International Olympic Committee : News

Highlights of the Week

5/24/2013 6:44:00 PM

IOC ACTIVITIES

PRESIDENT

On 21 May, IOC President Jacques Rogge chaired the working meeting that brought together all stakeholders of the Olympic Movement – the IOC, IFs, NOCs and athletes – to discuss the fight against doping in sport, the fight against illegal betting, the sporting calendar, autonomy and good governance.

This week in Vidy, President Rogge has met:
-       a delegation from the Tunisian NOC, led by its President, Mehrez Boussayene;
-       a delegation from the Italian NOC, led by its President, Giovanni Malagò, and including IOC members Franco Carraro, Mario Pescante and Ottavia Cinquanta, as well as IOC honorary member Manuel Di Centa; and
-       IOC members Joseph S. Blatter and Claudia Bokel.

Next week, President Rogge will attend the Opening Ceremony of the Games of the Small States of Europe in Luxembourg then he will be in St Petersburg (Russian Federation) for the IOC Executive Board meetings held during the SportAccord Convention.

COMISSIONS

Last weekend, the Coordination Commission for the Summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in 2014 in Nanjing concluded its fourth visit to the Chinese city. With 15 months to go until the 2nd Summer YOG, the Commission, chaired by Alexander Popov, said it was particularly pleased to see the level of detailed preparation presented as the organisers look ahead to the operational readiness phase. Read the news here.

This week in Lausanne, the Nominations Commission, chaired by Francisco Elizalde, held a meeting in Lausanne.

INTERNATIONAL SPORTS FEDERATIONS

SUMMER IFS

Nenad Lalovic has been elected President of the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) at its extraordinary Congress held in Moscow (Russian Federation) on 18 May. Read about the important decisions taken on this occasion here: www.fila-wrestling.com.

Adham Sharara was re-elected as President of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) at its Annual General Meeting in Paris (France). During the Assembly, the 2016 World Championships were awarded to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and those in 2018 to Halmstad (Sweden). The island of Bonaire has been confirmed as the 218th ITTF member association. More info at www.ittf.com.

NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES

The German NOC (DOSB), whose President is IOC member Thomas Bach, has won the German Award for Online Communication in the NGOs sector for its communication initiative around the German Olympic team. At the heart of this initiative was the social hub for team members and a slogan: “Wir für Deutschland” (“We for Germany”) with the Twitter hashtag #WirfuerD. The NOC thus unified Olympic team communications on one site (www.deutsche-olympiamannschaft.de). One day later, the DOSB won another award – the PR Report Award – for the Olympic team welcome ceremony in Hamburg in the Event and Live Communication category. More info at www.dosb.de.

The Bahrain NOC has launched its new strategy for the next Olympic cycle (2013-17) and unveiled its new brand at a ceremony organised at the Bahrain Disabled Sports Federation Gym in Isa Town Sports City. The ceremony was held under the auspices of Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, NOC President and Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, in the presence of numerous sports personalities and media representatives. The NOC’s slogan was also unveiled: “Inspired to Achieve.

The Brazilian NOC, whose President is IOC member Carlos Arthur Nuzman has announced the second group of athletes to benefit from its Athlete Support Programme. Eight Olympic and Pan-American medallists have been selected. Led by the Brazilian Olympic Institute, the NOC’s Education Department, this programme will provide support and plan athletes’ development to prepare them for when they stop competing and switch to a new profession. More details at www.cob.org.br.

The Colombian NOC has informed us that, from 20 to 24 May, Medellin hosted 164 journalists who took part in the AIPS America Sports Games. On 21 May at the Institute of Sport and Leisure (INDER), a seminar for sports journalists brought together the best sports journalists on the American continent and Olympic champions Jefferson Pérez (Ecuador) and Alberto Juantorena (Cuba). Full info at www.coc.org.co.

The President of the Mongolian NOC, Demchigjav Zagdsuren, has signed a second partnership agreement for the period 2013-16 with the Executive Director of Goyo Co. Ltd, D. Badamtsetseg. This company will provide ceremony uniforms for the Mongolian team. More info at www.olympic.mn.

