International Olympic Committee : Olympic News

Vancouver 2010: En route for perfectly bilingual Games

Like Athens in 2004, Turin in 2006 and Beijing in 2008, Vancouver 2010 will be closely examined by a Grand Témoin de la Francophonie, this time the former President of the Swiss Confederation, Pascal Couchepin, who was appointed by the Secretary General of La Francophonie, Abdou Diouf. The role of the Grand Témoin is to lead activities promoting awareness and observation of the French language, and increasing its use.

Solid experience

At the announcement of this nomination, IOC President Jacques Rogge stated: “We are looking forward to working with Mr Couchepin. We have already had the opportunity of working with him in the framework of his functions within the federal government. His solid international experience and his knowledge of the sports world will certainly be valuable assets in his new role of Grand Témoin de la Francophonie.” Pascal Couchepin is a key figure in the Swiss political landscape. He was President of the Swiss Confederation twice, in 2003 and 2008. Within the Federal Council, he led the Federal Department of Economic Affairs from 1998 to 2002. In this function, he was in charge of the ministries of agriculture, foreign trade, labour and professional education. During this period, he represented Switzerland within the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and served as Governor of the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Currently Head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs, responsible for questions of social security, health, education, university education, research and culture, he will leave this post in October 2009 to devote himself to his new mission promoting the French language at the Olympic Games.

Olympic attachment to the French language

As President Rogge often stresses, the IOC is deeply attached to the defence of the French language, as it was created in French, by Pierre de Coubertin, the reviver of the Olympic Games, in an era (end of the 19th century) when French was the language of diplomacy. Since April 1915, the IOC headquarters have been in the French-speaking region of Switzerland. We should also recall that, in accordance with Rule 24 of the Olympic Charter, French is an official IOC language, alongside English, and is therefore of fundamental importance for the Olympic Games. Furthermore, if there is a discrepancy between a French text and an English one in the Olympic Charter, or any other IOC document, the French text prevails, in the absence of any written instruction to the contrary.

A satisfactory place in Beijing

Last August in Beijing, the French language had a satisfactory place, thanks to the organisers’ considerable efforts. This was the conclusion of the Grand Témoin for these Games, former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, in his report on the use of French at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. A copy of this report will be officially presented today to President Rogge at a meeting in Lausanne with Pascal Couchepin, who will be accompanied by Pierre de Cocatrix, the Chief of Staff of the Secretary General of La Francophonie. Besides the presentation of the Grand Témoin’s mission in Vancouver, and a discussion on preparations for the Games, the cooperation project between the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) and the Olympic Movement will also be addressed, with the focal points being the first Youth Olympic Games in August 2010 in Singapore, the next edition of the Francophone Games in Beirut, and preparations for the 2013 edition.

Vancouver 2010, devoted to Francophonie

Canada is recognised throughout the entire world for its bilingualism and diversity. The Federal Law of 1969 made French and English the two official languages of the Canadian Federal State. The Organising Committee for the Games in Vancouver (VANOC) has therefore made a strong commitment to ensuring that the 2010 Olympic Winter Games respect the linguistic reality of the host country. The creation of a VANOC advisory panel on the official languages is a perfect illustration of this. A multi-party agreement between VANOC, the federal government and the host cities of the Games was signed, fixing very high standards in the area of bilingualism. To underline the important contribution of the country’s French-speaking communities, VANOC also signed a collaboration agreement with the Canadian Foundation for Cross-Cultural Dialogue and the British Columbia Francophone Federation. Reflecting this agreement, the Place de la Francophonie, situated in downtown Vancouver, will be, throughout the Games, a place of gathering, celebration, artistic creation, economic exchange and gastronomy.

Discover the report on French at the Beijing Games on the official web site of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie

Move, learn and discover on Olympic Day 2009

Olympic Day, 23 June, is a unique, global event held every year. National Olympic Committees (NOC) around the world share this universal festivity with their respective communities, making it the most celebrated Olympic event after the Olympic Games.

How it all started

Since 1948, Olympic Day has served to celebrate the anniversary of the International Olympic Committee, created on 23 June 1894, and the revival of the Olympic Games. In 1987, the Olympic Day Run was introduced to build a programme of sporting and educational actions around this anniversary, with the objective of getting as many people as possible across the globe moving and experiencing the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect.

More than just a run!

Today, Olympic Day is taking a step forward to be more than just a run. Under the theme “Move, learn, discover!”, the Olympic Day concept now encourages NOCs to organise a wider range of activities inspired by the main theme, in addition to the traditional Olympic Day Run. These could include sporting events encouraging people to move and discover new sports, or Olympic education seminars and educational programmes allowing participants to learn about the Olympic values.

