“Every reason to be confident and inspired by Rio 2016 – No reason to be complacent” – IOC President

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©IOC/Ian Jones

28/02/2015

President Bach finishes week-long visit to Rio, which is showing steady progress

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) wrapped up a busy week of meetings today in Rio de Janeiro that included the eighth visit of the Coordination Commission for the Olympic Games Rio 2016, the first Executive Board meeting after the approval of Olympic Agenda 2020, and discussions between IOC President Thomas Bach and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.
President Bach today gave details of his two-hour meeting with President Rousseff. During the meeting, the Brazilian President confirmed not only her full commitment to the success of the Games but also the full commitment of all levels of government. She made it very clear that all the Federal ministries will make every effort to ensure the success of the Games.
The pair also discussed the positive legacies the Games will leave Rio and Brazil. The Olympic Games will provide new, much-needed infrastructure for Rio. This includes a new metro line that will link the regions of Ipanema and Barra. The improved transport system will benefit at least one million people in Rio. Previously, only 16 per cent of the population had access to public transportation in Rio. After the Games, that number is expected to increase to 63 percent.
The Games will also be inclusive. Hundreds of small businesses are being integrated into the Games and given access and assistance in the tender process for contracts worth more than BRL 3 billion. In addition, all of the 250,000 people who applied to be volunteers will receive English courses and training.
Rio 2016 will be the most inclusive Olympic Games ever with more than seven million tickets available, out of which 3.8 million will be sold for USD 30 or less. The cheapest tickets will be USD 15. On top of that there is a reduction for students and the elderly. Should they do so with a credit card, they can also pay in installments over a number of months, making it even more affordable. Many more Brazilians will have access to the Games as some of the events will be free to the public.
“There is really an impressive programme in place for engagement and legacies surrounding these Games,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. “The IOC EB discussed this in detail. The IOC wants to leave the Closing Ceremony not just saying goodbye and thank you. We want to leave knowing there is a great legacy plan in place for the Cariocas and for Brazil. We received excellent plans from the organising committee and public authorities to use the Games as a catalyst for social and economic development in Rio and Brazil. So for Rio we have many reasons to be confident and we are in fact inspired by the legacy project. On the other hand we have no reason to be complacent because we all know there is not a single moment to lose in preparations.”
During the IOC Executive Board, Members received a report on the finances of the Organising Committee for the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014, which generated an operational surplus of RUB 3.25 billion (approximately USD 50 million) from the staging of the Games.
The IOC had already decided to transfer all its share of this total (RUB 650 million/USD10 million) to the Russian Olympic Committee for use in the development of sport, the Olympic Channel and an Olympic Museum in Russia.
In total, the IOC contributed USD 833 million to support the Sochi Games, an increase of USD 83 million over previous estimates. The IOC will contribute USD 1.5 billion to the success of next summer’s Olympic Games Rio 2016.
“This shows the commitment of the IOC to make Olympic Games feasible,” the IOC President said. “We do not go to host cities to create revenues for the IOC, but for the investment in the development of sport around the world. This is why we invest 90 percent or more of our revenues back into sport.”
The EB also heard reports from the organisers of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, and Winter Youth Olympic Games Lillehammer 2016.
The delegation from PyeongChang 2018, led by its Chairman Cho Yang-Ho, acknowledged the challenges they are currently facing in their preparations. The IOC EB offered its assistance wherever and however possible. This resulted in the establishment of an Integration Working Group to have key stakeholders around one table in PyeongChang to speed up decision-making processes and improve integration between all stakeholders.

IOC Executive Board launches Implementation Plan for Olympic Agenda 2020 – announces progress on a number of recommendations

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©IOC/Ian Jones

28/02/2015

The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) concluded three days of meetings today in Rio de Janeiro by adopting an Implementation Plan for Olympic Agenda 2020, the strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement.

