Olympic Highlights 23/01/2023
IOC ACTIVITIES
PRESIDENT
This week at The Olympic Museum, IOC President Thomas Bach received Joe Gebbia, the co-founder of Worldwide Olympic Partner Airbnb and a member of the Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF) Board. The President thanked Gebbia for his outstanding support to athletes and the Olympic community via Airbnb and to refugee athlete programmes in particular. In recognition of Gebbia’s personal commitment, the IOC President presented him with a Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch, a commemorative medal and a banner of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team.
Following on from last December’s Olympic Summit, the IOC President held telephone consultations with the IOC Members, the NOCs, the IFs, the network of athletes’ commissions and the members of the IOC Athletes’ Commission to update them on the Summit recommendations and obtain their feedback.
At Olympic House, President Bach met 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 and the effects of climate change on winter sport.
The President met Kathy Carter, CEO of the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028. The main focus of the meeting, which was attended remotely by LA28 President Casey Wasserman, was the preparations for the Games.
The IOC President also met Michael Evans, Director and President of Worldwide Olympic Partner Alibaba. Alibaba’s engagement with the Olympic Movement and IOC digital strategy were discussed. Evans was accompanied by Michael Payne, a marketing consultant and the former IOC Marketing Director.
President Bach and Lee Jae-yong, Vice-Chairman of Worldwide Olympic Partner Samsung, highlighted the excellent relations between their organisations.
President Bach also held a meeting with Makhtar Diop, the Managing Director of the International Finance Corporation, an arm of the World Bank Group, and a member of the IOC Olympism365 Commission. Their discussions focused on various topics of mutual interest, including how to use sport as a tool and enabler for the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The President held a telephone conversation with the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi. This follows the adoption by the 77th UN General Assembly last December of a resolution recognising that major international sports events “should be organised in the spirit of peace”, and that “the unifying and conciliative nature of such events should be respected”.
This week, the President welcomed Swiss National Councillor and former Mayor of Montreux Laurent Wehrli on a courtesy visit to Olympic House.
MEMBERS
IOC Member Paul Tergat has been announced as an ambassador for the 2023 World Athletics Cross Country Championships, which will be held in Bathurst, Australia, on 18 February. He is a multiple world cross country gold medallist and a double 10,000m Olympic silver medallist. Full details here on the World Athletics website.
OTHER OLYMPIC NEWS
The IOC has announced that all media rights in Europe for the four Olympic Games in the 2026-2032 period have been awarded to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Warner Bros. Discovery. Following the IOC’s launch of a competitive tender, the EBU and Warner Bros. Discovery presented a joint bid to acquire all media rights across 49 territories in Europe for the XXV Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad Los Angeles 2028, the XXVI Olympic Winter Games in 2030 and the Games of the XXXV Olympiad Brisbane 2032, as well as for the Youth Olympic Games in the period. Full news release here.
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATIONS
SUMMER IFS
Union Cycliste Internationale
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has launched the new UCI Mountain Bike World Series, which will include the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup. This Series will unite all of mountain bike’s major formats under a single brand for the first time. The World Cup will be the pinnacle of this new structure, which will enable all the formats to flourish independently but also sit side by side at select rounds and give athletes and teams additional exposure. The UCI Mountain Bike World Series will also provide opportunities for amateurs and those seeking to break onto the Elite stage. More details here.
World Rowing
World Rowing has announced that, for the first time at the World Rowing Indoor Championships, the 2023 edition will incorporate a new multi-challenge competition format, in addition to the usual age-category races. The new race, the World Rowing Versa Challenge, will help determine the world’s best indoor rower. Over two days, competitors will race in five different events. Ten men and ten women have qualified in advance to compete in Mississauga, Toronto, Canada, on 25 and 26 February 2023. Full news here.
NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES
Colombian NOC
Colombia’s 10th Olympic Sport Gala took place on 18 January in Bogotá. This awards ceremony organised by the Colombian NOC recognises the best athletes of 2022 in two categories: Olympic sports and non-Olympic sports. You can find all the winners of the Altius 2022 awards on www.olimpicocol.co
Dominican Republic NOC
With the support of Olympic Solidarity and the International Judo Federation (IJF), a level I judo instructor course got underway this week at the National Judo House in the Olympic Centre in Santo Domingo. Organised by the IJF Academy, in coordination with the Dominican Judo Federation, the course saw the participation of instructors from Uruguay, the USA, Costa Rica, Panama, Haiti, Chile and the Dominican Republic. More details here. On 15 January, sports leaders, including Dominican NOC President Garibaldy Bautista, and Olympic athletes attended a commemorative mass to mark the 12th anniversary of the death of Roque Napoleón “Polón” Muñoz. Alongside friends and family members, they paid tribute to a man who played an important role in sports administration in the Dominican Republic. He was NOC President from 1974 to 1982 and was elected as an IOC Member in 1983, before becoming an Honorary Member in 2008. More details here.
