KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

IOC President wraps up Asia tour with visit to Republic of Korea President Park

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21/11/2013

INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE

www.olympic.org

 

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach completed his Asian tour today, meeting with Republic of Korea President Park Geun-Hye.

Meeting at the presidential residence, the Blue House, President Bach thanked the Korean President for her strong support for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang. 
President Park underlined her government’s continued backing of the Games, and emphasised the importance of sport in society and its educational role in Korean society. The Korean President added that she was strongly supportive of the IOC's fight against doping and zero-tolerance policy on drugs. She also expressed interest in learning more about the IOC Athlete Career Programme, which helps athletes develop dual careers and hone skills for working life after competition. 
Earlier, President Bach attended a lunch hosted by Korean Olympic Committee President Kim Jung-Haeng and met a dozen Korean athletes and Olympic medallists. This followed a meeting with staff at the PyeongChang 2018 offices in Seoul. 
Accompanied by IOC Coordination Commission Chairwoman Gunilla Lindberg and Korean IOC member Moon Dae-Sung, President Bach heard progress reports from the PyeongChang Organising Committee (POCOG) President and CEO, Kim Jin-Sun.  
President Bach later addressed the POCOG staff, telling them that with the handover of the Olympic flag at the Sochi Olympic Winter Games in February, the spotlight would soon be on them as the next hosts of the Games. He added that each of them would play an important role in welcoming the world. 
Seoul was the final stop for President Bach during a four-city Asian tour. On Monday, he visited Nanjing, host of the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2014, before travelling to Beijing on Tuesday. On Wednesday he was in Tokyo for talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a meeting with the Japanese Olympic Committee, following their successful bid for the 2020 Summer Games in the Japanese capital.

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KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

SOCHI 2014

Sochi 2014 ski and snowboard cross course revealed

©Sochi 2014

21/11/2013

INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE

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The International Ski Federation (FIS) has unveiled the designs for the ski and snowboard cross course that will be used during the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.

The 1,250-metre long course, which is located in the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park, will feature eight turn sections, punctuated by a series of jumps and roller sections, with a vertical drop of 210m. Both skiers and snowboarders will share the same start and finish areas, with around 80 per cent of the cross course sections to be shared as well. There will be one area where the course will split into separate ski and snowboard sections to specifically target each discipline's skills.
The course, which was designed and refined over the last four years, successfully hosted the FIS Freestyle World Cup in February 2013, followed by the FIS Snowboard World Cup in March, and received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the athletes who competed.
To ensure an exciting challenge for both skiers and snowboarders, the course was created in cooperation between experts from both disciplines, with FIS Technical Advisors David Ny and Nicolas Vaudroz working with FIS cross specialist and Olympian Martin Fiala to create an exceptionally dynamic Olympic cross venue.
“The Olympic programme always provides some extra special characteristics from our World Cups and World Championships courses,” said Fiala, who competed for Germany in ski cross at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games. “The cross course in Rosa Khutor challenges all skills from both snowboarding and skiing. I would like to thank all involved from the Rosa Khutor ski area, National Ski Association(s), from the Organising Committee and also to the course designers and the course builders for their hard pre-work on the road to the competitions and wish all the teams and athletes a safe, successful and exciting Olympic Games in Sochi 2014 for what could become a true highlight of the programme.”
The Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games begin on 7 February 2014, with the snowboard cross events due to start on 16 February and the ski cross events beginning on 20 February.
Information on tickets for Sochi 2014 is available here.

2013 Nobel Week in Stockholm - Assistance to Media - The Nobel Foundation

2013 Nobel Week in Stockholm - Assistance to Media - The Nobel Foundation

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATAThe true appellation of Apu.

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

IOC President pays first visit to 2020 Olympic Games host Tokyo - meets Japanese Prime Minister Abe

©Kishimoto
 

20/11/2013
INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE
www.olympic.org

Making his first official visit to Tokyo since his election as head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in September, President Thomas Bach today met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The pair discussed the structure of the local Organising Committee for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, which should be formed within the coming months, and the Japanese Prime Minister also raised the composition of the Olympic programme and the possibility of including baseball in future editions of the Olympic Games.
For his part, President Bach invited the Prime Minister to attend the next Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, which begin in just over two months.
Accompanying the President for the meeting at the Japanese Diet were IOC Coordination Commission Chairman for Tokyo 2020 John Coates and Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) President Tsunekazu Takeda, who led the successful Tokyo bid. 
The Japanese Prime Minister was accompanied by the Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Hakubun Shimomura, who is also responsible for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games for the national government. They were joined by seven-time Olympian Seiko Hashimoto, who is also a parliamentarian.
The IOC President later attended a meeting of Japanese business leaders eager to discover the potential opportunities of the 2020 Games. 
Earlier, President Bach had met Tokyo Governor Naoki Inose.
The visit came just a week after a two-day Orientation Seminar delivered by the IOC to help the Japanese organisers successfully negotiate the crucial transition phase from bid city to organiser and get a quick start to preparations in the lead-up to the Games.
It was the third stop for President Bach during a four-city Asian tour. On Monday he visited Nanjing, host of the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2014, before travelling to Beijing on Tuesday. The President will conclude his tour in Seoul on Thursday with meetings with organisers of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Nanjing 2014 News

IOC President makes first official visit to Nanjing ahead of the Youth Olympic Games in 2014

©NYOGOC - IOC President Thomas Bach meets with young staff at the headquarters of the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games.

