KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Coline Mattel soars to success

©Getty Images

19/12/2013

French ski jumper Coline Mattel began her burgeoning career at the age of 13. Still in her teens, she is among the favourites to land gold in the first ever women’s Olympic ski jumping competition on the RusSki Gorki hill at Sochi 2014.

“It’s huge to be taking part in the Games,” says 18-year-old Coline Mattel. “It’s what every sportswoman dreams about and it’s a really big thing for us. When we heard in 2011 that the IOC had included women’s ski jumping on the programme at Sochi, our mindsets began to change. We all became more involved and more serious about training. It’s going to be amazing for all of us to share the stage with the world’s best athletes.” The French athlete, who hails from Contamines-Montjoie, is regarded as one of the finest female ski jumpers in the world along with the USA’s Sarah Hendrickson, Austria’s Daniela Iraschko, Japan’s Sara Takanashi and Slovenia’s Katja Pozun.

Like most youngsters growing up in the mountains, Coline started out in Alpine skiing, but her passion for ski jumping was ignited at a very early age: “What I love is feeling that fear at the top of the hill and being able to conquer it. There’s nothing else quite like it.” She burst on to the international scene at the age of 13, winning bronze at the 2009 FIS World Junior Ski Championships in Strbske Pleso, Slovakia and going on to finish fifth when women’s ski jumping made its debut at the World Ski Championships later that year in Liberec.

Laying down a marker

Her own ascendancy has coincided with that of women’s ski jumping, which graduated from Continental Cup status to become a fully fledged FIS World Cup sport in 2011. That same year, Mattel made a little piece of history when she took third place in the World Ski Championships at Oslo, earning France its first ever ski jumping medal on the global stage. However the achievement left her less than completely satisfied. “I didn’t make the most of my opportunity, and I was disappointed I didn’t do better,” she later said.

Crowned junior world champion at Otepaa, Estonia, in January 2011, Mattel scored her first World Cup win at an Olympic test event on the RusSki Gorki hill in December 2012. “I really like the hill. It will be great to go back and to see the site finished,” she commented afterwards. “This win will give me a lot of confidence too.”

A performing arts student, Mattel has her sights set on nothing less than victory at Sochi 2014 and, thanks to a funding programme, has been able to devote her energies to that challenge full time. As she continues to hone her technique, the intrepid French jumper is intent on making a date with history and securing gold on 11 February 2014.

Discover Women's Ski Jumping, one of the the twelve new winter sports events for Sochi 2014. 

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Goepper sets pace ahead of slopestyle debut

©IOC/Mine Kasapoglu

19/12/2013

Indiana-born freeskier Nick Goepper has set an early benchmark ahead of ski slopestyle’s first appearance at the Olympic Winter Games. The 19 year-old American overcame high winds to win the slopestyle event at the Mountain Championships in Breckenridge, Colorado (USA) on Sunday, with the 93.00 points he scored in the first of his two runs proving unbeatable despite strong performances from his rivals.

Goepper completed a technically superb run despite competing without poles due to a broken hand. He saw off the challenges of Canadian Alex Beaulieu-Marchand and Australian Russ Henshaw, who finished second and third respectively – while his hotly-tipped compatriots, Bobby Brown, Tom Wallisch and Alex Schlopy, came fourth, fifth and seventh.

The event was the first of five that will determine a hugely talented US team’s Olympic roster for the discipline, and Goepper believes he has taken a giant step towards Sochi.

“I’d say this takes off half the pressure [of making the Olympic team],” he said. “The ideal goal is to get two podiums.”

Devin Logan, from Vermont, won the women’s event – but the most notable achievement was that of compatriot Maggie Voisin, who finished third on her 15th birthday to give herself a strong chance of qualification for Sochi. Remarkably, Voisin meets the US team’s age criteria by just 18 days.

McMorris underlines ‘favourite’ tag

Canada’s Mark McMorris continued his own fine form in Breckenridge, coming out on top in the snowboard slopestyle event.

Like its skiing counterpart, snowboard slopestyle will make its debut at Sochi this February – and 20 year-old McMorris showed why he is hotly tipped for gold by scoring an impressive 97.8 points on his second run, performing a spectacular triple-cork to ensure that he finished 6.80 points ahead of second-placed Sean Thorgren. It was a second tour victory of the season for McMorris, who finished second to Finland’s Roope Tonteri at this year’s World Championships in Stoneham.

