Sunday, March 4, 2012

London Olympic Highlights of the Week


IOC Announces Olympic Highlights of the Week

Carlos Arthur Nuzman participated in the panel discussion on Sport and Human Rights of the 19th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in the UN headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

(PRWEB) March 03, 2012

IOC ACTIVITIES
MEMBERS
Carlos Arthur Nuzman participated in the panel discussion on Sport and Human Rights of the 19th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in the UN headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The topic of his presentation was “Transformation through Sport”. As President of the Rio 2016 OCOG Mr Nuzman highlighted the importance of city regeneration and social transformation which he said will give Rio de Janeiro an unprecedented face lift.
INTERNATIONAL SPORTS FEDERATIONS
SUMMER IFS
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has unveiled more details of the IAAF World Indoor Championships which will take place in Istanbul from 9-11 March. The event will see some 600 athletes from more than 160 national member federations taking part. The competitions in 26 event disciplines take place in the brand new 7,450-seat Atakoy Athletics Arena, Turkey’s first indoor athletics stadium which is situated next to the Sinan Erdem Dome and the headquarters of the Turkish NOC. The IAAF World Indoor Championships will mark the first time Turkey has hosted an IAAF World Athletics Series competition.
The International Rugby Board (IRB) has announced a showcase Women’s Sevens Challenge Cup event in London in May. The event, featuring 12 invitational international temas, follows a successful tournament in Dubai last December. Womens’ Rugby is one of the fastest-growing forms of the sport and both Men’s and Women’s Rugby Sevens make their debuts in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The London event will provide high-level competition for the teams and a platform to demonstrate the considerable performance advances in elite Women’s Rugby to a worldwide television audience, the IRB said.
The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) has issued an open invitation for manufacturers to put forward bids for the supply of one-person dinghies at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games. One hundred young sailors, aged 15-16, will compete across four sailing events, including the boy’s and girl’s one person dinghy. ISAF said it received eight strong bids from a wide range of classes and manufacturers for the Singapore 2010 YOG and hoped for a similar response this time.
The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has disclosed details of decisions taken by its executive committee. These included a review of the arrangements governing the organisation of the World Cups, the procedure for allocating FIG events and the issue of wild cards for the host country and continents. It also validated the list of gymnasts who have fulfilled the conditions for participating at the London 2012 Olympic Games. The respective NOCs must confirm their gymnasts before 7 March.
The International Swimming Federation (FINA) Executive, including FINA President and IOC Member Dr. Julio C. Maglione, concluded a visit to London, during which they observed the 18th FINA Diving World Cup, a qualifying/test event of this discipline for the 2012 Olympic Games. Besides praising the quality of the Aquatic Centre, the FINA delegation witnessed a thrilling competition, watched by thousands of spectators who filled the venue during the seven days of the competition.
The International Federation of Motorcycling (FIM) has confirmed that several agencies are bidding for the rights to the FIM SuperEnduro World Championship 2012-2015. Bid guides and applicant questionnaires are to be sent to potential bidders by 1 March, with bids required back by 30 March. Formal presentations will be made by bidders in April.
The World Archery Federation (FITA) has signed an agreement with Japanese manufacturer Shibuya Archery to become one of its development fund partners. The deal with Shibuya, which makes a range of target sights and other accessories used in the sport, coincides with the company’s 40th anniversary. This year’s Archery World Cup Final on 22-23 September will be held in Shibuya’s home town of Tokyo, Japan.
The International Judo Federation (IJF) has issued a preview of athletes likely to be taking part in the Olympic Games in London after a series of qualifying events. The Federation said the positions held by the top eight athletes per weight category (men and women) should not evolve much more by the end of the Olympic qualifying process but that the games are still open in all categories with some strong favourites emerging from reading the world ranking list. This qualification phase will officially end on 1 May after the last Continental Championship this year. Between May and June, the IJF will announce its 20 wild cards in order to officially agree the final quota of participation at the Olympic Games.
WINTER IFS