Olympic Day Start-Up Kit

In order to support NOCs in the organisation of their Olympic Day, the IOC has produced a 2009 Olympic Day Start-up Kit, which was sent to each NOC in March. This included background history, ideas and tips for activities that could be organised, and guidelines for promoting and communicating their events. The Start-Up Kit also included a CD-ROM with a message from the IOC President, to be uploaded to web sites or played at the Olympic Day events, and Olympic Day diplomas for the participants.

High Expectations for 2009

This year, more than 150 NOCs, with the support of Worldwide Olympic Partner McDonald’s, will be celebrating Olympic Day on or around 23 June, with a wide range of sporting and cultural activities aimed to attract anywhere from 100 to 100,000 participants. The NOC of Costa Rica has planned a two-day event featuring introductions to numerous sports, such as fencing, judo, basketball, archery and table tennis. In addition to the traditional Olympic Day Run, this NOC has also planned bouncy castles and pony rides for the younger participants. The NOC of Brazil is panning a full week of activities led by 11 of its Olympic athletes. In New Zealand, thousands of school children will take part in the Olympic Day Run, and, this year, they are honouring their 1,000 New Zealand Olympians with a series of commemorative celebrations around the country.

2016 candidate cities brief IOC members

The four candidate cities bidding to host the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in 2016 - Chicago (USA), Tokyo (Japan), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Madrid (Spain) [1] – were all at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne (Switzerland) today to give a technical briefing to the 93 members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who were present for the event. Today’s presentations, which resulted in dozens of detailed questions, will be followed tomorrow by an opportunity for members to ask more follow-up questions to each city about their projects, as well as giving the media an opportunity to meet with each of the Candidate Cities.

IOC President Jacques Rogge said, “Since my election in 2001, we have been making a concerted effort at the IOC to improve our transfer of knowledge capacities and to ensure that the evaluation process continues to be clear and offers criteria from which the cities can be evaluated. The fact that we have four cities with very strong projects bidding for the 2016 Games is testament to that work and to the success of recent editions of the Games. As part of the natural evolution of our effort, today’s briefings are allowing us to continue to bring more transparency, fairness and professionalism to the evaluation process, which has been underlined by the active participation of my fellow members.”

The briefings come closely on the heels of the four-day visits of the IOC’s Evaluation Commission, led by IOC Member Nawal El Moutawakel, to each of the Candidate Cities. The Commission is now in the process of producing its evaluation report, which will be distributed to the IOC members no later than one month before election day. The final vote will be held in Copenhagen (Denmark) on 2 October 2009.

Evaluation Commission Chairwoman Nawal El Moutawakel noted, “The Evaluation Commission and I have just spent April and May visiting each of the four Candidate Cities, getting a good understanding for each of the projects and looking at the reality on the ground. These briefings will complement perfectly the Commission’s report and will ensure that all IOC members with a vote in October have access to the information that they need to evaluate the cities in the best way possible.”

This is the first time that the Candidate Cities have had the opportunity to brief the members in such a way and this evolution comes from the IOC’s evaluation process of previous bid procedures, where it was felt that another opportunity to present the technical elements of a bid to the IOC members would be appreciated by all involved. Approved by the Executive Board at its meeting in Beijing (P.R. China) in April 2008, this addition to the evaluation of the Candidate Cities shows the IOC’s willingness to learn and improve on the bidding process and also to ensure that members are able to make their decision based on the most complete information possible.

IOC Olympic Games Executive Director Gilbert Felli commented, “Under the leadership of President Rogge, the IOC has developed a strong focus on the transfer of knowledge between Games, in order to ensure that the Games remain as the number one sporting event in the world. The bid process is also a part of that, and there was a strong feeling, following the 2014 bid, that a technical meeting like today’s would be useful for all concerned. We have taken that feedback on board and all the Candidate Cities now have an additional opportunity to make their case in detail, on an equal platform and in a less formal way than at the Session at which the host city is elected.”

[1] Cities are listed in the order of drawing of lots.

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NOTES TO EDITORS:

The presentations are scheduled to conclude at 17:30 CET, so some media assets may not be available until after this time.