The women’s event was won on Friday by American Jamie Anderson, , who convincingly headed off Enna Rukajarvi by 6.60 points.

Surprise as Bretz pips Olympic champion

Greg Bretz pulled off a shock in the snowboard halfpipe competition in Breckenridge, beating two-time Olympic champion Shaun White by a single point on Saturday and staking a strong claim for a place in Sochi. Similarly to the slopestyle competitions, this event formed one of five that will determine the US team’s Olympic selection. Australia’s Torah Bright, a gold medal winner in Vancouver four years ago, was the women’s winner.

The ski halfpipe, another discipline taking its Olympic bow in Sochi, saw David Wise win the men’s event on Saturday, while 20 year-old Maddie Bowman led a US clean sweep in the women’s competition – followed in the rankings by Angeli VanLaanen and Brita Sigourney. It was a particularly promising result for VanLaanen, who only recently returned from a three-year absence from competition after recovering from Lyme disease.

Information on tickets for Sochi 2014 is available here :http://www.olympic.org/news/sochi-2014-olympic-winter-games-tickets/190291

Discover Ski Slopestyle, one of the the twelve new winter sports events for Sochi 2014.

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Steven Holcomb: The Night Train rides again

©Getty Images

20/12/2013

Together with Justin Olsen, Curt Tomasevicz and Steve Langton, Steven Holcomb will be hopping back onto “The Night Train”, as the US quartet look to defend the Olympic four-man bobsleigh title at Sochi 2014.

“Going into Sochi, we’re all now experienced, we’ve all been there,” said Steven Holcomb, the driver of USA 1’s two- and four-man bobs. “We know not only what it takes to be an Olympian, not only what it’s like to be in that pressure of the Olympics, but now we know what it’s like to win.”

Holcomb made a little bit of history at Vancouver 2010, winning the USA’s first gold in the four-man bob since Francis Tyler, Patrick Martin, Edward Rimkus and William D’Amico topped the podium at the 1948 Games in St Moritz.

While Justin Olsen and Curt Tomasevicz will be back in the bob with him to defend the title in Sochi, Steve Mesler has retired, with Steve Langton – Holcomb’s team-mate in the two-man bob –  coming in to replace him.

Describing what Langton brings to the US team, Holcomb said: “The guy’s a freak. He has an unreal vertical jump. He’s incredibly strong. He’s very disciplined and he’s the exact guy to have on your team.” 

Holcomb hails from Park City, Utah, which is also home to his fellow Olympian Ted Ligety, one of the greatest skiers in the world. Both are former pupils of the city’s Winter Sports School, Holcomb having started his winter sports career in Alpine skiing and proving sufficiently gifted to compete at national level. A soldier in Utah’s National Guard through to his honourable discharge in 2006, Holcomb turned his attention to bobsleighing at the end of the 1990s. After developing into one of the finest drivers in the world, he was then diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition called keratoconus, a disease that thins the cornea and causes distorted vision.

Seeing the light

Holcomb’s failing eyesight actually enhanced his feel for the movement of the sled, to the extent that it became almost like an extension of his body. He eventually regained full vision in 2008 thanks to a revolutionary surgical procedure, and went on to record a string of victories on the FIBT World Cup circuit and enjoy sustained world championship success, winning the four-man bob titles in 2009 and 2012, the two-man bob in 2012 and the mixed-team event in 2012 and 2013.

At Vancouver 2010 he placed sixth in the two-man with Tomasevicz before unseating Germany’s defending two-time Olympic champion Andre Lange in the four-man, beating the Whistler track record in the first two runs and dominating the third to win with something to spare.

At Sochi 2014 Holcomb will once again be banking on his powers of anticipation and his gift for keeping USA 1, nicknamed The Night Train, on the right line at speeds of over 140kmh and at 4+ G-force.

His objective in Russia is simple: “It’s going to be a challenge, but we’re defending the gold and that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to go out there and fight tooth and nail. We’re not here to finish second or third. I’ll take second or third but that’s not our goal. Our goal is gold: 100 percent.”

