Olympic Highlights

IOC ACTIVITIES

PRESIDENT

The IOC Executive Board (EB) approved the Olympic Solidarity 2017-2020 Olympiad Plan during a meeting chaired by IOC President, Thomas Bach, in Lausanne. The Olympic Solidarity development and assistance budget approved amounts to USD 509,285,000 and corresponds to the share of the broadcast rights from the Olympic Games (Rio 2016 and PyeongChang 2018) which will be distributed to the NOCs. For President Bach, “this contribution to Olympic Solidarity builds on the great success of the Olympic Games Rio 2016, and once again shows our commitment to worldwide solidarity, to athletes, and social responsibility". This budget represents an increase of 16 per cent in comparison with the 2013-2016 Plan. Olympic Solidarity will propose 21 programmes to NOCs across the world with a high focus on athlete development and education. The 2017-2020 Plan proposes two new programmes concerning Refugee Athlete Support and Athletes’ Career Transition. Read the news here.

Speaking at the opening of the annual IF Forum organised in Lausanne by the SportAccord Convention under President Francesco Ricci Bitti, the IOC President spoke about the success of the Olympic Games Rio 2016 and thanked the IFs for their support to and solidarity with the Organising Committee. In his remarks he stressed that this continued success of the Games provides a solid foundation of stability and security for the whole Olympic Movement to meet future challenges. The President also underlined the importance of working together so that the Olympic Movement can continue to drive necessary changes and make progress on many important issues facing the world of sport. Beforehand, the President met Francesco Ricci Bitti, also President of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF), accompanied by Patrick Baumann, IOC Member and President of SportAccord (See also under ‘Recognised Organisations).

The President also spoke to the representatives of the Lausanne-based IFs and the Canton de Vaud at their annual meeting, in the presence of Lausanne Mayor Grégoire Junod and Canton of Vaud State Councillor Philippe Leuba. He emphasised the strong connections and longstanding friendship that exist between the Olympic Capital and the Olympic Movement, as illustrated by the many IFs that call Lausanne their home.

Along with the IOC Vice-Presidents – John Coates, Juan Antonio Samaranch and Uğur Erdener – the President visited the site of Olympic House, which is currently being built in Vidy.

Fourteen IOC commissions met this week in Lausanne. The IOC President participated in all of the meetings, taking the opportunity to thank all of the Olympic Movement stakeholders for their contribution to the success of the Olympic Games Rio 2016. He outlined the key factors of this success, underscoring the fact that the Olympic Games Rio 2016 were seen by nearly half the world’s population, making it the most watched Games in history with more broadcast coverage than ever before. He pointed out that there were 350,000 total hours of media coverage from Rio 2016 (an increase of 75% from London 2012) and 5 billion impressions across all IOC social media platforms. In all his meetings, he highlighted the importance for all stakeholders to continue implementing Olympic Agenda 2020 recommendations. He also invited the participants to make suggestions on how to strengthen the fight against doping.

During an informational meeting for new IOC Members, the President met with Nita Ambani, Sari Essayah, Ivo Ferriani, Luis Alberto Moreno, Auvita Rapilla, Anant Singh, Tricia Smith, Britta Heidemann, Seung Min Ryu, Yelena Isinbaeva and Sarah Walker.

Meetings were held with IOC EB Members Sergey Bubka and Ser Miang Ng; IOC Members Richard W. Pound, Iván Díbos, Prince Albert II, Ung Chang, Guy Drut, Nawal El Moutawakel, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, Lydia Nsekera, José Perurena, Tsunekazu Takeda and Karl Stoss; and IOC Honorary Members Vitaly Smirnov and Julio César Maglione.

The President has also held meetings with IOC Marketing Commission member Yael Arad; International Fencing Federation President Alisher Usmanov; World Taekwondo Federation President Chungwon Choue; International Surfing Association President Fernando Aguerre; and World Olympians Association President Joël Bouzou. Furthermore, he also welcomed George Hirthler, a US producer and author of “The Idealist: The story of Baron Pierre de Coubertin”.

