HIGHLIGHTS OF THE
WEEK World-wide weekly highlights of the Olympic
Movement
Week of
22 March 2004
IOC
ACTIVITIES
On 25 March, the flame
for the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad was lit in the Temple of
Hera in Ancient Olympia. Organised by Hellenic Olympic Committee
President Lambis V. Nikolaou, this ceremony took place in the
presence of the President of the Greek Republic, Costis
Stephanopoulos; IOC President Jacques Rogge; the President of the
Organising Committee for the Games (ATHOC), Gianna
Angelopoulos-Daskalaki; the Mayor of Athens, Dora Bakoyanni; the
Mayor of Olympia, Giannis Skoularikis; members of the Prime
Minister’s cabinet and many ambassadors.
President Rogge
was accompanied on this occasion by IOC First Vice-President Thomas
Bach, Athens Coordination Commission Chairman Denis Oswald, and IOC
members Valeriy Borzov, Sergey Bubka and Alexander Popov. Bubka and
Popov took part in the torch relay.
In his speech,
President Rogge congratulated ATHOC for organising a global Olympic
torch relay for the first time. The flame will cross the five
continents, symbolised by the five rings, linking them together,
breaking down political, religious, social and cultural barriers.
“More than ever, this relay will convey a message of peace and
friendship among peoples, and, in doing so, respect the tradition of
the Olympic Truce, or Ekecheiria, like in the Games of Antiquity”,
added Rogge.
At the invitation of the Romanian Olympic
Committee President, Ion Tiriac, President Rogge will be in
Bucharest on 27 March to attend the celebration of the 90th
anniversary of the NOC, in the presence of the Romanian President,
Ion Iliescu. Accompanied by Mario Pescante and Patrick Hickey,
European Olympic Committees President and Secretary General
respectively, the IOC President will present the Olympic Order to
gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci, and will also present trophies to
Octavian Bellu, one of the best Romanian gymnastics coaches, and to
Ion Tiriac, great tennis player and now President of the NOC.
Furthermore, the IOC President will be bestowed with the National
Order of Sports by President Iliescu.
The winners of
the 2004 Olympic Art & Sport Contest are now known. Indeed,
on 22 March, an international jury, comprising, among others,
Zhenliang He, IOC Commission for Culture and Olympic Education
Chairman, and Ousmane Sow, the famous Senegalese sculptor, made its
choice from some 60 artists from 39 countries, representing all five
continents. These pieces are currently on show at the Olympic Museum
in Lausanne. President Rogge greeted the members of the jury during
their deliberations.
In the “graphic works” category, the
winners came from the People’s Republic of China, Cuba and Italy;
while in the “sculptures” category, they were from the USA, the
People’s Republic of China and Chinese Taipei. The award-winning
artworks will be put on show in Athens during the forthcoming
Games.
For the first time, a Chinese company has
become a partner of the Olympic Movement. As part of The Olympic
Partners (TOP) Programme, Lenovo, the largest computing technology
equipment in China, thus becomes the official supplier of IT
equipment and services for the XX Olympic Winter Games in Turin in
2006 and for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing in 2008.
Commenting on this, the IOC President said, “We are delighted to
welcome Lenovo into The Olympic Partner Programme. For the Olympic
Movement, this partnership delivers funding to help stage the
Olympic Games, technology equipment to operate the complex systems,
services to manage the logistical demands, and people to staff some
of the most critical functions. In addition, the relationship will
play an important role in the promotion of the Olympic Movement and
sport throughout China, Asia and across the globe”. IOC Marketing
Commission Chairman Gerhard Heiberg added: “As a well-known
technology equipment manufacturer, Lenovo has demonstrated its
commitment and capability to support the world’s Olympic athletes,
the host cities of the Olympic Games and delegations and fans from
all around the world.” This week, President Rogge met IOC
members Zhenliang He and Carlos Arthur Nuzman, as well as Juan
Antonio Samaranch, IOC Honorary President for Life, at the IOC
headquarters.
INTERNATIONAL SPORTS
ISSUES
On 16 March at the Olympic
Museum in Lausanne, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)met the Anti-Doping Administrators of 28 International
Olympic Sports Federations and 11 Recognised International
Federations. On the agenda were the gathering of Athlete Whereabouts
Information, laboratory reporting, management of therapeutic use
exemptions, results management and appeal procedures. The aims of
this meeting were to allow for better cooperation between the IFs
and to set up more effective programmes for the fight against doping
at IF level. Detailed information on the World Anti-Doping Code and
its practical application was also provided.