Hellenic Olympic Committee
The Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) recently honoured the medal winners of European and World Championships in 2022 during a ceremony held in the presence of many state officials and distinguished guests from the sports family. The prestigious HOC "Demetrius Vikelas" award for great services to Olympism and Sport was awarded to the former HOC President and IOC Honorary Member Lambis Nikolaou, and to Marianna Latsis, representative of the Ioannis Latsis Foundation, which has made a significant contribution to the Olympic Preparation Scholarships. A video message from the IOC President paid tribute to Lambis Nikolaou and his dedication to the Olympic Movement. In his welcoming speech, the HOC President and IOC Member Spyros Capralos spoke about the HOC’s support to the athletes for their preparations for the Olympic Games and international competitions. More details here, including the list of the awarded athletes.
Lithuanian NOC
On 10 and 11 January, in five European countries, over 100 aspiring and experienced sports managers launched a unique women’s leadership in sport project called New Miracle. Project New Miracle is a unique initiative by the Lithuanian NOC, with four other European NOCs (Italy, Latvia, Estonia and Slovakia) joining it. The Foro Italico University of Rome has become the project’s academic partner. In preparation for this project, a free training programme and an exclusive mentoring platform for novice sports managers will be created, whereby project participants will have the opportunity to get advice from experienced colleagues and improve their collaboration skills. Full info here.
Spanish NOC
The Spanish NOC, the channel RTVE and the Spanish Government are set to relaunch the Association of Olympic Sports (ADO) programme ahead of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The announcement was made at the headquarters of the National Sports Council, at a meeting attended by the companies involved in this Olympic athlete support programme. Jennifer Pareja, a silver medallist in water polo at the Olympic Games London 2012 and winner of the Best Female Water Polo Player of the Year award in 2013, will take on overall management responsibilities for the ADO programme. She has served as an adviser to the National Sports Council President’s Office for the past four-and-a-half years. Full details here.
ORGANISING COMMITTEES FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES
Paris 2024
Paris 2024 and On Location have unveiled a worldwide e-commerce platformthat allows the general public to access customisable Olympic Games hospitality packages for the first time. Fans around the world can now purchase official Paris 2024 hospitality packages at a consistent global price, including guaranteed tickets to Olympic sporting events and a wide range of additional options such as hotels and transport, as well as unique and exclusive hospitality experiences at competition venues or in the heart of the host city. Full news release here.
ORGANISING COMMITTEES FOR THE youth OLYMPIC GAMES
Gangwon 2024
On 19 January, with just one year to go to the Winter YOG Gangwon 2024, the local Organising Committee (YOGOC) unveiled its official mascot, “Moongcho”, song (“We Go High”) and choreography. All three of these were developed by young people in Korea. The YOGOC has also appointed B-girl and YOG medallist Yeri Kim as an Honorary Ambassador. Also present at the one-year-to-go event was Gangwon 2024 Honorary Ambassador and Olympic figure skating champion Yuna Kim. Full details here in the news release.
RECOGNISED ORGANISATIONS
Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA)
The African Athletes’ Forum will take place in Algiers, Algeria, on 11 and 12 March 2023. It will be organised by the ANOCA, in collaboration with Olympic Solidarity and the IOC Athletes’ Department. The event aims to plan on how to better care for athletes from the continent by developing a suitable framework for the implementation and follow-up of support measures for them. This meeting is part of the implementation of the ANOCA strategic plan to boost sport and Olympism. It will provide a platform to brainstorm the management of athletes’ careers, their post-career and socio-professional lives. Full info here.
World Anti-Doping Agency
WADA has published the outcomes from its 2022 Global Education Conference, and added numerous Conference presentations to its Anti-Doping Education and Learning Platform (ADEL). Full info here. WADA has also published its 2021 testing figures report. Read the report highlights here. In addition, WADA has announced the composition of its Foundation Board and Executive Committee as of 1 January 2023. Full details here.
Fédération Internationale Cinéma Télévision Sportifs (FICTS)
Submissions for the “Sport Movies & TV– Milano International FICTS Fest” are officially open. Organised by the FICTS, the event will take place in Milan (Italy) from 7 to 11 November 2023. This is the final Festival of the “World FICTS Challenge”, which includes 20 festivals held across the five continents. The celebrations of the “Forty years of the foundation” of the FICTS will also be held during the Festival. More info, including entry forms, at the FICTS website: www.sportmoviestv.com.