Olympic Highlights of the Week

IOC Announces Olympic Highlights of the Week

On 18 and 19 June, IOC President Jacques Rogge was in Lillehammer (Norway) for the debriefing between the Organising Committee of the 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG), Innsbruck 2012, and the organisers of the second edition, Lillehammer 2016. Among other things, he took part in a seminar attended by over 200 people.

(PRWEB) June 22, 2012

IOC ACTIVITIES
PRESIDENT
On 18 and 19 June, IOC President Jacques Rogge was in Lillehammer (Norway) for the debriefing between the Organising Committee of the 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG), Innsbruck 2012, and the organisers of the second edition, Lillehammer 2016. Among other things, he took part in a seminar attended by over 200 people.

During his trip, President Rogge met the Norwegian Minister of Culture, Anniken Huitfeldt, before attending the opening of the new curling venue for the 2016 YOG and visiting the venues for the Nordic skiing events at Birkebeiner, where he met Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and some young athletes training at the venues.

Back in Lausanne, on 21 June, President Rogge met the IOC members elected in July 2011, José Perurena, Gerardo Werthein and Barbara Kendall. The next day, he received IOC member Samih Moudallal and International Hockey Federation (FIH) President Leandro Negre, accompanied by FIH Secretary General Kelly Fairweather. He later attended the Finance Commission meeting, chaired by Richard Carrión, and the IOC-Olympic Capital meeting, before taking part in the Olympic Day celebrations.

MEMBERS
Julio César Maglione has been awarded the Grand Chain of the South American Order of Merit, the South American Sports Organisation (ODESUR)’s highest distinction. He was presented with this by the ODESUR President and IOC member, Carlos Arthur Nuzman, at the ODESUR General Assembly in Santiago (Chile).

Ser Miang Ng will shortly be standing down as Singapore’s Ambassador to Hungary after 12 years of service. In recognition of his important role in developing relations between the two countries, he will be receiving one of Hungary’s most prestigious decorations.

COMMISSIONS
This week in Vidy, the following IOC commissions have held meetings: Marketing, Sport for All, Finance, Philately and Numismatics and Memorabilia, as well as the Audit Committee.

An IOC delegation has been at Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held from 20 to 22 June in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). For this occasion, the IOC’s Sport and Environment Commission has produced a new publication entitled “Sustainability through Sport: Implementing the Olympic Movement’s Agenda 21”, which summarises the progress made over the last 20 years in the area of sustainable development, particularly in terms of environmental protection, education and socio-economic development.

The 8th IOC World Conference on Sport, Education and Culture will be held from 25 to 27 November 2012 in Amsterdam (the Netherlands). This event is being organised by the IOC’s Commission for Culture and Olympic Education, in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and in collaboration with the Dutch NOC. The delegates will review policies, exchange on best practice and identify future action in the field of sport, education and culture. Also at the Conference, the winners of the IOC’s fourth “Art and Sport Contest will receive their medals.

During the Olympic Philately, Numismatics and Memorabilia Commission meeting in Lausanne, the names of the winners of the inaugural Juan Antonio Samaranch Medal for Olympic Collecting were announced. The award was introduced by the IOC this year to honour the legacy of former IOC President Samaranch, an avid Olympic collector who introduced programmes to encourage the collection and study of Olympic stamps, coins and memorabilia during his time in office. The medals were presented to the winners by IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr, son of the late President Samaranch, on 22 June.

INTERNATIONAL SPORTS FEDERATIONS
SUMMER IFS
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has just launched a new web site devoted to 3x3 basketball:http://www.3x3planet.com. The site is intended to connect players and tournament organisers worldwide. In addition, FIBA celebrated its 80th anniversary on 18 June.

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has announced the death, at the age of 92, of Susi Urzynicok from Germany, an FIG honorary member since 1976. For many years, Susi Urzynicok worked to develop women’sartistic gymnastics around the world. The FIG has also announced the death of Switzerland’s Nicole Delaloye-Maye, at the age of 56. A member of the national team, she was Swiss champion in 1974 and competed in several world championships. After her competition career, she joined the FIG’s international judges’ college, and took part in the 1996 Games in Atlanta.

At the International Junior Competition in Suhl (Germany), the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) presented its “Run & Shoot” event, a new Sport for All competition format. The aim is to pursue the goals of the IOC’s Sport for All Commission by promoting regular physical activity for its health and social benefits. “Run & Shoot” is an easy-to-access shooting sport event which combines running with air rifle target shooting, and requires no special equipment.