18/11/2013

Newly elected IOC President Thomas Bach made his first official visit to Nanjing, China, to check on the progress made by the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (NYOGOC) and to offer encouragement  as it enters the final few months of preparations.

After meeting Luo Zhijun, Secretary of CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee, Li Xueyong, Governor of Jiangsu Province and Yang Shu’an, Vice Minister of the General Administration of Sport in China, the president visited the organising committee’s headquarters, where he was introduced to young staff members who conducted a tour of the facility and surrounding riverside park with him.

Joined by an IOC delegation including Coordination Commission Chairman Alexander Popov, the President was given a full progress report by Yang Weize, NYOGOC Executive President who outlined the final preparations and milestones to complete over the next eight months as the Organising Committee enters its games-time readiness phase.

The IOC President was also offered a venue tour of the Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre, venue of the Opening Ceremony, and the newly constructed Youth Olympic Village where he was given an overview of the athletes’ rooms, the environmentally friendly construction elements and legacy aspects of the village.

President Bach said, ‘Nanjing is a vibrant city and will be play a fantastic host next summer to the 3,800 athletes from around the world. The Organising Committee has a passionate young team dedicated to deliver a spectacular Youth Olympic Games in 2014.’

On visiting the Youth Olympic Village the President reminisced that the Village 'brought back memories' of his time as an athlete.
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 ©NYOGOC - IOC President Thomas Bach tours Nanjing 2014’s Youth Olympic Village during his official visit to the city.

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Olympic Torch Relay set to continue journey by train

©Sochi 2014

 

18/11/2013

INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE

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The Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay has completed the air travel segment of its journey across Russia and will now continue its way around the country by train, as the 123-day relay enters its seventh week.

Between now and the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games on 7 February 2014, the Olympic flame will travel a record 17,400 kilometres by rail in a specially designed train, decorated in the official orange patchwork quilt brand of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay.
On its journey it will cross the borders of 53 Russian regions and will be carried by approximately 10,000 Torchbearers in 76 cities of the Far Eastern, Siberian, Volga, Southern and North Caucasian Federal Districts.
"Today, the longest segment of our record-breaking Olympic Torch Relay begins,” said Sochi 2014 President Dmitry Chernyshenko. “The flame will travel from the far east of Russia to the Olympic host city, passing through the territories of 53 Russian regions. The route is formed in such a way that the principal symbol of the Games can be seen not only by the inhabitants of large cities, but also those in the most remote settlements. Bringing a piece of the Olympic celebration to every home is the main objective of the national Torch Relay."
After beginning in Moscow on 7 October, the Olympic Torch Relay covered 9,534km during its first 22 days, travelling by road between 37 cities in the Central and North-Western Federal District of Russia before reaching Saint Petersburg. Once there, the air segment of the relay began, with the Olympic flame being carried along the streets of 20 cities in the Northwest, Ural, Siberian and Far Eastern Federal Districts of Russia, while covering the huge distances between each city in a Sochi 2014-branded plane.
So far, more than 4,000 Torchbearers have carried the flame, which has illuminated many iconic Russian landmarks, including Rurikovo Gorodishche, Yasnaya Polyana estate, Kizhi State Open-Air Museum, historic suburbs of St. Petersburg, and churches and temples of the Golden Ring of Russia. The Olympic flame has also visited the largest diamond mine in the world and the top of the Avacha volcano.
Find out more about the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay Presenting Partners at http://torchrelay.sochi2014.com/en/Partners
More information on the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay can be found at http://torchrelay.sochi2014.com/en/

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

IOC President meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping

©Xinhua/Ding Lin

 

19/11/2013

INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE

www.olympic.org

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has met with the President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping, in Beijing.

Meeting at the Great Hall of the People, the two presidents discussed a range of issues, including sport's positive role in society, the upcoming Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, and Beijing’s bid for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
President Xi also talked of the recently concluded meeting of the Central Committee Plenum where sport was integrated into the strategic plan agreed for the future development of China. President Bach congratulated him on his plans for 'putting sport at the service of society.'
President Bach was accompanied by IOC Vice-President John Coates, IOC Member and Coordination Commission Chairman for the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games Alexander Popov, and the President of the Chinese Olympic Committee, Liu Peng. The three Chinese members of the IOC: Yu Zaiqing, Yang Yang, and Li Lingwei were also present.
Beijing is one of six cities vying to host the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, having submitted its application to the IOC by the 14 November deadline along with Almaty (Kazakhstan), Krakow (Poland), Lviv (Ukraine), Oslo (Norway), and Stockholm (Sweden).*
On Monday, President Bach inspected some of the venues to be used at the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing next year. On Wednesday he will visit Tokyo, home of the 2020 Olympic Games, before flying to Seoul on Thursday to meet with organisers of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.
* The cities will be listed in alphabetical order until such time as the official drawing of lots is carried out by the IOC EB in December 2013. The order of drawing of lots will then be used until the election of the 2022 host city.