The World Curling Federation (WCF) has unveiled more details of the World Junior Curling Championships which get underway in Östersund, Sweden on 3 March. Ten junior women’s and ten men’s teams will compete at the Z-hallen in Östersund, making it the third occasion the city has hosted this event. Curling fans around the world will be able to follow live coverage of the event on the WCF's YouTube Channel. Next year's event will take place in Sochi, Russia.
The 22nd International Ski Federation (FIS) Ski Flying World Championships came to an end on Sunday, 26th February. Besides the 16 participating nations, more than 65,000 spectators on-site and 400 accredited media, millions of TV viewers in Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, and Switzerland, together with the Pan-European audience on Eurosport, saw the Championships.
NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES
Mr Liu Peng (right), President of the Chinese NOC has met Mr Octavian Morariu, President of the Romanian NOC and his delegation in Beijing. The two leaders exchanged views on Sport for All, Youth Sport, Sport Science and Education and other issues of common concern, and signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Sports Cooperation between two NOCs.
The NOC of Israel has organised the first integration meeting of the Israeli Olympic delegation. Athletes, coaches and other staff met for two days of activities by the Dead Sea as part of the team’s preparation for the London Olympic Games. The event was opened by the President of the NOC of Israel, Mr Zvi Varshaviak and Mr Efraim Zinger, the Israeli Chef De Mission and Secretary-General of the NOC. Speakers at the event included IOC Member Mr Alex Gilady. Athletes received lectures by heads of the delegation about various aspects of the Games, including details of anti-doping regulations.
The British Olympic Association is to build an Olympic Museum in London as a permanent legacy of the London 2012 Games. The museum will open in 2014 adjacent to the ArcelorMittal Orbit tower in the Olympic park. It is expected to become a leading visitor attraction in the capital, providing a venue where people will relive the excitement, passion and drama of the Games and celebrate London's unique place as the first city in the world to host the Olympic Games three times.
ORGANISING COMMITTEES OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, unveiled a set of giant Olympic rings on a barge on the River Thames to mark 150 days until the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The unveiling took place alongside the announcement of a programme of free cultural and entertainment events to be held in London during the summer.
The Sochi 2014 mascots celebrated their first birthday with the launch of new stamp sheets featuring the Olympic mascots – Polar Bear, the Leopard and the Hare. A total of 440,000 stamp sheets have been released, half illustrated with Olympic mascots alongside the same number featuring Paralympic ones. Schoolchildren in Sochi were the lucky owners of the unique stamp sheets.
The Nanjing Youth Olympic Games Organizing Committee (NYOGOC) has moved premises. The new address is: 88 Yangtze Avenue, Greenery Expo Garden, Nanjing, 210036, China. Tel: +86-25-89661020.
Six National Olympic Committees (NOCs) have submitted applications for Candidate Cities to host the 3rd Summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in 2018. These NOCs are, in alphabetical order: Argentina (Buenos Aires), Colombia (Medellín), Great Britain (Glasgow), Mexico (Guadalajara), Netherlands (Rotterdam) and Poland (Poznań). The next deadline for the bid process is 15 March 2012, when the NOCs, Bid Committees and YOG Candidate Cities must submit the signed 2018 YOG Candidature Procedure.
TOP PARTNERS
Procter & Gamble (P&G), a Worldwide Partner of the IOC, has launched its “Thank You Mom” campaign in China and announced a far-reaching partnership with the Chinese NOC. The “Thank You Mom” campaign is the largest marketing programme in P&G’s history and celebrates the unsung hero behind every athlete. The campaign was launched at the iconic Water Cube in Beijing with Olympic gold medal-winners Lin Dan, Chen Yibing, Wu Minxia and He Winna, all of whom P&G is supporting through its partnership with the Chinese NOC.
Worldwide Olympic Partners Visa and Samsung have unveiled the official mobile payments application of the Olympic Games. The two companies demonstrated the app at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week. The development sees the two Olympic sponsors bring mobile contactless payments to London as part of their support of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The app is based on Visa's payWave technology enabling contactless payments at the point of sale and will enable Samsung smartphone owners to pay for items at the Olympic Games with their handsets. To make payments, customers simply hold the phone in front of a contactless reader at the point of purchase. Samsung said it believed the app will encourage the take-up of mobile payments.
For more information, please contact the IOC Media Relations Team.


No comments:

Post a Comment