Olympic Highlights 18/03/2022
IOC ACTIVITIES
PRESIDENT
This week at Olympic House, IOC President Thomas Bach held a meeting with the President of the Ukrainian NOC, IOC Member Sergii Bubka, to discuss humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian Olympic community. With the support of Olympic Solidarity in Lausanne and his team at the NOC in Ukraine, Bubka is leading a task force which will review the allocation and distribution of the solidarity fund to the Ukrainian Olympic community and sports movement (see also under ‘Other Olympic News’).
Also at Olympic House, President Bach welcomed Ankie Spitzer, the widow of Israeli fencing coach Andre Spitzer, who was among the victims of the attack during the Olympic Games Munich 1972. She thanked the President for the moment of remembrance during the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Ankie Spitzer was accompanied by a film team from the Netherlands, who are producing a documentary about her ahead of the 50th anniversary of the attack at the Olympic Village in Munich this September.
The IOC President and IOC Executive Board member Ivo Ferriani, who is also the President of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), discussed the success of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 and a number of Olympic topics.
The President also met the President of World Triathlon, IOC Member Marisol Casado, at Olympic House. During their meeting, they discussed various Olympic matters and in particular the huge progress on gender equality at the Olympic Games. Casado chairs the IOC Gender Equality Working Group.
President Bach held a phone conversation with IOC Honour Member and former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, with whom he discussed a number of issues in the news.
This week, the President attended the inauguration of the new temporary exhibition at The Olympic Museum, “Riding the Olympic Wave”. The exhibition presents the six new sports and disciplines which have been added to the Summer Games programme (3x3 basketball, BMX freestyle, breaking, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing), together with their respective social, cultural and artistic contexts.
OTHER OLYMPIC NEWS
On 12 March, the IOC has announced that an initial USD 200,000 has been released to support Ukrainian Olympic community. The solidarity fund announced by the IOC Executive Board (EB) to supply humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian Olympic community has earmarked the efforts that will receive initial financial support. The fund was set up by the IOC, Olympic Solidarity and European Olympic Committees along with a small task force led by the President of the Ukrainian NOC and IOC Member, Sergii Bubka. Full news release here.
IOC welcomes new European Union (EU) report setting out action plan to achieve gender equality in sport. Published by the EU High-Level Group on Gender Equality in Sport, and entitled “Towards More Gender Equality in Sport”, the report compiles recommendations and proposes an action plan for the EU Commission and EU governments, together with sports organisations and civil society groups involved in sport. Full news release here.
The IOC Olympic Studies Centre has selected eight projects for the 2022 PhD Students and Early Career Academics Research Grant Programme. Based on their academic quality, the eight research projects were selected for the current edition of the programme, which promotes Olympic studies in universities around the world. The topics of the research projects include the effects of Olympic Agenda 2020, parkour facing the Olympics and an exploration into the role of uniforms in the production of gender in the Olympic Games. Full news release here.
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATIONS
SUMMER IFS
At its first meeting of the year, the World Athletics Council made a number of significant decisions relating to upcoming World Athletics Series events, including confirming the dates for two major events in 2024. The 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow (Great Britain) will take place from 1 to 3 March, while the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima (Peru) will be held from 20 to 25 August. Full details here.
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, World Rowing launched its Women in Coaching Toolkit. This is intended to support member federations with the recruitment, development and retention of female coaches in rowing. Since the establishment of World Rowing’s Gender Equality Strategy in 2014, improving gender balance among rowing coaches has been a key objective. Full details here.
The International Canoe Federation (ICF)’s Secretary General, Simon Toulson, has announced his resignation after 15 years of service in the role. He will leave his post in April 2022. Prior to joining the ICF, Toulson worked at the IOC, Formula 1 and Manchester United FC. In his role as ICF Secretary General, he has been responsible for the increase in canoeing audiences on television and digital channels, and oversaw the start of paracanoe and its inclusion at the Paralympic Games Rio 2016, and the inclusion of extreme canoe slalom at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Gender equality in the canoeing programme was also achieved during his tenure. Full details here.
The International Cycling Union (UCI) has announced that the 2022 UCI Mobility and Bike City Forum will take place in UCI Bike City Glasgow (Scotland, Great Britain) on 27 and 28 October. The Forum is the UCI’s annual conference dedicated to the promotion of sustainable and active mobility. This event brings together the transport and cycling communities, alongside representatives from the UCI Bike City and Region network, National Federations, Continental Confederations, UCI advocacy and marketing partners and industry experts. Full info here.
