International Olympic Committee : News

IOC Coordination Commission wraps up fourth inspection of Rio

2/20/2013 6:10:00 PM

Chaired by IOC Executive Board member Nawal El Moutawakel, the Commission spent three days examining preparations for the Rio project and receiving updates from the organisers and their partners on their plans. The Commission members also visited a number of Games-related projects including the Maracaña Stadium, Rio 2016’s new headquarters, Deodoro, and the Rio port area. They were particularly pleased to see that the local Organising Committee had taken on board many lessons from the London Games (both on site last summer and during the London Debrief in Rio last November) and has been busy adapting them to its own circumstances.

The continued strong support from the government was highlighted by the Commission following the start of regular meetings between the local Organising Committee and all levels of government, which were led by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. Aldo Rebelo, the Brazilian Minister of Sport; Sergio Cabral, the Governor of Rio de Janeiro; and Eduardo Paes, the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, were also present during the meetings of the Commission.

The evolution of the structure of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee, with the arrival of new CEO Sidney Levy and a number of personnel with previous Olympic experience, have also helped to move the Rio project forward in recent months. The Commission noted that this recruitment work needs to continue, as the project moves towards final delivery, which will require previous Games experience.

“We've seen solid progress this week,” said Commission Chair El Moutawakel. “Building work is ongoing and the Organising Committee continues to strengthen its capacity. However, many projects will have to be delivered simultaneously. We remain confident but we must all stay vigilant and continue to work hard, so that timelines are respected.”

The year ahead will be a critical one for Rio 2016, with work needed to begin at a number of sports venues in order to meet the deadlines for test events ahead of the Games. Such events are crucial in making sure that the Olympic Games run smoothly, as they allow athletes to get a feel for the field of play ahead of the Olympic Games, and for National Olympic Committees and International Federations to plan all their operations.

Rio 2016’s accommodation plans were presented during the meeting. The Commission recognised that a lot of work has been done but underlined that many hotel constructions were still to be confirmed in the next few months; the final accommodation plan is an essential building block for many Games operations.

Rio 2016 also presented its plans for engaging the whole country through different areas, such as education, culture, digital media, the brand, and spectator experience. The Commission was pleased to note that all the local stakeholders of Rio 2016 were being involved in the process.

The President of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee, Carlos Arthur Nuzman, commented: “We are making strong progress in our journey and we are on track to deliver great Games for Rio, Brazil and the world to enjoy. We have worked hard to increase integration across the project and the vital engagement and support of the three levels of government is stronger than ever. We are grateful for the expert advice and guidance received from the IOC Coordination Commission this week, and the Rio 2016 teams will continue to work relentlessly to deliver solutions for the outstanding issues and to respect the timelines involved in the project.”

In addition, the Commission received updates on preparations in areas such as athletes, venues, sports, International Federation services, National Olympic Committee services, transport, media services, work force, technology, marketing, and the Paralympic Games.

With the conclusion of London 2012 last year, the Commission will start to visit Rio twice a year from now on, as is the usual schedule for Coordination Commission visits to a Games host.

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Coordination Commission visit gets underway in Rio

2/18/2013 8:00:00 AM

Chaired by IOC Executive Board member and Olympian Nawal El Moutwakel, the Commission will be spending the next three days examining the progress of the Rio project and receiving updates from the organisers and their partners on their plans. The Commission will also visit some Games-related projects in the city.

Updates

Since its third visit last June, there have been a number of visits from IOC delegations to Rio, but this will be the first time the full Commission has been in town since the close of the London 2012 Olympic Games. This signifies that the Commission will start to visit the host city twice a year from now on, as is the usual schedule for Coordination Commission visits to a Games host. The Commission will hear updates on issues as varied as athletes, venues, sport, transport, media services, workforce, technology, and the Paralympic Games, to name but a few of the subjects to be discussed this week.

