian Games, under the IOC’s guidance, which has led to the development of Safeguarding Guidelines and an Asian Games-time Safeguarding Framework.
The safeguarding workshop was followed by a significant capacity-building activity for NOCs and law enforcement authorities (as part of the IOC-INTERPOL Integrity in Sport initiative), which took place on 6 and 7 December in Bangkok. The event comprised both plenary and break-out sessions, in which stakeholders had the chance to discuss best practices and lessons learnt. Certain NOCs, such as Thailand, Sri Lanka, Jordan and Singapore, shared their good practices, including the adoption of rules and ongoing awareness-raising activities. The focus was on basketball, with FIBA actively involved and a number of National Federations’ Basketball Integrity Officers from Southeast Asia attending the workshop. The OCA also shared the way it has been working on preventing competition manipulation and on safeguarding the integrity of the Asian Games. See also the news here on the OCA website.
Zeynep Gencaga Dechelotte has been appointed Esports Associate Director at the IOC, taking up her role in November 2024. In this new position, she will lead the development of esports for the IOC, supporting and implementing the organisational strategy as set out by Olympic Agenda 2020+5. Gencaga Dechelotte will also oversee the review and planning of the Olympic Esports Games with internal and external partners. Gencaga Dechelotte has more than 15 years of experience, mainly across the football, gaming and esports industries. Full news release here.
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATIONS
SUMMER IFS
Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)
During an Extraordinary FIFA Congress held virtually, Morocco, Portugal and Spain were appointed as the hosts of the FIFA World Cup 2030™, with three centenary celebration matches to be held in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay (one in each country), while Saudi Arabia was selected to stage the FIFA World Cup 2034™. All 211 FIFA Member Associations were at the Congress. Full details here. Ahead of the Congress, the FIFA Council held a virtual meeting during which it confirmed that the FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027™ will be played from 24 June to 25 July 2027. The FIFA Council also confirmed that the FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2025™ will take place from 5 to 27 November 2025. Details here.
International Surfing Association (ISA)
During its 2024 Annual General Meeting (AGM), the ISA took some key governance decisions. Two ISA Vice-Presidents and one regular Executive Committee member were elected: Sally Fitzgibbons from Australia, Karín Sierralta from Peru and Kimifumi Imoto from Japan, respectively. The British Virgin Islands became the 116th ISA National Federation member. A series of amendments to the ISA Constitution were also passed, adding human rights and diversity as an ISA core objective. More details about the AGM here.
International Tennis Federation (ITF)
The ITF’s “Class of…” series recognises and celebrates players who have had a successful year on the ITF World Tennis Tour, identifying the year’s most promising and breakthrough talents, and those predicted to go on to bigger and better things next year. Discover here the ITF Class of 2024.
NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES
British Olympic Association (BOA)
Dame Katherine Grainger will be the new BOA Chair, thus becoming the first ever female Chair of the BOA since its establishment in 1905. The 46 members of the NOC recently voted to elect her, replacing the incumbent, Sir Hugh Robertson. Katherine Grainger is the only British woman in history to have won a medal at five successive Olympic Games. Shortly after retiring from her rowing career, she was appointed as the Chair of UK Sport. She will start her initial four-year term after the completion of her second and final term with UK Sport in early 2025. More details here.
Moroccan NOC (CNOM)
The CNOM recently organised an Olympic visit for 1,200 pupils and supervisors to coincide with the National School Sports Championships. The event took place on 9 December in Meknès and was organised by the Ministry of National Education in cooperation with the Royal Federation of School Sports, among others. Info at www.cnom.org.ma.
Spanish NOC (COE)
On 11 December, the COE ended an Olympic year full of sporting success by holding its 19th gala, which honoured the Paris 2024 medallists and their coaches. The ceremony was held in the Goyeneche Auditorium at the COE headquarters in Madrid, in the presence of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez; the Minister of Education, Professional Training and Sport, Pilar Alegría; the Secretary of State for Sport, José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes; the IOC President; and numerous athletes and sports federation presidents. The list of athletes honoured can be found here.
Uruguayan NOC
The third edition of the advanced sports management course concluded at the end of November. Having started in June, this course brought together 18 participants, 12 of them women, representing various bodies including national federations affiliated to the NOC and the Uruguayan Paralympic Committee. The programme covered six areas of sports management: sports organisation, strategy, human resources, economics, marketing and major sports event organisation. The course was organised by the NOC with the support of Olympic Solidarity. More details here.
NOC of Uzbekistan
The 41st NOC General Assembly was held at the end of November. Alongside members of the General Assembly and officials from national federations and associations, the Assembly took place in the presence of the Prime Minister, Abdulla Aripov; the Head of the Department of the Administration of the President of the Republic, Odil Abdurakhmanov; the Minister of Sport, Adham Ikramov; and OCA Vice-President Otabek Umarov. During the Assembly, Shavkat Mirziyoyev was elected as the NOC President. NOC Vice-Presidents and the Secretary General were also elected. The updated NOC Charter was also approved on this occasion. Full details here.
ORGANISING COMMITTEES FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES
MILANO CORTINA 2026
The competition schedule for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 has been unveiled, with over 2,900 of the world’s best winter athletes set to compete between 6 and 22 February 2026. Fans who register on the official ticketing platform by 15 January 2025 will be the first to be offered access to the full range of tickets available from 6 February 2025, exactly one year before the Opening Ceremony. Read the full news release here.
RECOGNISED ORGANISATIONS
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
WADA has opened online registration for its 2025 Annual Symposium, to be held on 18 and 19 March 2025 at the SwissTech Convention Centre in Lausanne. The Symposium is returning to an in-person only format given the decrease in virtual attendance since the first hybrid version in 2022. Full details here.
NEXT EDITION
A special edition of the “Olympic Highlights” will be published at the end of 2024. We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all an enjoyable festive period.