Further information on the 2016 Bidding Process can be found here:

2016 Bid Process:

www.olympic.org/2016

2016 Evaluation Commission and Biographies: http://www.olympic.org/uk/news/media_centre/press_release_uk.asp?id=2805

Evaluation Commission Visits:

http://www.olympic.org/uk/news/olympic_news/full_story_uk.asp?id=2840

PHOTOS:
To view and download photos on flickr.com, please click here

VIDEOS:
To download broadcast-quality videos from the AFPTV Video Forum, please click here

Login: IOC - Password:MEDIA2009

Watch an interview of the IOC President Jacques Rogge on the candidature procedure for 2016

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For further information, please contact the IOC Communications Department, Tel: +41 21 621 60 00, email: pressoffice@olympic.org

Athletes at the heart of the sports movement

The 4th International Athletes’ Forum once again underlined the role and place of the athlete within the Olympic and sports movement, both nationally and internationally. At the end of May, the Moroccan city of Marrakech hosted almost 100 athletes from five continents, representatives of the International Federations (IFs) of Olympic sports and the five Continental Associations of the National Olympic Committees (NOCs). After three days of discussions, a series of recommendations were adopted on the three themes of the Forum: relationship between the athletes, clubs, federations and NOCs; health protection in training and competition; and the social and professional life of athletes during and after elite competition. These recommendations will be presented at the Olympic Congress in Copenhagen in October. The Forum is held every two years by the IOC Athletes’ Commission, whose Chairman is four-time Olympic silver medallist and world champion, Frank Fredericks.

Promoting athlete participation

During the Forum, the participants unanimously agreed that all the members of the sports movement – clubs, national and International Federations and NOCs – have an important role and responsibilities vis-à-vis the athletes and vice-versa. The athletes thus have a central role to play in raising the profile of sport and recreation across communities. For their part, the sports organisations must ensure that all athletes can compete on a level playing field. The Forum also encouraged sports organisations to strengthen their athletes’ commissions, or if necessary create one, so that the athletes can make their views heard and ensure that the information provided is accessible to all.

Athlete health: prevention, education and information

Athlete health during training and competition is an issue which spans the areas of education, information, treatment, prevention and anti-doping. For this reason, the Forum called on the IOC to implement educational programmes on health protection and injury prevention at the Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games, and to encourage the NOCs and IFs to do the same. As for the IFs’ technical decisions, in particular relating to competition schedules and rule changes, these should be taken in consultation with the IFs’ respective Athletes’ and Medical Commission representatives.

Sport and education: a vital combination

On the key issue of the social and professional life of athletes during and after elite competition, the participants agreed to remind the various Olympic Movement constituents – athletes and sports organisations – of the need to understand the importance of combining education and sport (“dual career”), and thus to recognise and endorse the importance of life skills. To achieve this, they proposed the introduction of programmes to provide emotional support and management during the transition period and to create partnerships with sponsors to contribute to life projects, and not only sports performance.

Read the full text of the recommendations of the 4th International Athletes’ Forum

Seven sports seek to join the Olympic programme

Seven sports presented their vision for inclusion in the Olympic Games programme today in a series of briefings for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board. The seven sports — baseball, golf, karate, roller sports, rugby, softball and squash — are vying for two programme slots at the 2016 Games.

After reviewing the merits of all seven, the Executive Board should recommend two for inclusion at its next meeting in August. The IOC Session will make the final decision at its meeting in October, scheduled in conjunction with the Olympic Congress.

“All seven sports made interesting and informative presentations. All have something to offer. In the end, the decision will come down to which are the best fit for the Olympic Programme,” said IOC President Jacques Rogge.

Reforms strengthen the Olympic programme

The presentations to the Executive Board are part of a broader effort by the IOC to strengthen the Olympic programme and improve the evaluation process.

The reforms began with the decision, in 2002, to conduct a systematic review of the Olympic programme after every edition of the Games to ensure that it remains exciting and relevant. Sports have to show merit to join the programme and to remain on it. At the time the reforms were adopted, no sport had been dropped from the programme since 1936.

The IOC also agreed, in 2002, to limit the number of sports in the Games of the Olympiad to 28. There are currently 26 sports on the programme, leaving two slots open.

Other changes approved two years later added more transparency and fairness to the evaluation process. The IOC established 33 criteria, with an emphasis on universality, popularity and image.

Programme Commission oversees process

The Olympic Programme Commission, composed of IOC members, representatives of International Federations and National Olympic Committees as well as experts, developed the criteria and oversees the evaluation process. The examination of sports seeking to join the programme also includes on-site visits to actual competitions. The Commission will deliver a report assessing the candidate sports to the Executive Board in August.

“The fact that so many sports want to be on the Olympic programme reflects the global appeal of the Games. It is important to have a well-defined, transparent evaluation process that is fair to all,” said Franco Carraro, Chairman of the Olympic Programme Commission.

PHOTOS:

To see photos from today's meetings on flickr.com, please click here

VIDEOS:

Watch the Press conference - 15 June 2009

View a video of the IOC President on the Olympic sports programme

Olympic Review

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