Should he achieve that goal, he will become the first American four-man bob driver to win back-to-back Olympic golds since William Fiske in 1928 and 1932.

Follow Steve Holcomb as he shares the details of the runs that took him and the Night Train crew to Olympic gold:

Follow Steven Holcomb on the Athlete's Hub:

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Innsbruck’s Olympic legacy “is in the city’s DNA”

20/12/2013

Having hosted the Olympic Winter Games twice, as well as the inaugural edition of the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG), the Austrian city of Innsbruck is steeped in Olympic history.

According to Peter Bayer, the CEO of the Innsbruck 2012 Winter YOG, the city’s long Olympic tradition means that the Games hold a special place in the hearts of Innsbruck’s residents, who know first-hand about the benefits that hosting the Games can provide to a city.

“Everyone in Innsbruck loves the Olympic Games,” he explains.” People have been born with it in their DNA, so everyone knows about the positive experiences and the positive momentum that the Games can bring.

“For example, after the first Games in 1964, that was when tourism really started to develop in the city because people had seen and learned about Innsbruck during the Games.”

Following the success of the 1964 and 1976 Winter Games, many Innsbruck residents were excited to once again enjoy the Olympic experience in 2012.

“Everyone was enthusiastic about the YOG,” says Bayer. “We even had around 30 volunteers who had been there in 1964 and 1976, who wanted to come back and do it again for 2012 because they said that they’d had the time of their lives and wanted to be part of it again. That’s how the spirit developed in the city as a whole.”

The legacies of the 1964 and 1976 Winter Games also played a key role in shaping the 2012 Winter YOG, which made use of several pre-existing Olympic venues.

“We had 1964 and 1976 and then we were able to really build on the legacy from those two Games with the YOG,” says Bayer. We had one huge advantage, which was that we had nearly all the sporting venues already in place. The only temporary venue we had was the curling venues – all the other facilities were already there and had been regularly used since the Winter Games in 1964 and 1976. They had all been used for World Cups and World Championships, so we also had the people who knew how to run these major events – we didn’t have to bring in any external experts.”

Innsbruck 2012 also created its own legacy with the construction of the Youth Olympic Village, which has since provided affordable homes to families on low incomes.

“Today there are around 400 families living there,” says Bayer. “It wouldn’t have been built with the Youth Olympic Games. The land was supposed to be sold, but when we won the right to host the Games, the government awarded the land to the city of Innsbruck in order to build the village.”

Future generations in Innsbruck will also benefit from the establishment of a Nordic centre and a jumping hill in Seefeld, as well as a new ski-cross track and freestyle-course in Kühtai, which were all built for Innsbruck 2012.

“That whole area is now being used by our grassroots development programmes for young athletes in ski jumping, biathlon and Nordic combined,” says Bayer. “Kids are training there regularly and they have also held World Cup events. Seefeld is also applying to host the 2019 Nordic Combined World Championships. All the investment was made with a long-term vision behind it, which was also the case with the freestyle park in Kuhtai.”

With Innsbruck set to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Winter Games in February next year, Bayer believes the city’s Olympic spirit has never been stronger.

“By delivering the Games in the way we did, which was based on the history we already had, the whole Olympic spirit has not only been reawakened in Innsbruck, but also increased,” he says. “Now, lots of people would love to see the Winter Games return to Innsbruck again.”

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Ap

Discover the twelve new winter sports events for Sochi 2014!

18/12/2013

Twelve winter sports events (three mixed events, four men’s events and five women’s events) will make their debuts on the Olympic programme in Sochi. Here’s what to look out for:

Biathlon mixed relay – MixedTeams will comprise of two men and two women. Women will open the relay, completing the first two 6km legs. The men then complete the next two 7.5km legs.


Figure skating team event – MixedFeaturing teams made up of six skaters – one male, one female, one pair and one ice dance couple. Points will be awarded for each routine and the team with the highest number of aggregate points will win gold.

Luge team relay – MixedEach nation will field a men’s singles sled, a doubles sled and a women’s singles sled. All three will slide down the track, one after another, with the clock stopping only after the third sled has crossed the finish line.