RIO 2016

Rio de Janeiro was elected on 2 October 2009 as the host city of the Games of the XXXI Olympiad at the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen, Denmark. Rio was elected in the third round of voting, beating the cities of Chicago (United States), Tokyo (Japan) and Madrid (Spain). Rio defeated Madrid in the third round of voting by 66 votes to 32, with Chicago and Tokyo already having been eliminated in the first and second rounds respectively. Rio 2016 will have 28 sports on its programme and will run from 5 till 21 August 2016.

Jacques Rogge: "Early legacy planning key to producing long-term benefits"

11/21/2012 8:00:00 AM

The final Olympic Games of my 12-year term as president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) were received with great fanfare this summer in London. Evidence of their success continues to reach me almost daily in the form of the question: “Were they the best Games in history?”

As much as it would please me to simply answer in the affirmative, I know such a response would be premature. My reply is always the same: “Let history be the judge.”

I say this not to take anything away from the thousands of people responsible for delivering London 2012, which was clearly an across-the-board success, but to draw attention to the considerable importance the IOC places on legacy – what an Olympic host city leaves behind long after the 16 days of sporting competition are over.

The Olympic Games are the largest sporting event in the world and for most host cities they are the biggest and most complex project they will ever undertake. Their organisation affects the whole of the city and its population and often includes urban, economic, social and environmental development that requires the broad and cohesive involvement of city leaders, regional and national authorities, Games organisers, local communities, commercial partners and all the members of the Olympic Movement.

The IOC actively encourages each city that bids for an Olympic Games to consider from the outset how they could utilize the event to bring positive, long-lasting benefits to its area and citizens. This sort of planning typically begins a decade before the start of a Games.

By the time Chairman of the London 2012 bid committee Sebastian Coe spoke at the host city election in Singapore in 2005, for example, the London organisers already had a firm and highly detailed vision for what they wanted to deliver in 2012 and beyond.

It included the regeneration of a massive industrial wasteland in East London, providing the local community with world-class sporting venues to train and compete in, new parks and residential areas, better transport connections and infrastructure, employment and business opportunities, sustainable construction, an increase in volunteerism, and the creation of the next generation of sporting champions by inspiring young people everywhere to become more involved in physical activity.

The organisation of the London 2012 Games themselves cost around 2 billion pounds, much of which was covered by the IOC and private funds. But the local authorities earmarked a further 9.3 billion pounds to leverage the Games as a catalyst for rapid city development and improvement, both tangible and intangible, that would otherwise have taken decades to achieve.

London 2012 has already delivered on many of its promises and by continuing to pursue others we are optimistic that the citizens of London will benefit from the Games long into the future.

The foundations for London’s achievements in this area were firmly built on the knowledge and expertise of past Olympic Games organisers. Massive urban regeneration projects undertaken by Barcelona 1992 and Sydney 2000, environmental and sustainability standards set by Lillehammer 1994 and Vancouver 2010, and programmes to encourage volunteerism and youth participation by Beijing 2008 are just a few of the success stories from past organisers that London used as a springboard for its own Games.

As the link between past, present, and future host cities, the IOC assists Games organisers through a comprehensive transfer of knowledge programme. Organisers of upcoming Games in Russia (Sochi 2014), Brazil (Rio 2016), and South Korea (PyeongChang 2018) are already benefitting from the programme, which includes an important debriefing that the IOC organises to give future host cities a comprehensive look at what worked well at previous Olympic Games and what could be improved.

This year it was London’s turn to pass the torch at the London 2012 Debriefing in Rio de Janeiro from 17-21 November. The Debriefing focused on all aspects of Games operations, from the moment a bid city wins the right to host a Games to long after the Games conclude. These meetings were also attended by representatives of the 2020 candidate cities Istanbul, Tokyo and Madrid, as well as other stakeholders responsible for staging the Games.