Last month, the International Judo Federation (IJF) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on “Judo for Peace” programmes and IJF activities to help support refugee inclusion. UNHCR was represented by Raouf Mazou, Assistant High Commissioner for Operations, and the IJF by its President, Marius Vizer (see photo). The MoU will focus on the inclusion of refugees in sport, with an emphasis on social cohesion, development, child protection and gender equity. Full details here.
The International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) has unveiled the brand new UIPM Educational Platform. The platform was originally launched in 2017 as a centralised resource for judges and coaches as part of both the Judges Certification Programme (JCP) and Coaches Certification Programme (CCP). The updated 2022 version will now also include the Athletes-Centred Programme (ACP), which is to be launched separately soon. More details here.
Forty-one young surfers from around the world have been awarded International Surfing Association (ISA) Scholarships, after applying for the 2021 Scholarships Programme. The surfers hail from 18 nations, including Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Morocco, the Philippines, Senegal, Thailand and Venezuela. Full info here.
World Triathlon has approved its over-arching Strategic Plan for 2022-2025, which is designed to develop the sport globally in the most sustainable and inclusive way possible. The plan will also drive the organisation towards more commercial goals within the triathlon market. Full info here.
NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES
The National Olympic Academy of the Barbados Olympic Association Inc. (BOA) has hosted an anti-doping webinar for junior athletes. Sasha Sutherland, Executive Director of the Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organisation (RADO), conducted the webinar for the athletes and their parents as part of the RADO’s commitment to educating athletes about anti-doping before participating in competition. It had four objectives: to introduce junior athletes to the World Anti-Doping Code, the doping control process, anti-doping rule violations, and the Athletes’ Anti-Doping Rights Act. More details here. In addition, the BOA has announced that boxer Kimberly Gittens, a Central American and Caribbean Games medallist, has been awarded a Commonwealth Sport Women’s Leadership Programme Scholarship. More details here.
The Brazilian Olympic Committee (BOC) facilitated the delivery of a surprise gift to gymnast Rebeca Andrade, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion: the vaulting table she used to win the gold medal in Tokyo. Andrade officially received the special gift at the BOC Training Centre in Rio de Janeiro (see photo). Detailed info here.
The NOC of the Dominican Republic and the Santo Domingo Sports Press Association (ACD) are set to sign a series of agreements aimed at strengthening the sports movement, with communications training to be provided on technical matters related to various sports and disciplines. A talk entitled “2024 Olympic cycle: the road and challenges ahead for Olympism in the Dominican Republic” was given by the NOC’s Technical Director, Juan Febles Dalmasí, with numerous members of the ACD in attendance, in the week when the association marked its 93rd anniversary (see photo). Full details here. In addition, the NOC’s training programmes will be enhanced as part of its Olympic Solidarity Programme, with a view to strengthening its pool of qualified leaders in the short to medium term. A workshop-seminar will be held prior to these programmes. More details here. The NOC’s Women and Sport Commission also celebrated International Women’s Day by inviting female athletes from all over the country to work with their male colleagues to help achieve gender balance in sport.
The Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China (SF&OC) has announced the names of the five recipients of the Paris 2024 Olympic Scholarships for Athletes (see photo). The scholarships will help the recipients prepare and potentially qualify for the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Each of them will receive a 32-month subsidy of USD 1,500 per month from January 2022 to August 2024 to support their training and qualification costs. More details here.
Olympic champion Distria Krasniqi and European champion Akil Gjakova, both judoka, have been named “Female Athlete of the Year” and “Male Athlete of the Year”, respectively, during the “Laureates of 2021” ceremony (see photo), organised in Pristina. The ceremony was attended by the Kosovo Olympic Committee President, Ismet Krasniqi, the Deputy Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Daulina Osmani, and the President of the Albanian NOC, Fidel Ylli. Athletes, representatives of municipalities and sponsors were also in attendance, along with representatives of sports federations, who had the opportunity to present the other awards with members of the NOC Executive Board and other guests. More info at www.noc-kosovo.org.
The Lithuanian NOC (LNOC) last month honoured the winners of the 27th Lithuanian Fair Play Awards. The LNOC President, IOC Member Daina Gudzinevičiūtė, and the President of the Lithuanian Fair Play Committee, Olympian Austra Skujytė, presented the awards in six categories ‒ “Lifetime Achievement”, “Fair Play Act of the Year”, “Fair Play Act of a Young Athlete or Youth Team”, “Young Athlete - a Role Model for Peers”, “Fair Play Project” and “Fair Play Organisation”. More info here. In addition, the NOC has published the latest feature piece as part of the second season of its self-initiated HeForShe campaign, which promotes gender equality in sport. It tells the story of the “ironmamas”, shining a spotlight on Agnė Šniukienė, the head of Ironmama triathlon club, which brings together strong, ambitious women, her namesake, Agnė Klimaitienė, and their respective families. More details here.