At Prague Castle, Czech NOC President Jiri Kejval signed the IOC’s official invitation to take part in the Sochi Winter Games next year. The President of the Czech Republic, Miloš Zeman, signed the accompanying letter. Dozens of past and present athletes attended the ceremony, including London Games medallists Mirka Knapkova and David Svoboda, who received commemorative badges. Read more at www.olympic.cz.

The Venezuelan NOC recently paid tribute to 11 sports personalities. A ceremony was hosted by Elida Párraga, who was representing the NOC; the Chairman of the NOC’s Ethics and Values Commission, José Fernández Freites; and the Commission members. For information, this Commission’s remit is to pay tribute to people who have written sporting history in the country.

ORGANISING COMMITTEES FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES

RIO 2016

Brasília’s Mané Garrincha National Stadium – one of six venues that will host football matches during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games – has been officially reopened. This new 71,000-capacity venue will be used for the FIFA 2013 Confederations Cup, the FIFA 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Games. The inaugural match was held on 18 May in the presence of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Brazilian Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo. Full article at www.rio2016.com.

YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES

NANJING 2014

On 19 May, the IOC announced that double Olympic champion Yelena Isinbaeva will be an Official Ambassador for the Nanjing 2014 YOG. These Games will be held from 16 to 28 August, and will have 28 sports on the programme, including golf and rugby sevens, which will make their Olympic debuts before featuring on the programme of the Rio 2016 Games. For more info, click here.

RECOGNISED ORGANISATIONS

We have just learned that the annual meeting of the Athletes’ Commission of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) was held on 3 and 4 May in Dakar (Senegal). Chaired by Amadou Dia Ba, this meeting focused on two main themes: Revitalising the Athletes’ Commission and the Role of the Athletes’ Commission in improving the performances of African athletes in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. The Commission members also met with African sports journalists and interns from the International Athletics Centre in Dakar, and took part in a cross country race with several youngsters.

The 34th European Olympic Committees (EOC) Seminar, organised in collaboration with the San Marino NOC, recently brought together 49 NOC delegations. Their work was carried out under the direction of EOC Secretary General Raffaele Pagnozzi. EOC President Patrick Joseph Hickey also chaired the Executive Committee meeting. The agenda included the Sochi and Rio Olympic Games, the Nanjing Summer YOG and the Lillehammer Winter YOG, as well as the first edition of the European Games in Baku in 2015. This year, the Seminar was coupled with the IOC’s Olympic Solidarity Continental Forum. The 2014 Seminar will be organised in Nicosia, at the invitation of the NOC of Cyprus. News and photos at www.eurolympic.org.

Nanjing celebrates its third edition of the Youth Olympic Culture Festival

5/24/2013 2:15:00 PM

Featuring a multitude of fun-filled cultural activities, from park orienteering, ultimate frisbee matches and Japanese animation shows to Dutch food tasting, a Paris-themed photography exhibit and live music, the festival encouraged young people to really embrace new sights, tastes and experiences from around the world ahead of next year’s YOG, which will see athletes from over 200 countries arrive in the city.

What are you most looking forward to about next summer’s Youth Olympic Games? Tell us on our Facebook page.

NHL: Second-round playoff results

5/24/2013 5:24:25 AM

Results on Thursday from the second round of the National Hockey League playoffs (all series best-of-seven):

Eastern Conference

at New York

New York Rangers 4 Boston 3 (over-time)

(Boston lead series 3-1)

Western Conference

at Detroit

Detroit 2 Chicago 0

(Detroit lead series 3-1)

at Los Angeles

Los Angeles 3 San Jose 0

(Los Angeles lead series 3-2)

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YOG champion Adam Lamhamedi gets set to represent Morocco at Sochi 2014

5/23/2013 3:45:00 PM

Attending a major international sporting event for the first time, the Youth Olympic Games were for the young champion - whose father is Moroccan and mother Canadian - a “stepping-stone” to achieving his dream of representing his African origins at the Olympic Winter Games. A dream that is now within touching distance as he has obtained the quota of points required from the previous season to qualify for Sochi 2014. Adam must now wait until later in the year to hear if he will be officially selected to represent his country.

