KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Olympic Movement mourns death of Nelson Mandela and salutes “hero of humanity”

©IOC/Giulio Locatelli; Getty Images

06/12/2013

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach today expressed the shared loss of the sporting world at the passing of Nelson Mandela.

“The Olympic Movement is mourning the loss of a great friend and a hero of humanity,” President Bach said. “However, his attitude towards sport can make us proud – proud at his understanding of the potential of sport to bring inclusion.”

President Bach, who met Mr Mandela personally, added that he was an inspiration. “When I met him, I remember asking him if he hated his enemies. He replied, 'No'. When he saw I doubted him he added: ‘If I would hate them I would not be a free man anymore.’ That sums up the man and his humanity.” 

At a meeting at the IOC this morning, IOC member in South Africa Sam Ramsamy, who was a leading member of the anti-apartheid movement, praised Mr Mandela for his “understanding of sport as a uniting factor.” He added: “This is a time to celebrate a great life, not to mourn.”

Mr Mandela, himself a huge sports fan, once said: “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, it has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope, where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination.”

The IOC will observe a period of mourning of three-days at its head-quarters with the Olympic Flag at half-mast to mark his passing.

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Defending Olympic women’s halfpipe champion Torah Bright looks for triple gold in Sochi

04/12/2013

Defending Olympic women’s halfpipe champion Torah Bright has given herself quite a task at Sochi 2014, where she will be competing in the halfpipe, slopestyle and snowboard cross events. “It’s just snowboard,” says the Australian, taking the challenge in her stride.

“It’s all just snowboarding but there are very subtle differences,” says Torah Bright of the three events in which she will be competing at Sochi 2014. “Halfpipe helps slopestyle, slopestyle helps halfpipe, and boardercross is a combination of both and freeriding. You don’t pop off a jump. You suck it up. You want to get to the ground as fast as possible. It’s not just you and the halfpipe or you and the slopestyle course: it’s you and five others. There’s a whole new element there for me and a split-second reaction can be the difference between getting taken out or getting through. I get asked, why the three sports? And I say: ‘Why not? It’s all just snowboarding’. If I can find the fun in anything I do, I get the most out of myself. And that’s what happening with doing these three different disciplines. I’m challenging myself every single day that I’m on the mountain in ways that I haven’t been challenged in years, especially in the mental aspect.”



A flagbearer and a champion
After carrying the Australian flag at the Opening Ceremony at Vancouver 2010, Bright went out on Cypress Mountain and won the halfpipe gold in memorable style. Qualifying for the final in first place, she then crashed out on her opening run, but more than made up for it on her second, producing a superb switch backside 720 and scoring 45 points to top the podium ahead of the USA’s Olympic champions Kelly Clark (2002) and Hannah Tetter (2006). Reflecting on what was her country’s fourth Olympic Winter Games gold, she said: “It felt really good on that one day that counted to put down the run I wanted and for it to be the best on the day. It was huge.”

A Bright hope
Bright, who took the slopestyle bronze at the 2013 FIS Snowboarding World Championships in Stoneham (CAN), says that it was her brother and coach, Benny, who first suggested she try competing in all three disciplines “I said to him: ‘Oh my gosh, no. Way too hard’. But this year something sparked in me and I said I wanted to do it. I love snowboarding more than I ever have right now because of this challenge. There’s something really satisfying about being your best and trying to better yourself every day, about daring yourself to try something new and just being open to the universe and learning.”

The 26-year-old is the only athlete to attempt this remarkable treble at Sochi, but her experience and her refreshingly relaxed approach should serve her well: “Whether I win or not does not define who I am as a human or a snowboarder. It’s a contest. It’s just snowboarding.”

Follow Torah Bright on the Athlete's Hub

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Defending Olympic women’s halfpipe champion Torah Bright looks for triple gold in Sochi

04/12/2013

Defending Olympic women’s halfpipe champion Torah Bright has given herself quite a task at Sochi 2014, where she will be competing in the halfpipe, slopestyle and snowboard cross events. “It’s just snowboard,” says the Australian, taking the challenge in her stride.

“It’s all just snowboarding but there are very subtle differences,” says Torah Bright of the three events in which she will be competing at Sochi 2014. “Halfpipe helps slopestyle, slopestyle helps halfpipe, and boardercross is a combination of both and freeriding. You don’t pop off a jump. You suck it up. You want to get to the ground as fast as possible. It’s not just you and the halfpipe or you and the slopestyle course: it’s you and five others. There’s a whole new element there for me and a split-second reaction can be the difference between getting taken out or getting through. I get asked, why the three sports? And I say: ‘Why not? It’s all just snowboarding’. If I can find the fun in anything I do, I get the most out of myself. And that’s what happening with doing these three different disciplines. I’m challenging myself every single day that I’m on the mountain in ways that I haven’t been challenged in years, especially in the mental aspect.”