An MoU has been signed with the International University Sports Federation (FISU), whose President is Oleg Matytsin. This agreement underlines the close cooperation between the IOC and FISU in the fields of education through sport, and is also based on following up and implementing Olympic Agenda 2020 recommendations.

The “Excellence Guirlande d’honneur 2016’ of the International Sports Cinema and Television Federation (FICTS) has been awarded to the IOC and its President. The award has been presented in Lausanne to the IOC President by the FICTS President, Franco Ascani. The list of previous recipients includes personalities in sport, cinema and television such as Pelé, Robert Redford, Ennio Morricone, Bud Greenspan, Franco Zeffirelli.

MEMBERS

Auvita Rapilla has been named Female Director of the Year by the Papua New Guinea Institute of Directors, in recognition of her role at the NOC of Papua New Guinea; as a Board member of the Pacific Games 2015 Authority; and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) and the Executive Board of the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC).

COMMISSIONS

Ethiopian sports journalist Dagim Zinabu Tekle has become the first man to receive the IOC Women and Sport World Award. The Trophy was officially presented to him by the IOC President in the presence of the Chair of the Women in Sport Commission, Lydia Nsekera, at a gala organised at the SwissTech Convention Centre in Lausanne. In 2011, Tekle founded the Lisan Women’s Sport Radio Programme, dedicated to inspiring women and girls to be more active in sport and to pursue their goals and dreams. Along with the World Trophy, five Continental Trophies were presented to: Felicite Rwemarika (Rwanda) for Africa; Carole Oglesby (USA) for the Americas; Maria Leonor Estampador (Philippines) for Asia; Majken Maria Gilmartin (Denmark) for Europe; and Moya Dodd (Australia) for Oceania. Read the news here.

Meeting in Lausanne from 8 to 10 November, the 2024 Evaluation Commission Working Group analysed the Candidature Files Part 2: Governance, Legal and Venue Funding of the three cities competing to host the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad in 2024. Led by 2024 Evaluation Commission Chair Frank Fredericks, the IOC-appointed Working Group reviewed each of the files submitted in October by Los Angeles (USA), Budapest (Hungary) and Paris (France) (Cities are listed in the order of drawing of lots). The Working Group will update the IOC EB at its meeting from 6 to 8 December. Read the news here.

OTHER OLYMPIC NEWS

The IOC’s Olympic Studies Centre (OSC) has launched a new and bilingual library catalogue, the Olympic World Library (OWL). The OWL is simultaneously a library catalogue, an information portal and a search engine, and is entirely devoted to Olympic knowledge. It can be accessed at www.olympic.org/library. The OSC has also launched the 2017/2018 edition of the Advanced Research Grant Programme. The main objective of this programme is to promote advanced research with a humanities or social sciences perspective by established researchers on topics identified annually by the IOC. For the new edition, a total of 18 priority fields of research have been identified dealing with key IOC activity areas. Find the full list of topics and more details at www.olympic.org/studies.

INTERNATIONAL SPORTS FEDERATIONS

SUMMER IFS

In 2017, the International Boxing Association (AIBA)’s HeadsUp initiative will have the underlying theme of AIBA Year of Africa. With a view to plotting a course for the African Boxing Confederation (AFBC) to build on its solid foundations, two days of workshops took place in Lausanne on 7 and 8 November, designed to set achievable goals and strategies that will take the continent’s boxing forward using a dynamic template to then be adapted for other territories. Six members of the AFBC took part in these meetings alongside AIBA President and IOC EB Member Ching-Kuo Wu (photo above), and addressed various issues such as the implementation of numerous regional courses and educational seminars for coaches and officials at all levels, maximising and building on the current competition schedule, improved communications and the growth of women’s and grassroots boxing. Read the news here.