The London organisers had a great deal to pass on to their successors, who were given crucial insight into, among other things, producing and remaining focused on a long-term vision for their Games, the importance of collaboration between all parties during the planning and preparation phases, and ways to integrate the public into the event.

The Debriefing is by no means meant to provide a cookie-cutter template for future hosts. Rather, it is intended to provide valuable lessons that host cities can adopt and adapt to fit their own unique circumstances. We encourage upcoming Games organisers to innovate and expand on what they learn and ultimately improve upon the best practices of their predecessors.

London managed to do exactly that in preparing for and delivering the Games of the XXX Olympiad. It may still be too soon to call them the greatest Games ever, but ask the same question again in 20 years and you might just get a “yes.”

Olympic marketing partners: Opportunity knocks for future Games organisers

11/20/2012 2:13:00 PM

That’s a key message the IOC’s Managing Director of Television and Marketing Services, Timo Lumme, would like future organisers of the Olympic Games to take away from the IOC Debriefing of the London 2012 Games in Rio.

“You have to recognise that the partner group offers an unequalled and unique opportunity to do a multitude of things. They provide far more than just financing for the Games: they provide a fantastic amount of experience and know-how, including platforms to leverage and promote the Games,” Lumme said.

A comprehensive debriefing specifically for Olympic marketing partners was held in Rio just prior to the official debrief from 17-21 November to give those in attendance the time to look at all aspects of the partner relationship with organising committees, including services, hospitality, partner and venue operations, and others.

“The word partnership is important,” Lumme added. “The partners are clients but they are also facilitators and activators of the Games vision. So the notion of debriefing and educating, if you like, is to make future organisers understand the strategic importance of having both a revenue programme and leveraging marketing partners to fulfil their overall Games vision in many, many different ways.”

The IOC marketing team began transferring the knowledge they and their stakeholders gleaned from London 2012 shortly after the Olympic cauldron was extinguished on 12 August. The official debriefing this week, Lumme said, allows his team to pass along these messages in a broader way to more people.

“And one of those messages is: The more you integrate them, the more you can benefit from the various things that they can bring. They have a wealth of experience and they are willing to put resources behind that. Paramount to staging a successful Games is figuring out how to maximise the partner relationship.”

Want to host a successful Olympic Games? Then think like an athlete!

11/19/2012 9:03:00 AM

Enter Brazilian judoka Leandro Guilheiro. The double Olympic bronze medallist and three-time Olympian is one of a number of athletes and former athletes in Rio this week offering their insight and expertise to participants of the IOC Debriefing of the London 2012 Games. These include organisers of Sochi 2014, Rio 2016, PyeongChang 2018 and representatives of the three cities bidding to host the 2020 Olympic Games: Istanbul, Tokyo and Madrid.

Leandrinho, as he is affectionately known, has been there, done that in terms of the Olympic Games. Having competed at Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012, the 29-year-old is clearly no Olympic greenhorn. He knows what is required of organisers to keep the heart of the Games ticking optimally over the 16 days of competition.

“The Olympic Games are very complex so it is important for organisers to try to understand the vision of the Games from the point of view of the athletes,” he said Sunday, following a Q&A session on athlete experience during the London 2012 Debrief. “The Games are for the athletes and it is important to know how we think, what we think and how we experience the Games. For me personally, I have a lot to offer Rio 2016 and other future host cities as I have participated in three Games and can compare each one.”

For Leandrinho, the London Debrief is an excellent opportunity to not only educate future host cities, but to inspire them.

“Everything is so fresh, it’s amazing,” he says. “You can see how hard everyone (responsible for putting on the Games) works day to day, and this is a nice way to learn, to motivate and to share the Olympic spirit. It’s like growing up together.”

The Olympic spirit shows no sign of abating inside Leandrinho, who has his sights firmly set on competing in his fourth straight Games, this time on home soil at Rio 2016.

“Competing at home would be a dream. My Olympic dream. It would be amazing participating in front of my family and my friends. I don’t know if it’s the weather, the environment, or that everything is so positive here, but I always perform well at home.”