The Executive Board went through each of the 40 recommendations that make up Olympic Agenda 2020 and discussed their implementation, including timelines, costs, and the impact on human resources and the structure of the IOC.
The Implementation Plan focuses on timelines for 2015 but also gives some milestones beyond 2015.
Implementation of a significant number of recommendations began immediately after their adoption at the 127th IOC Session in Monaco eight weeks ago, with the first meetings taking place in December.
For the bidding process, the new Invitation Phase for the 2024 Games is already in place, starting on 15 January. This gives interested cities the chance to see how the Olympic Games best fit into their long-term social, sporting, environmental and economic environment. The EB heard today that a number of interested potential bidders had already taken advantage of the new phase.
Today, some new allocations have been made of the USD 20 million fund to protect the clean athletes. Decisions have been taken to fund better research in the fight against doping by having a fresh look at the testing procedures and sample taking. USD 2.5 million has been allocated to set up workshops, already beginning in April, for the prevention of match fixing, manipulation and related corruption in collaboration with INTERPOL.
The Executive Board established today the position of an ethics and compliance officer in the IOC administration.
Work on the organisational structure of the Olympic Channel is well advanced.  The management structure of the company was agreed today.  It will have a share capital of one million CHF. Hiring of key management positions on the channel will now go ahead.
The EB discussed the procedure and timeline regarding the composition of the Olympic sports programme. Specifically regarding the addition of an extra event(s) to the programme of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 from a Recognised International Federation, the IOC EB will approve a set of criteria at its next meeting in June. Tokyo 2020 will subsequently submit its proposal to the IOC in September 2015. The IOC Programme Commission will then study the proposal(s) and make a recommendation to the IOC EB. A final decision is expected to be made at the IOC Session in Rio in 2016.
In the context of Olympic Agenda 2020 the EB agreed to three venue changes to the master plan for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The excellent collaboration between the IOC and Tokyo 2020 to incorporate the spirit of Olympic Agenda 2020 into its plans for the Games has already resulted in savings of USD 1 billion for the Organising Committee from the revised construction budget.
In its commitment to strengthen the support to athletes, the EB agreed to have a mourning place within the Olympic Village during the period of the Games in order to allow athletes to gather and pay tribute to people who passed away. It was also decided to devote a moment during the Closing Ceremony to remember the ones who died in the context of the Games.
“Participants at past Olympic Games have been affected by casualties and incidents back in their home counties,” said President Bach. “We want to give the athletes the opportunity to express their mourning in a dignified way and environment in the Olympic Village where representatives of the whole world are living peacefully under the same roof. At the Closing Ceremony, the Games come to an end and many people feel that it is a moment to remember people who have died at the Olympic Games.”
Going forward, each Executive Board meeting will now devote part of its agenda to the Olympic Agenda 2020 Implementation Plan to ensure proper follow-up and delivery.
Other recommendations have already been implemented. The IOC has included non-discrimination on sexual orientation in the 6th Fundamental Principle of Olympism.
The IOC has increased transparency, and will be audited according to enhanced International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), even if these higher standards are legally not required.

President Bach takes part in a day of celebrations to mark the 450th anniversary of Rio de Janeiro

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©IOC / Ian Jones

02/03/2015

The IOC President met Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff for a second time at the end of his week-long trip to the next host city of the Olympic Games.

The pair cut a ribbon to open a new tunnel in the port area of the city, which is part of an urban renewal plan to revitalise the Porto Maravilha area and reconnect it to the rest of the city.
They were joined by the Mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, and Rio State Governor Fernando Pezão, along with the President of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee, Carlos Nuzman. Brazilian IOC Member Bernard Rajzman was also part of the delegation.

©IOC / Ian Jones

President Rousseff has already pledged her and her government’s full support for the Games, and at the city celebration later in the day she told the audience that Rio would be the centre of the world during the two weeks of the Games, which were “the biggest sporting event in the world”.

At the celebrations, local celebrities and ordinary members of the public were awarded with the “1 March Medal” to honour those who had made a contribution to the city. Later the IOC President was also awarded the honour.

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New “Invitation Phase” sees IOC welcome German National Olympic Committee delegation to Lausanne

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©IOC/Christophe Moratal

02/03/2015

As part of the on-going implementation of Olympic Agenda 2020, a  German National Olympic Committee (DOSB) delegation, led by DOSB Chief Executive Officer Michael Vesper, was welcomed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s headquarters in Lausanne today. The DOSB was in town to take advantage of the new “Invitation Phase” of the Olympic Games’ bidding process that has come out of the Olympic Agenda’s reforms.

In a meeting led by Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi, the DOSB delegation was able to find out more information about the 2024 bid process and the requirements for hosting the Games themselves. The meeting gave the DOSB delegation an opportunity to better understand the impact of the reforms and how their plans for a potential bid can fit into them.
This gathering forms part of the new ‘Invitation Phase’ of the Games’ bid process, which was born out of Olympic Agenda 2020. The 40 recommendations from Olympic Agenda 2020 were unanimously approved by the IOC Session in Monaco in December last year and form a strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement. The IOC Executive Board agreed the ongoing implementation plan for these recommendations at its meeting in Rio de Janeiro last week.
Speaking afterwards, Dubi said: “It’s encouraging to see that National Olympic Committees are taking advantage of the Invitation Phase. It allows them to come and ask questions about the bid process and how Olympic Agenda 2020 can help them to deliver great Olympic Games for the athletes that fit into their city’s long-term social, sports, ecological and economic objectives. We were delighted to be able to welcome the DOSB to Lausanne today to answer their questions and give them information from the IOC on how best to maximise the legacies that a bid and the Games can deliver.”