To celebrate International Women’s Day, the Women in Sport Commission of the Mongolian NOC organised an event with the NOC’s female members, in the presence of IOC Member and First Vice-President Batbold Battushig and NOC Acting President Choijgavaa Naranbaatar. The Commission will implement the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA)’s Social Development through Olympism project, and will hold a series of events such as an “empowering female sports leaders” seminar, a sports day with female Olympic medallists, an Olympians activity for high school students and the publication of social media content on women sports leadership as a role model.
On 15 March, the Digital Olympic Academy of the Moroccan NOC held a videoconference with the theme “Meeting with Olympians”. A few days earlier, the NOC organised the third module of its high-level coaches training course in Bouznika. More info at www.cnom.ma.org.
Values education, equality, perseverance, visibility and success were the terms most often mentioned at the Spanish NOC’s first Women and Sport Conference held on 16 March. Alongside NOC President Alejandro Blanco, the Conference was attended by female sports management pioneers and several female Olympic champions, who talked about their experiences and various challenges they had faced during their sports and professional careers. More details here.
The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has announced that Tervel Dlagnev was awarded the bronze medal from the Olympic Games London 2012 in the men’s 120kg freestyle wrestling during an honorary Olympic Medal Reallocation Ceremony on 6 March in Lincoln, Nebraska. The ceremony was held in advance of the Big Ten Conference Wrestling Championship finals at the University of Nebraska, where Dlagnev serves as an assistant wrestling coach. The bronze medal was presented to Dlagnev by IOC Member Anita DeFrantz, a member of the USOPC board of directors (see photo). Rich Bender, USA Wrestling’s Executive Director and a fellow USOPC board member, was also present. Full info here.
The Venezuelan NOC’s Women in Sport Commission celebrated International Women’s Day at the NOC headquarters. On this occasion, Venezuelan sports personalities were recognised for their work and contribution to sport. The celebrations concluded with the opening of the “Heroines of Venezuelan Sport” exhibition of photographs by NOC photographer Edilzon Gamez.
Organising Committees for the Olympic Games
Paris 2024
On 10 March, the Organising Committees for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 and the Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026 signed a collaboration agreement at the Paris 2024 headquarters, renewing both organisations’ commitment to the success of the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar. Tony Estanguet, the President of Paris 2024, and IOC Member Mamadou Diagna Ndiaye, the President of Dakar 2026, signed the agreement (see photo), which underlines that the main objective for Paris 2024 and Dakar 2026 remains to optimise the organisation and delivery of the Games and strengthen their legacy. This will include the sharing of experience and best practices on all aspects of the organisation of the Games, as well as joint communications initiatives. Full news release here.
Recognised organisations
Athlete representatives from the European Olympic Committees (EOC) and the IOC discussed the future of sport during a meeting with Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Promoting the European Way of Life, in Brussels (Belgium) on 10 March. EOC Athletes’ Commission Chair Gerd Kanter, who participated remotely, and the IOC Athletes’ Commission Chair, IOC EB member Emma Terho, presented, on behalf of European athletes, the contribution for the Conference on the Future of Europe in the form of recommendations for the priorities of European sport in the years ahead. They were joined by other participants, including EOC President and IOC Member Spyros Capralos. Detailed info here.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has announced the names of the two newly elected members of the IPC Athletes' Council, who will serve for the next four years until the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. They are Birgit Skarstein (Norway, Para cross-country skiing) and Joshua Peter Duek (Canada, Para Alpine skiing) (see photo). Two other athletes, Mitchell Gourlay (Australia, Para Alpine skiing) and Rico Roman (USA, Para ice hockey) were tied for the final place. The IPC Athletes’ Council, due to meet in April, will decide between these two candidates. Full release here. On 8 March, the IPC announced the three winners of the 2022 International Women’s Day Recognition Awards. The winners are Zimbabwean coach Oripa Mubika (Leadership), Singapore’s Paralympic champion Yip Pin Xiu (Emerging Leadership), and Paralympics New Zealand (National Paralympic Committee and International Federation). Full details here.
On 14 March, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to collaborate on a range of anti-doping programme development activities. The MoU was signed during the 17th Asia/Oceania Region Intergovernmental Meeting on Anti-Doping in Sport, hosted in Dubai by the United Arab Emirates National Anti-Doping Organisation. The MoU, which was signed by WADA President Witold Bańka and ASEAN Secretary-General Dato Lim (see photo), will run for an initial term of three years. Full news release here.