Ski halfpipe – Men’s and Women’sEach athlete will perform an array of big airs and other tricks in the halfpipe before being judged on technical execution, amplitude, variety, difficulty and use of pipe.

Ski slopestyle – Men’s and Women’sSkiers combine airs and tricks on a 565m course featuring rails and a variety of jumps before being scored on execution, style, difficulty, variety and progression.

Snowboard slopestyle – Men’s and Women’sAthletes will be scored after descending a 655m course consisting of rails and a variety of jumps, as they combine big airs and technical tricks into one run.

Snowboard parallel slalom – Men’s and Women’sRiders will race two at a time down the same slope on two parallel courses, outlined with gates and triangular flags.

Women’s ski jumping – Women’sThe women’s normal hill event will mark the first time that women will compete in ski jumping at the Winter Games.

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KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

IOC President meets HRH Prince of Asturias, Spanish Prime Minister

©COE/ Nacho Casares Montoya (2)

18/12/2013

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach today visited His Royal Highness the Prince of Asturias before meeting Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy at his official residence in Madrid.

President Bach and Prime Minister Rajoy discussed the very important role that Spanish sport and Spanish athletes play in the sports world. President Bach told the Spanish Prime Minister how well received the Madrid 2020 bid had been, and told him it showed great potential for future development. The pair also discussed the positive preparations for the upcoming Games in Sochi.
Accompanying the President during his meetings was Spanish Olympic Committee President Alejandro Blanco. They were joined in their meeting with Prime Minister Rajoy by IOC members in Spain Juan Antonio Samaranch, Marisol Casado and José Perurena.
Earlier in the day, President Bach met with the heads of Spanish-speaking National Olympic Committees, who presented a joint programme for higher education.
President Bach also visited the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) company, which is headquartered in Madrid. There, he was given the latest positive news on preparations for Sochi. Future plans for a potential Olympic TV channel were also discussed.
Earlier, he met with a group of Spanish research scientists, who gave a presentation on potential new anti-doping methods for the identification of prohibited substances.
In the evening, during its annual gala, the Spanish Olympic Committee gave awards to athletes and other prominent members of the sports world.

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KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

IOC announces winner of the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games Medal Design Competition

20/12/2013

A young sports fan from Slovakia was today announced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the winner of the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games Medal Design Competition.

The winning concept, entitled “Track of Winners”, was chosen from a pool of over 300 entries from 50 plus countries by a prestigious IOC jury who described it as “modern, fresh and dynamic” when they were brought together from across the globe to deliberate the decision earlier this month.

Speaking about his win, 23-year-old Matej Čička said: “It was our school task to join this competition and design a medal. So I drew a lot of sketches and spoke with a teacher to choose the best one. I was inspired by the athletes’ track which, to me, means the base of the Youth Olympic Games. So I put it into my concept and used different shapes to represent the winning athletes and the podium.  And finally I called it The Track of Winners.”

The judging panel comprised world-renowned designer Thomas Heatherwick, the man behind the iconic Olympic cauldron at the London 2012 Olympic Games; Youth Olympic Games 400m hurdles gold medallist Aurélie Chaboudez (FRA); Olympic short-track speed skating champion Yang Yang (CHN); Youth Olympic Games Ambassador Yelena Isinbaeva (RUS); Olympic fencer and IOC Athletes’ Commission Chair Claudia Bokel (GER); and IOC Olympic Games Executive Director Gilbert Felli.

The panel also selected two runner-up designs that were placed in second and third place behind the winner. They were ‘A Hug From Lele!’ by Hugo Fernández, 29, from Spain; and ‘Stripes of Victory’ by Csaba Szitas, 28, from Slovakia.

Of his role as a jury member, Thomas said: “It's been thrilling to have the chance to look through so many exciting ideas from all over the world and to feel how much the Youth Olympic Games mean to young people.”

The online competition was launched in September and invited fans all over the world to get inspired by the Olympic values and share in the YOG spirit by submitting their designs. Matej’s winning design will feature on the face of the gold, silver and bronze medals awarded in Nanjing from 16 to 28 August. His first prize also includes a trip to the Games, tickets to the Opening Ceremony and a full collection of the medals featuring their design.

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