Rafael Nadal “plays ball” with Buenos Aires 2018

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03/03/2015

Just days before winning his first title of 2015 at the Argentina Open, tennis superstar and Olympic champion Rafael Nadal took time out of his busy training schedule to host a workshop with local youngsters in Buenos Aires, the host city of the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

Hosted by the Buenos Aires 2018 Organising Committee, Nadal held a special master class with 350 local children from the less privileged neighbourhoods in the southern quarter of the city - the location for the Youth Olympic Village during the Games in just over three years’ time.
In line with the host city’s vision to “bring sport to the people”, Nadal held skills sessions and interacted with the children, inspiring them to continue with the sport of tennis and aim for events such as the Youth Olympic Games.
Nadal himself was inspired by the young talent, several of whom will attend the Youth Olympic Games in 2018. He commented, “I’m really happy to be able to share this moment with the kids – they are our future.”
Joined by the city’s Mayor, Mauricio Macri, the morning session was a mixture of tennis, music and laughter, and just one of the many motivating events that the city will run for its young population in the build-up to the Youth Olympic Games.

First step towards Olympic Unity House

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©IOC

03/03/2015

The IOC is moving ahead with the consolidation of its headquarters, as announced last December.

The public inquiry process for the demolition of the existing administrative buildings is the first step towards this realisation, and will take place throughout March. The IOC initially asked the architects selected through the international architecture competition to retain the existing administrative buildings, together with the Château de Vidy, a historic monument. But their configuration and structure proved to be incompatible with the IOC’s new needs and its historical patrimony obligations.
The demolition permit application is necessary to ensure that the preparatory work can be undertaken in the best possible conditions, particularly with regard to the archaeological excavations. This procedure will be followed in mid-2015 by an application for the permit to build Olympic Unity House. Work on this is expected to start in 2016.
This high-quality project, designed by Danish firm 3XN and developed in close consultation with the local authorities, will offer the region an emblematic building which meets the highest sustainable development standards. The design is intended to ensure that the building fits into its environmental and historic setting, and integrates with the local population.
Olympic Unity House will offer the IOC’s staff a functional, modern and sustainable workplace, in line with the IOC’s strategic road map. It will also provide a place for meetings and exchanges for the whole Olympic Movement.
With this project, the IOC is confirming its attachment to the city of Lausanne, at the time when the institution is preparing to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its establishment in Lausanne.

Natalia Vorobieva relives her day of glory

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04/03/2015

Russian wrestler Natalia Vorobieva looks back on her impressive gold medal win in the women’s 72kg category at London 2012. 

Natalia Vorobieva had two world junior 72kg titles under her belt by the time she made her Olympic debut at London 2012. The 21-year-old from the Siberian region of Irkutsk showed she belonged in the rarefied surroundings of the ExCel Centre, comfortably disposing of her rivals en route to the final, winning by falls against Kazakhstan’s Guzel Manyurova in the quarter-finals and defending champion Wang Jiao of China in the semis.
Vorobieva’s opponent in the gold-medal match was Beijing 2008 silver medallist Stanka  Zlateva of Bulgaria, a five-time world champion and eight years her senior. Recalling the moments leading up to the bout, the Russian says: “When I was walking out, my coaches said to me: ‘You already got silver. You have nothing to lose, so go and fight’! But I realised that my whole career was now at stake. So the fight was not only for every point, but also for every grab. Of course, Stanka Zlateva, came to win too, but I wasn’t there to lose.”

Intent on opening up an early lead, Vorobieva made an aggressive start, but incurred a penalty point when she stepped off the mat, leaving her trailing 1-0 at the end of the first round. “When I approached the coaches, they were in a horrible panic,” she recalls. “One was screaming something, arguing, and the other was fanning me, and wiping me with a towel… Then I turned to them and said: ‘Now everything will be fine’. And I left to return to the mat. Somehow I was sure that in the second round I could win because I wasn’t feeling tired after the first round and I had nothing to lose.”
Undaunted, Vorobieva vowed to stay on the offensive: “I thought somewhere deep inside I would find the moment for a successful attack. I have a fighting style that implies that I compete with clean finishes. That’s how I wanted to finish the final of the Olympic Games. I wanted to make a beautiful move. I wanted to win this Olympic Games in a beautiful way.”
The Russian’s adventurous approach paid off. With 39 seconds on the clock in round two, she had her opponent pinned down on the mat, prompting the referee to signal the end of the bout. “Here is the action that gave me goose bumps,” says Vorobieva, reliving the moment she struck gold. “And after a few years later I still get the goose bumps. I was screaming and the entire world from London to Irkutsk heard me for sure.” 

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Vorobieva was still taking it all in by the time she returned to the scene of her triumph for the medal ceremony, only comprehending the enormity of her achievement when she began to climb the podium. “I realised that here it is: the top of the Olympus, above my head the Russian flag, the anthem of my country is playing. I thought I can tick a point on my list: ‘Mission complete’,” she says, casting her mind back to the high point of her career to date. “I was standing there, listening to the anthem. I was singing in my mind and it seemed that I could feel every single word. Now, each time I hear the national anthem… I always associate it with that particular moment: 9 August 2012.”