WINTER IFS
The 54th Ordinary Congress of the International Skating Union (ISU) concluded on 15 June in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). More than 200 delegates representing 76 ISU member federations attended. Opened by ISU President and IOC member Ottavio Cinquanta, the Congress took a number of decisions listed on http://www.isu.org. The next Congress will be held in June 2014 in Dublin (Ireland).

NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES
On 17 June, the Spanish NOC, in collaboration with the city of Madrid, celebrated Olympic Day in the Madrid Río Park. A large number of children and adults took part in the various sports competitions under the theme of “play fair”. Also attending were NOC President Alejandro Blanco and several Olympic medallists, including Joan Lino, Rafa Lozano, María Peláez, Muriel Bujalance, Montse Puche, Silvia Fernández and Carlos Alonso.

The Guatemalan NOC recently informed us of the creation of the Friends of Olympic Sport Foundation (Fundación de Amigos del Deporte Olímpico - FADO), the aim of which is to foster the development of Olympic sport in Guatemala, in close collaboration with the NOC. The Foundation will offer extra financial assistance to the athletes who have qualified for the Games, to help them prepare for the competition.

On 12 June, the Italian NOC (CONI) held an international seminar on “training during the evolutionary age”, which brought together numerous Italian participants, 24 international representatives and the President of the International Mediterranean Games Committee, Amar Addadi. In his welcome speech, CONI President Giovanni Petrucci stressed the importance of these meetings and discussions for the future of Italian sport. CONI Secretary General Raffaele Pagnozzi then stressed the need to work with talented young athletes and put in place future projects before the end of the Olympic cycle. The same day, a sports technical cooperation agreement was signed between CONI and the Libyan NOC for the next four years. Those present included the Libyan NOC President, Nabil Al Alem, and the Secretary General, Marwan Maghur, as well as Raffaele Pagnozzi and Amar Addadi. The aim of the agreement is to facilitate the exchange of athletes and technicians for major sports events.

The Uzbek NOC informs us that Olympic Day was celebrated on 3 June in Tashkent, with its focus on the Games of the XXX Olympiad in London. Some 1,200 people took part in the 0.3-mile, 0.5-mile and 1-mile events as part of the preliminary competitions all over the country, then in the finals held in the Alisher Navoi National Park. The youngest competitors ran a 50m course, with disabled participants covering 0.3 miles. The winners received their prizes and gifts from Uzbek officials and athletes.

The Peruvian NOC informs us that Spanish NOC President Alejandro Blanco has given a talk on “modern sports development” to representatives of the 11 NOCs of the region, sports federations, universities, local authorities and the Bolivarian Sports Organisation (ODEBO). Held at Miraflores, the event was led by the Peruvian NOC President, José Quiñones González; the President of the Peruvian Sports Institute, Francisco Boza; the Mayor of Miraflores, Jorge Muñoz Wells; IOC member in Peru Ivan Dibos; and the ODEBO President, Danilo Carrera Drouet. Spain’s experience of successfully hosting the 1992 Games in Barcelona and the country’s major sporting transformation were the reasons for Alejandro Blanco’s participation.

The legendary Czech gymnast, Vera Caslavska, the heroine of the 1964 Games in Tokyo and the 1968 Games in Mexico City and winner of 11 Olympic medals, seven of them gold, has received the Slovak NOC’s highest distinction. She was presented with the NOC Trophy by NOC President Frantisek Chmelar on 1 June, at the opening ceremony of the 25th edition of the Gym Festival in Trnava. FIG Honorary President Yuri Titov and the Slovak minister responsible for sport, Dusan Caplovic, were also present. Vera Caslavska, who celebrated her 70th birthday in May this year, was President of the Czech NOC from 1990 to 1992.

ORGANISING COMMITTEES FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES
LONDON 2012
The culmination of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad, the London 2012 Festival got underway on 21 June. For 12 weeks, the UK will be celebrating the largest nationwide cultural festival ever staged. Some 12,000 performances and events given by 25,000 artists from 205 countries will be held in 900 venues.

RECOGNISED ORGANISATIONS
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has launched a new digital library designed to make WADA’s education and information tools more accessible to its stakeholders. The library can be accessed by going tohttp://bibliotheque.wada-ama.org. WADA has also completed and published its 2011 Annual Report. The document is available in e-format and PDF format at http://www.wada-ama.org.

The International Academy of Sports Science and Technology (AISTS) has created a new scholarship for its Master of Sports Administration course in Lausanne. The AISTS Athlete Scholarship will be exclusively for elite athletes. The deadline for applications is 15 August 2012.