Ahead of the Hockey Revolution Part 2 Conference in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), an International Hockey Federation (FIH) Hockey Academy Management Course with a strong focus on athletes’ pathways was held for officials from Continental Federations and National Hockey Associations (photo above). The 25 participants from every continent discussed best practices on how to develop talent and, at the same time, promote education for life after athletes sporting careers. This aligns well with Olympic Agenda 2020 in particular to promote the protection and support of clean athletes, which is a top priority for the FIH. Read the news here.

From 31 October to 2 November, the very first Sports Federation Management Programme for Wrestling was held in London (Great Britain). United World Wrestling (UWW) partnered with the World Academy of Sport to develop the first educational programme in management for national federation managers. This programme covers areas such as strategy, financial management, governance, marketing and anti-doping. The participants came from Asia, Europe and North America (photo above). Info at www.unitedworldwrestling.org.

The International Swimming Federation (FINA) has announced the 2017 calendar of the annual FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix circuit. The Series will start on 5 February in Santa Fe, Corondoa (Argentina) and conclude in Capri-Napoli (Italy) on 3 September. Full calendar here.

Ary S. Graça was re-elected as President of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) for the 2016-24 period at the 35th FIVB World Congress in Buenos Aires (Argentina) last month. He was first elected as President of the IF in 2012 at its Congress in Anaheim (USA). In Buenos Aires, the 226 delegates representing 201 federations re-elected him by acclamation. Read the news here.

Antonio Espinós has been re-elected as President of the World Karate Federation (WKF) for 2016-22 at the IF’s Congress in Linz (Austria). The preparations for karate’s participation as an Olympic sport at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the acceptance of five new national federations, the celebration of World Karate Day in 2017 and the next World Championships were among the subjects addressed at the Congress. Info at www.wkf.net.

WINTER IFS

During its meeting held on 5 November at the FIS headquarters in Oberhofen (Switzerland), the Council of the International Ski Federation dealt with a full agenda comprising, among many other subjects: competition calendars, proposals from the FIS Technical Committees, and reports on the upcoming FIS World Championships and Olympic Winter Games. Various important areas of the governance of FIS were also addressed, including approval of the FIS Universal Code of Ethics, and the roadmap for the FIS Strategic Plan. Read the news here.

NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES

The number of sporting initiatives being launched for refugees continues to grow after the IOC’s creation of the Refugee Olympic Team. The Cyprus NOC has just organised – in cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (HCR) in Cyprus and the “Pancypria” gymnastics association – a sports induction day for young refugees. On 5 November, over 100 youngsters aged 13 to 18 took part in this sports induction day staged at the Olympic House and the GSP stadium in the capital, Nicosia (photo above), in the presence of NOC President Dinos Michaelides and HCR representative in Cyprus Damtew Dessalegne. Besides the sports activities – basketball, wrestling, taekwondo, judo, table tennis, football and athletics – the youngsters also had an opportunity to visit the Olympic museum and watch a film on the participation of the ROT at the Olympic Games Rio 2016. The NOC plans to organise similar events and invite Tegla Loroupe, the ROT Chef de Mission in Rio, to visit schools and federations in Cyprus. Read the news here and info at www.olympic.org.cy.

Olympic medallists Oscar Figueroa, Yuri Alvear Orejuela and Jackeline Rentería recently took part in a working meeting organised by the Colombian NOC and the Institute of Sport, Coldeportes, regarding preparations for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (photo above). The meeting was held at the Coldeportes headquarters in Bogotá, and those attending included Coldeportes Director Clara Luz Roldán, NOC President Baltazar Medina, NOC member Myriam Leonor Suárez, several athletes and Paralympic medallists, who explained their ideas on how to best prepare for these Games. Read the news here.

The Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) marked its 100th Olympic Day Festa in Otsuchi, a town in the Tohoku region (which was stricken by the earthquake and tsunami) on 29 October (photo above). These events have brought smiles to hundreds of children, who have enjoyed sports activities with Olympians since 2011. The event was one of a series that are being delivered with the support of the IOC and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) under the “Tsubasa” IOC Support Project. The JOC President, IOC Member Tsunekazu Takeda, was also present along with some Olympians. Info at www.joc.or.jp.

The Nepalese NOC recently received a visit from a delegation from the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and the IOC (photo above). The programme of the two-day visit included a meeting with the NOC President, in the presence of the Secretary General, Lama Tendi Sherpa; a meeting with all of the NOC staff; an inspection of the NOC headquarters; and meetings with representatives of the NOC’s commissions and of the National Olympic Academy, as well as with all the members of the NOC’s Executive Committee. The main aim of the visit was for the three IOC and OCA delegates to better understand the situation of the Nepalese NOC and to examine the use of the assistance provided by Olympic Solidarity.

At the invitation of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (CTOC) President, Hong-Dow Lin, a delegation of Chinese Olympic champions from the Olympic Games Rio 2016 accompanied by their coaches, paid a visit to Taipei from 23 to 27 October (photo above). The CTOC had invited the Chinese delegation, led by Chinese Olympic Committee Vice-President Li Yingchuan, to share their experience and expertise and strengthen the friendship and understanding between the athletes and coaches on both sides of the Strait. The two NOCs hope that this visit will facilitate technical and friendship exchanges and benefit sports development in the long term. Info at www.tpenoc.net.

The Turkish NOC’s Active Kids programme was held on 5 November in five primary schools in Istanbul with the participation of 1,200 children aged 6 to 10. This programme, now in its third year, has been co-developed by Nike and more than 70 expert organisations that research and promote the many benefits of physical activity for children. Active Kids aims to combat the epidemic of physical inactivity among children. This year’s curriculum includes sessions on the basic techniques for sports including athletics, handball, volleyball and basketball. For 10 years, through its cultural and education programme, the NOC has educated millions of children countrywide on the values and history of the Olympic Games, the importance of nutrition and the discipline needed to achieve sporting success on the international stage. Info at www.olimpiyat.org.tr.

Over 100 people recently took part in the 2nd Sports Journalism Seminar placed under the auspices of the Venezuelan NOC (photo above). Organised at the NOC headquarters, this Seminar is part of the framework of Olympic Solidarity programmes. The themes addressed included Olympic Games coverage, new social media, TV and radio production and conducting interviews.

ORGANISING COMMITTEES FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES

PYEONGCHANG 2018

The Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 (POCOG) recently welcomed more than 200 representatives of the international media to PyeongChang for a World Press Briefing. POCOG President Lee Hee-beom opened the briefing, which gave visiting media an overview of the preparations, including the test event programme for this winter, which get underway in November. Read the news here.

TOKYO 2020

The Organising Committee for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 has launched its Nationwide Participation Programme, kicking off an ambitious series of public events aimed at building public support ahead of the Games Tokyo 2020, and at maximising their impact and reach across Japan. Several sports and cultural events are already planned for the Greater Tokyo Area and the Tohoku region, in the areas affected by the 2011 earthquake, to engage the young generation and invite them to play a part in the preparations for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Read the news at www.tokyo2020.org.

RECOGNISED ORGANISATIONS

During the 10th edition of the IF Forum, organised by SportAccord Convention and placed under the main theme “The Power of Sport to Drive World Health”, Margo Mountjoy, Chair of the Medical and Scientific Consultative Group of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF), presented the results of the 2016 anti-doping survey involving all 28 Summer Olympic IFs. Conducted from February to May 2016 through an online questionnaire, the survey had three main objectives: establish the anti-doping processes that individual IFs implement within their respective sports; quantify the financial resources devoted to the IF anti-doping efforts in 2015 (the first year of implementation of the revised Code of the World Anti-Doping Agency); and establish best practices from IF experiences on how to better protect the clean athlete. Full news release here.