Thanks to the valuable insight he is offering future Olympic host cities this week, Leandrinho is helping to ensure that the Olympic dreams of athletes around the world not only come true, but also live up to their expectations.

The IOC’s Official Debriefing Of The London 2012 Games Opens In Rio

11/18/2012 11:40:00 PM

The London Debriefing, which is the seventh edition of the event, will see the organisers of the London Games share their knowledge and experience with the organisers of future Games editions – Sochi 2014, Rio 2016, PyeongChang 2018, and the 2020 Candidate Cities. The week of meetings kicked off with a welcome event, which included speeches from Nawal El Moutawakel, IOC Vice-President and Chair of the IOC Coordination Commission for Rio 2016; Denis Oswald, Chairman of the Coordination Commission for London 2012; Gilbert Felli, IOC Olympic Games Executive Director; Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG); Carlos Arthur Nuzman, President of Rio 2016; Eduardo Paes, Mayor of Rio de Janeiro; Luís Fernandes, the Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Sport; and Luiz Fernando Pezão, the Vice-Governor of the State of Rio de Janeiro.

El Moutawakel explained how the event would ensure that the London 2012 Games experience would help future host cities: “We are committed to sharing previous host cities’ best practices in order to help in all possible ways. The debriefing is an extensive knowledge transfer programme which guarantees that the success of previous Games editions can be repeated or even enhanced in the following host cities.”

Carlos Arthur Nuzman underlined how important the Debriefing and the IOC’s knowledge transfer programme were to future Games hosts: “The process of knowledge transfer is continuous and transparent ― and the Debriefing event is probably the clearest example of this. I would like to thank the IOC for developing this concept, which provides crucial assistance to Organising Committees.” Sebastian Coe emphasised the role that LOCOG would be playing at the Debriefing: "We want to assist Rio and other future organisers with the London experience. We will share our learning and we are willing to help out in all areas, especially when it comes to the legacy for young people".

The opening also saw a symbolic exchange of gifts, which included the presentation by Coe of the Brazilian “petal” from the London 2012 Olympic cauldron to Rio 2016 and Brazilian Olympic Committee President Carlos Arthur Nuzman. This was followed the next morning, during the opening plenary meeting, by a symbolic transfer of a baton between London 2012 and Rio 2016. The opening plenary session also included a discussion involving Brazilian Olympic medallist Leandro Guilheiro, who spoke about what he expected from a Games as a competing athlete and encouraged Games organisers to deliver like the athletes would when preparing for a competition.

The IOC’s knowledge management programme (OGKM) was created during the preparations for the Sydney 2000 Games and, since then, has evolved into an integrated platform of services and documentation, which assists organisers in their Games preparations, lets them evaluate their progress and success, and helps to define the future of the Games. Among the activities offered by OGKM are a Games-time observer programme, technical manuals, workshops, an extranet, secondee programme, Games evaluation programme, and of course, the Games Debriefing.

The London 2012 Debriefing Begins In Rio

11/17/2012 8:00:00 AM

This is the seventh event of its kind run by the IOC and is a key element in the IOC’s Transfer of Knowledge Programme. The Debriefing will see the staff of the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) sharing their knowledge and experiences with representatives from Sochi 2014, Rio 2016, PyeongChang 2018 and the three Candidate Cities for 2020.

The Debriefing will look at all of the principal areas of organising the Games and will give the various participants an opportunity to exchange ideas with each other after having had time to digest the results of the London Games. This event was preceded by a technology-specific debriefing and will be followed by an event looking at the Paralympic Games.