A flagbearer and a champion
After carrying the Australian flag at the Opening Ceremony at Vancouver 2010, Bright went out on Cypress Mountain and won the halfpipe gold in memorable style. Qualifying for the final in first place, she then crashed out on her opening run, but more than made up for it on her second, producing a superb switch backside 720 and scoring 45 points to top the podium ahead of the USA’s Olympic champions Kelly Clark (2002) and Hannah Tetter (2006). Reflecting on what was her country’s fourth Olympic Winter Games gold, she said: “It felt really good on that one day that counted to put down the run I wanted and for it to be the best on the day. It was huge.”

A Bright hope
Bright, who took the slopestyle bronze at the 2013 FIS Snowboarding World Championships in Stoneham (CAN), says that it was her brother and coach, Benny, who first suggested she try competing in all three disciplines “I said to him: ‘Oh my gosh, no. Way too hard’. But this year something sparked in me and I said I wanted to do it. I love snowboarding more than I ever have right now because of this challenge. There’s something really satisfying about being your best and trying to better yourself every day, about daring yourself to try something new and just being open to the universe and learning.”

The 26-year-old is the only athlete to attempt this remarkable treble at Sochi, but her experience and her refreshingly relaxed approach should serve her well: “Whether I win or not does not define who I am as a human or a snowboarder. It’s a contest. It’s just snowboarding.”

Follow Torah Bright on the Athlete's Hub

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

In Sochi, Julie Chu wants to be on the top of the podium

05/12/2013

A winner of three Olympic medals to date, Julie Chu is the oldest member of a USA women’s ice hockey team that is determined to end Canada’s stranglehold on the gold, which stretches back to 2002

Julie Chu has been a key member of the USA’s women’s ice hockey team since the turn of the millennium and will be competing in her fourth Olympic Games at Sochi. The 31-year old forward, who currently plies her trade in Canada with Montreal Stars, first set her hands on a hockey stick when she was eight.

“In a way, hockey found me,” she recalls. “My sister and I signed up for figure skating at age eight, but I wasn’t the most graceful person and I couldn’t do any of the moves. I’d see the hockey boys on the other side of the rink playing, and I remember wanting that camaraderie, wanting to be part of something more dynamic and fun. It only took me two months to ditch figure skating and switch to hockey. I like the competitiveness of it. The game is very fast. Its two-way action keeps you on your toes, always engaged.”

© Getty

The gifted Chu was 19 when she made her Games debut at Salt Lake City 2002, where the Americans lost 3-2 to their eternal rivals Canada in the final. Four years later in Turin, the USA were knocked out by Sweden in the semi-finals but recovered to win the bronze, with Chu supplying two assists in a 4-0 defeat of Finland. The final at Vancouver 2010 once again pitted the two North American neighbours against each other, with the hosts winning 2-0, a result that prompted a philosophical Chu to comment: “Three Games, three medals, but no golds.”

Top of the world

“We’ve had four years of non-stop success since the last Games,” said the US captain recently. “Our team works very hard. We motivate each other and have lots of fun, which is important and helps us to face each day with a smile and lots of enthusiasm.” Chu and her team-mates won two world titles in those four years, landing gold in Switzerland in 2011 and again in Canada in 2013, beating their northern neighbours 3-2 in both finals.

Along with her mother Miriam, Chu is also devoting her considerable energies to promoting IOC partner Procter & Gamble’s “Thank You, Mom” campaign across the United States. 

A two-time Clarkson Cup winner - with Minnesota Whitecaps in 2010 and Montreal Stars in 2011 - as well as a five-time world champion with the USA, and currently the biggest star in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, Chu is one of the stand-out performers in a team that is desperate to deliver USA its first Olympic gold since the inaugural women’s competition at Nagano 1998. “I think my team-mates would say that I was a positive person, who works hard and tries to bring some good energy to the team,” added Chu, who will be intent on using that energy to take the USA all the way in Sochi.

© IOC/R. Juilliart

And as she explains, she and her team-mates are leaving nothing to chance. “We’re training six days a week on the ice, as well as three days a week off ice. So it’s pretty special for us to be together full-time as a group, which we don’t always get to be in non-Olympic years. Heading into Sochi we’re making sure that we’re doing everything right to prepare well and we’re going for a gold medal. We want to be the best in the world and we’re working on that right now.”

Follow Julie Chu on the Athletes' Hub.

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Sapporo 1972 inspired new generation of Asian winter athletes

05/12/2013

The Sapporo 1972 Olympic Winter Games were the first to be held outside Europe and North America and helped bring winter sports to a new audience within Asia.

The city of Sapporo itself enjoyed numerous benefits from hosting the Games, with several infrastructure projects initiated during preparations. Transport investments included extensions to two airports, improvements to the main railway station, 41 new or improved roads – totalling 213 km – and the construction of a 45km rapid transit system. Improved urban heating systems, water systems, and sewage treatment facilities were also built, along with 12 new sports venues.

The facilities that were used for speed skating, figure skating, ice hockey and the Closing Ceremony are all still in use today, while the Okurayama and Miyanomori ski jumping hills have since hosted several FIS World Cup and World Championship events.

Mount Teine, which hosted the Alpine skiing events during the Games, has also become a popular ski destination and has twice hosted the Asian Winter Games, as well as being one of the main facilities for regional and national ski competitions.