Speaking about his decision to represent Morocco at the YOG, Adam said: “I wanted to prove that Moroccans can ski well, and I proved it [in Innsbruck]. This represents that in life you can do everything, never give up.”

The YOG graduate is certainly one to watch, and while we look forward to seeing his future achievements, watch Adam’s winning performance at Innsbruck 2012:

NBA: Conference championship results

5/23/2013 3:53:53 AM

Results on Wednesday from the NBA conference championships (all series best-of-seven):

Eastern Conference

at Miami

Miami 103 Indiana 102 (OT)

(Miami lead series 1-0)

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United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to speak at 3rd International Forum on Sport for Peace and Development

5/22/2013 4:48:00 PM

The presentations and discussions will focus on the following five themes:

Integrating and Mainstreaming Sport in Development and Peace - Moving from Communication to Organisational Objectives
The Culture of Peace through Sport - Concrete Actions and Challenges
Sport and Social Integration
Sport and Social Development Legacies
Capitalising on Partnerships and Networking

Other confirmed high-profile speakers include Hugh Robertson, Minister of Sport and Tourism of the UK and Northern Ireland; Aldo Rebelo, Minister for Sport of Brazil; Mario Pescante, IOC member and Chairman of the IOC International Relations Commission; Sir Philip Craven, IOC member and President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and Wilfried Lemke, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General on Sport for Development and Peace.

Background information

Jointly organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the UN Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP), with the support of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), the biennial event aims to assess the successes and challenges of using sport as a tool for human development and peace promotion and looks at how to pave the way for future concerted action in these fields.

The event will also be live streamed on the UN website www.un.org

Click here to read the full report and the resolution of the last Forum, held in Geneva in 2011

Learn more about the IOC’s activities in the field of Development through Sport
Learn more about the IOC’s activities in the field of Peace through Sport
Learn more about the IOC’s International Relations Commission
Learn more about the International Olympic Truce Foundation (IOTF)
Learn more about the UNOSDP
Learn more about USOC

Football: AFC Champions League results

5/22/2013 12:06:12 PM

AFC Champions League round of 16, second leg results on Wednesday:

At Kashiwa

Kashiwa Reysol (JPN) 3 (Hirofumi Watanabe 42, Jorge Wagner 51, Masato Kudo 69) Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (KOR) 2 (Tatsuya Masushima 22-OG, Kevin Oris 86)

Kashiwa win 5-2 on aggregate

Playing later

At Guangzhou

Guangzhou Evergrande (CHN) v Central Coast Mariners (AUS) 8:00 pm (1200 GMT)

At Doha

Lekhwiya (QAT) v Al Hilal (KSA) 6:30 pm (1530 GMT)

At Tehran

Esteghlal (IRI) v Al Shabab Al Arabi (UAE) 9:00 pm (1630 GMT)

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Rebuilt Brasília stadium opens ahead of Rio 2016

5/21/2013 2:30:00 PM

The original stadium, which was built in 1974, was demolished in 2010 in order to construct a new 71,000-capacity venue that will be used during the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2014 FIFA World Cup, as well as Rio 2016.

The opening match on 18 May saw Brasiliense defeat Brasília 3-0 to claim the Federal District Championship in front of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Brazilian Minister of Sports Aldo Rebelo.

The new multi-use venue, which occupies a total area of 1.6 million square metres, can be adapted to host large scale cultural or sporting events, with retractable seats offering greater flexibility. The rebuilt stadium also features more than 70 hospitality boxes and state-of-the-art media facilities.

The new venue was constructed using recycled materials from the old stadium and also features rainwater and solar energy harvesting systems, while the 90,000m2 outer membrane helps retain heat, reducing the need for air conditioning or artificial ventilation. The self-cleaning membrane also helps filter the pollution of approximately 1,000 cars.