Speaking ahead of the opening, the IOC’s Olympic Games Executive Director, Gilbert Felli, said, “One of the main roles that the IOC plays in helping to organise the Games is providing the Organising Committees and their partners with access to the latest knowledge and experiences from the Olympics. We do this throughout the year with our Olympic Games Knowledge Management (OGKM) Programme but the Official Games Debriefing, along with the observer and secondee programmes at Games time, are invaluable to the host cities. They allow them to get the latest experience and lessons from the people who have just done the job, and this immediate knowledge transfer is consistently praised by the cities as being very beneficial to their planning.”

The London 2012 event is expected to see about 500 participants from across the various Games organisers and Candidate Cities take part in a combination of plenary, breakout and one-to-one sessions that will look at different topics like culture, media operations, ceremonies, the Olympic Torch Relay, sport, National Olympic Committee and International Federation services, workforce, venues, and commercial programmes. The experience of key client groups, such as the athletes and spectators, will permeate many of the different groups but will also be looked at in their own right as part of the discussion around the services offered to different Games participants.

The IOC’s Knowledge Management Programme (OGKM) was created during the preparations for the Sydney 2000 Games and since then, has evolved into an integrated platform of services and documentation, which assists organisers in their Games preparations, lets them evaluate their progress and success, and helps to define the future of the Games. Amongst the activities offered by OGKM are a Games-time observer programme, technical manuals, workshops, an extranet, secondee programme, Games evaluation programme, and of course, the Games debriefing.

London 2012 technology debriefing ends in Rio de Janeiro

11/16/2012 3:14:00 PM

The London 2012 Olympic Games debriefing, led by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), got underway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - the next Olympic host city in 2016 - this week, with three days of detailed discussion dedicated to the technology aspects of the Games.

The technology sessions (14-16 November) allowed the LOCOG Technology team and their technology partners, Atos, Omega, Panasonic, Samsung, British Telecom, Ofcom and Airwave, but also representatives from OBS, press agencies, International Federations and the International Paralympic Committee to share their knowledge and experience with representatives from Rio 2016, but also Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018 and their respective technology partners.

All other aspects of the Games will be looked at during the second part of the London 2012 debriefing (17-21 November). The final element of the programme (21-22 November) will be specifically for workshops dedicated to the Paralympic Games.

Young architect wins competition to design Rio 2016 golf course club house

10/3/2012 12:07:00 PM

The winning project, which was revealed at the Brazilian Institute of Architects, Rio de Janeiro department (IAB-RJ), features a large veranda showcasing the lush tropical landscape of Barra da Tijuca. The design aims to capture the spirit of Rio de Janeiro by combining an atmosphere of conviviality with nature.

The competition was open to professionals who graduated within the last 15 years and attracted entries from 82 teams of architects and landscape architects from across Brazil.

Pedro Évora and Pedro Rivera, the author and co-author respectively of the winning project, received a prize of about US$12,000. Explaining the concept behind his design, Évora said: “It’s an open space, with full contact with nature, integrated with the landscape of Barra. Those who play and who attend will have a unique experience, one that could only be experienced here.”

President of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Carlos Arthur Nuzman said at the event: “We wished to showcase Brazilian culture and to give this opportunity to our country’s young architects. They’ve come up with projects that honour and make Brazilian architecture proud. I’m delighted with the result.”

The Olympic Flag goes on display in Rio

8/21/2012 2:05:00 PM

Since the flag was handed to Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes by IOC President Jacques Rogge at the Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, the flag has been flown across the Atlantic and has visited a number of different places in the country.

One of the first stops for the flag after its arrival in Brazil was Brasilia and the Palácio do Planalto, where it was presented to the President of Brazil, Dilma Rouseff, in the company of two of Brazil’s Olympic medallists, boxing brothers Esquiva and Yamaguchi Falcão, who won silver and bronze medals in London respectively.

Closer to the Olympic venues in Rio, the flag has also visited the Complexo do Alemão favela and the Christ the Redeemer statue, where an inter-faith ceremony was held in honour of the flag’s arrival in the city. The flag is now on display to the public at the Palácio da Cidade.

For more information about Rio 2016, click here.