But perhaps the biggest impact that the Sapporo Winter Games had was on the next generation of winter athletes in Asia.

Prior to 1972, no Asian country had ever won a gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games, but in Sapporo the host country swept the medals in the normal hill ski jumping event, with Yukio Kasaya winning gold.

As Japan’s first ever Winter Olympic gold medallist, Kasaya became a national hero and helped inspire more interest in winter sports across Asia.

By the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, Asia countries were regular medal winners, with Japan leading the way with seven medals and the Republic of Korea winning two gold, one silver and one bronze.

The Winter Games returned to Japan in Nagano in 1998, while today the Republic of Korea is also preparing to host the Games for the first time, with the PyeongChang 2018 Organising Committee hoping to further expand the reach of winter sports across Asia. 

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Medal Design Competition now closed for entries

03/12/2013

It is that nerve-wracking time…  the Youth Olympic Games 2014 Medal Design Competition is now closed and the hundreds of fantastic entries are now in the hands of the IOC judging panel!

The judges, who include Olympic cauldron designer Thomas Heatherwick and Olympic medallists Yang Yang (China), Claudia Bokel (Germany) and Yelena Isinbaeva (Russia) will meet at the IOC headquarters in December to deliberate over the many designs entered from over 50 countries.

Check out the gallery of entries on www.medaldesigncompetition.com 

The winning design will be announced later this month.

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

The IOC, the FC Barcelona Foundation (FFCB) and the Olympafrica Foundation unite for young people in Africa

©IOC / Richard Juilliart (2), Olympafrica Foundation (2)

04/12/2013

The IOC, the Olympafrica Foundation and the FC Barcelona Foundation (FFCB) have announced a new agreement to bring sport to people of all ages and abilities throughout Africa. Following the success of a previous pilot programme, IOC President Thomas Bach, FC Barcelona Chairman Sandro Rosell, and IOC honorary member and President of the Olympafrica Foundation and the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) General Lassana Palenfo today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne.

This agreement will see the programme being developed and implemented until 2016. The programme will use the network of the 39 Olympafrica centres throughout the continent to promote values of sport and education through to 2016.

A successful pilot project

This new agreement follows on from the MoU signed on 17 April 2013 between the IOC and the FC Barcelona Foundation, supporting joint actions in the area of development through sport and the promotion of the Olympic values. The two sports organisations made a commitment to strengthening the Olympafrica Foundation’s existing football programme on offer in community sports centres to young people throughout Africa, adding an educational aspect thanks to the implementation of the FFCB’s FutbolNet method. FutbolNet’s objective is to pass on the positive values of sport to the young participants through the pleasure of playing and practising football.

This year, the Olympafrica centres in 23 African countries hosted 26 local tournaments for 12 to15 year-olds, held over two months. Furthermore, a regional tournament took place in May in Burundi, bringing together teams from the Olympafrica centres in neighbouring countries. The programme was greatly appreciated by the 2,500 young participants who took part in the tournaments in the various centres, as well as by the Olympafrica educators. Finally, the sports equipment provided to each centre, including balls and jerseys, contributed to the success of this pilot project.  

IOC President Thomas Bach said: “This is an exciting project that will first and foremost bring the joy of sport and competition to children and people of all ages throughout Africa. While enjoying sport, they will also learn the values that make sport such a powerful tool in the fields of development and education. It is great to bring our network of Olympafrica centres together with the FC Barcelona Foundation and to see the programme developing over the next three years.  I would like to thank the FC Barcelona Foundation and the Olympafrica Foundation for their continuing commitment to sport and to the people whose lives it greatly influences.”

Sandro Rosell commented: “We are very proud to work with an organisation as prestigious as the International Olympic Committee. Thanks to this project we can continue to spread our belief that sport, and football in particular, is an inexhaustible source of values and a universal language. This project has enjoyed success in Catalonia, Brazil and the Middle East, and thanks to this partnership it can keep on developing in Africa.”

General Lassana Palenfo concluded: “We would like to thank the IOC and the FC Barcelona Foundation for implementing and developing the Olympafrica FutbolNet Cup. For us, this programme is an important educational and social tool which contributes to young people’s development on the continent. The support of the IOC and the FFCB has allowed us, and, above all, will continue to allow us to provide more opportunities to young African people and local communities to practise sport and to become empowered.”

As from next year, all the operational Olympafrica centres will benefit from the Olympafrica FutbolNet Cup programme, with some 100,000 young people participating. The number of regional tournaments will also increase gradually, and a continental final will be organised from 2015 onwards. 

Development through sport in Africa

Olympafrica, which was initiated by the IOC, aims to further social development through sport and promote the creation of small-scale sports and socio-educational centres in African countries, in collaboration with National Olympic Committees and local communities, in order to encourage and assist the development of talented youngsters through local training programmes. The idea for such an initiative was first launched in 1988 to enable developing countries to benefit fully from the positive impact of Olympism. Today, the Olympafrica programme offers a wide range of sporting, social and educational activities for young people and communities in 39 centres across 35 African countries.  

Find out more about the IOC’s development through sport activities 

Find out more about the FC Barcelona Foundation