The design of the stadium itself features 288 external columns and was inspired by various monuments in Brasília – the federal capital of Brazil.

Badminton: Sudirman Cup results - 2nd update

5/21/2013 3:31:35 PM

Results from group games of the Sudirman Cup badminton tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday:

Group A

China bt Indonesia 5-0

Men's singles

Chen Long (CHN) bt Tommy Sugiarto (INA) 21-17, 21-11

Women's singles

Li Xuerui (CHN) bt Aprilia Yuswandari (INA) 13-21, 21-4, 21-11

Men's doubles

Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng (CHN) bt Hendra Setiawan and Angga Pratama (INA) 16-21, 21-15, 21-15

Women's doubles

Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli (CHN) bt Greysia Polii and Nitya Krishinda Maheswari (INA) 21-10, 21-13

Mixed doubles

Xu Chen and Ma Jin (CHN) bt Muhammad Rijal and Debby Susanto (INA) 21-13, 21-7

Group B

South Korea bt Thailand 5-0

Men's singles

Lee Dong-Keun (KOR) bt Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (THA) 12-21, 21-9, 22-20

Women's singles

Sung Ji-Hyun (KOR) bt Nichaon Jindapon (THA) 21-11, 21-7

Men's doubles

Ko Sung-Hyun and Lee Yong-Dae (KOR) bt Maneepong Jongjit and Nipitphon Puangpuapech (THA) 21-10, 21-14

Women's doubles

Jung Kyung-Eun and Kim Ha-Na (KOR) bt Duanganong Aroonkesorn and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul (THA) 21-16, 17-21, 21-11

Mixed doubles

Ko Sung-Hyun and Kim Ha-Na (KOR) bt Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam (THA) 21-9, 21-10

Group C

Germany bt Malaysia 3-2

Men's singles

Lee Chong Wei (MAS) bt Dieter Domke (GER) 21-18, 21-18

Women's singles

Olga Konon (GER) bt Tee Jing Yi (MAS) 21-12, 21-14

Men's doubles

Lim Khim Wah and Goh V Shem (MAS) bt Ingo Kindervater and Johannes Schoettler (GER) 21-16, 23-21

Women's doubles

Birgit Michels and Johanna Golsizewski (GER) bt Woon Khe Wei and Vivian Hoo (MAS) 21-16, 16-21, 21-18

Mixed doubles

Michael Fuchs and Birgit Michels (GER) bt Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying (MAS) 21-17, 18-21, 21-17

Group D

Japan bt Denmark 3-2

Men's singles

Kenichi Tago (JPN) bt Jan O Jorgensen (DEN) 13-21, 21-19, 27-25

Women's singles

Sayaka Takahashi (JPN) bt Line Kjaersfeldt (DEN) 21-18, 21-15

Men's doubles

Carsten Mogensen and Mathias Boe (DEN) bt Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa (JPN) 21-12, 16-21, 21-16

Women's doubles

Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi (JPN) bt Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl (DEN) 22-20, 21-16

Mixed doubles

Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen (DEN) bt Hirokatsu Hashimoto and Miyuki Maeda (JPN) 17-21, 21-15, 21-18

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Badminton: Sudirman Cup results

5/21/2013 9:03:28 AM

Results from group games of the Sudirman Cup badminton tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday:

Group A

China bt Indonesia 5-0

Men's singles

Chen Long (CHN) bt Tommy Sugiarto (INA) 21-17, 21-11

Women's singles

Li Xuerui (CHN) bt Aprilia Yuswandari (INA) 13-21, 21-4, 21-11

Men's doubles

Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng (CHN) bt Hendra Setiawan and Angga Pratama (INA) 16-21, 21-15, 21-15

Women's doubles

Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli (CHN) bt Greysia Polii and Nitya Krishinda Maheswari (INA) 21-10, 21-13

Mixed doubles

Xu Chen and Ma Jin (CHN) bt Muhammad Rijal and Debby Susanto (INA) 21-13, 21-7

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