On 17 March,
the Brazilian government released a BRL 350 million credit line
(about USD 120 million) to finance the construction of the
Pan-American Village for the 2007 Pan-American Games in Rio de
Janeiro. Some 8,240 athletes, coaches and officials will stay
there from 14 to 29 July 2007. After the Games, the 2,000 apartments
will be sold as a first-class residential condominium. An
agreement between the Rio de Janeiro city government, the Brazilian
Olympic Committee and the Agenco company has enabled the
construction of this Village, which should be completed by December
2006, i.e. seven months before the competitions begin. Located in
Barra da Tijuca, this Village is only 3km from the main competition
pole, which will concentrate about 60% of the sports, in addition to
the International Broadcasting Centre and the Main Press
Centre.
INTERNATIONAL SPORTS
FEDERATIONS
Six female referees
will officiate at the Olympic basketball tournament in Athens -
double the amount in Sydney and 20% of the contingent. This record
has just been announced by the International Basketball Federation
(FIBA) in its list of referees and technical officials, doctors and
technical delegates for the 2004 Athens Games. The 30 referees
selected come from all five continents and will officiate the 84
games of the Olympic men’s and women’s tournaments organised between
13 and 29 August 2004.
The
International Hockey Federation (FIH) has a new global partner: the
Indian conglomerate Sahara India Pariwar. With a three-year
contract, which should be finalised by the end of this month, Sahara
India Pariwar joins the three other FIH partners, BDO International,
Rabobank and Samsung. As a global partner, this company will get
branding opportunities at major FIH tournaments, up to and including
the men’s and women’s World Cups in 2006.
NATIONAL OLYMPIC
COMMITTEES
For the third consecutive
year, the Hungarian Olympic Committee’s annual Women and Sport
trophies were awarded by its President, Pál Schmitt, and its
Women and Sport Commission Chairwoman, Judit Farago. The Merit of
Lifetime Achievement was awarded to Sakovics Lidia Domolky, Olympic
champion and several times World Champion fencer, in recognition of
her important contribution to the development of the Olympic
Movement. The Award for Outstanding Performance in 2003 was granted
to Bojana Radulovics, Olympic gold medallist and silver medallist at
the World Handball Championships, who, just six months after the
birth of her son, was named Best Player of the 2003 Women’s Handball
World Championships in Croatia.
Three Olympic
champions have died this week: Finland’s Sylvi Saimo, New Zealand’s
Chris Timms and the Czech Republic’s Vaclav
Kozak.
Sylvi Saimo was the first Finnish female
Olympic champion in summer sports, winning the kayak singles 500m
canoe race in Helsinki in 1952. After her sports career, Sylvi Saimo
went into politics and was elected to the Finnish Parliament four
times. She died on 12 March at the age of 89.
Chris
Timms, who would have been 57 on 24 March, died in a plane accident
on 19 March in Auckland (New Zealand). He won the gold medal, with
team mate Rex Sellers, in the Tornado class sailing event at the Los
Angeles Games in 1984. Four years later, he won the silver medal in
Seoul. Chris Timms was considered in his home country and
internationally as one of the best technicians in sailing. Czech
rower Vaclav Kozak, Olympic champion in double sculls in 1960 in
Rome, died on 15 March at the age of 66. Crowned the best Czech
athlete in 1963, the year in which he also won the European skiff
championships, Kozak ended his sports career after the 1968 Games in
Mexico City. He had won 15 national titles in several specialities.
ATHENS 2004
New participation record for the Olympic Games.
The 202 Recognised National Olympic Committees (NOCs) have
responded in the affirmative to the IOC’s invitation to
participate in the Athens Games. In 2000, at the Sydney Games, 199
NOCs took part and the athletes from East Timor (now Timor Leste)
participated under the Olympic flag. Since Sydney, Afghanistan and
Iraq have returned to the Olympic fold, while Timor Leste and
Kiribati have been welcomed into the Olympic
family.
TURIN 2006
On 22 March, the Administration Board of the
Organising Committee for the 2006 Games (TOROC) appointed its
new Vice-President for the Province of Turin. Pierpaolo Maza
is replacing Rinaldo Bontempi, who had to resign for health reasons.
A 51-year-old Turinese, Maza is currently President of the 5th
district of the city of Turin and consultant to the President of the
Province, Mercedes Bresso, for Olympic issues. He has been Regional
President of the Italian Union of Sport for All (UISP - Unione
Italiana Sport Per Tutti).
VANCOUVER
2010
The Coordination Commission
for the XXI Olympic Winter Games, chaired by René Fasel, will
pay its first visit to Vancouver from 30 March to 1 April. More
details will appear in the next edition of the
Highlights. Created in June 1999, the Vancouver 2010 Bid
Corporation - responsible for developing Canada’s Candidature
File for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games of 2010 - has just
wound down its operations. The closing of the accounts shows a
surplus. Audited financial statements, made public on 30 September
2003, show an overall bid expenditure of CAD 35.5 million, and a
surplus of CAD 573,410. More than CAD 35 million was raised to fund
the bid, with half coming from the private sector and half from
government partners. Through the “LegaciesNow 2010” programme, more
than CAD 4.8 million was devoted to sport and athlete development
during the life of the candidature.
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