KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

IOC awards 2014-2016 broadcast rights In Sub-Saharan Africa

15/01/2014

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has awarded the broadcast rights in Sub-Saharan Africa* to Infront Sports & Media AG for the XXII Olympic Winter Games in 2014 in Sochi, Russia, the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2014 in Nanjing, China.  

Infront has acquired exclusive broadcast rights on free to air television and non-exclusive internet and mobile broadcast rights.

IOC President Thomas Bach said: “This agreement reflects the global appeal of the Olympic Games, and our aim is to reach audiences in all regions across the globe with the best broadcast offering. We want to not only generate viewership for sports where African athletes already perform successfully, but also boost appeal for Olympic sports gaining popularity on the continent.”
 
IOC member Richard Carrión, who led the negotiations, said: “Infront has acquired the rights and will now work to sublicense those rights to broadcasters in the region to ensure excellent coverage of the Olympic Games for sports fans. The partnership with Infront allows us to take advantage of its network across the continent, supported further by a tailor-made editorial plan for African broadcasters and their viewers.”

Stephan Herth, Executive Director Summer Sports of Infront Sports & Media, said: “We would like to thank the IOC for trusting in our broadcast distribution experience and ability to extend the spirit and scope of Olympic programming to an even broader audience. Our ambition is to encourage the growth of sport in Africa with a dedicated broadcast product and continue to advocate the Olympics as a worldwide event. We are looking forward to delivering the Winter Olympics to television screens in so many countries in Africa for the first time in 2014.”

###

* Includes:

1. Angola
2. Benin
3. Botswana
4. Burkina Faso
5. Burundi
6. Cameroon
7. Cape Verde
8. Central Africa Republic
9. Chad
10. Comoros
11. Congo, Democratic Republic of
12. Congo, Republic of
13. Côte d’Ivoire
14. Equatorial Guinea
15. Eritrea
16. Ethiopia
17. Gabon
18. Gambia
19. Ghana
20. Guinea
21. Guinea-Bissau
22. Kenya
23. Lesotho
24. Liberia
25. Madagascar
26. Malawi
27. Mali
28. Mauritius
29. Mozambique
30. Namibia
31. Niger
32. Nigeria
33. Rwanda
34. São Tomé and Príncipe
35. Senegal
36. Seychelles
37. Sierra Leone
38. Swaziland
39. Tanzania
40. Togo
41. Uganda
42. Zambia
43. Zimbabwe

For more information, please contact

The IOC Media Relations Team: Tel: +41 21 621 6000 e-mail: pressoffice@olympic.org, or visit our web site at www.olympic.org.

Infront Sports & Media AG:

Jörg Polzer / Nike Möhle
Corporate Communications
Infront Sports & Media AG
Tel. +41-41-723 15 15
Fax +41-41-723 15 16press@infrontsports.com
www.infrontsports.com
VideosYouTube: www.youtube.com/iocmedia

PhotosFor an extensive selection of photos available shortly after each event, please follow us on Flickr.
To request archive photos and footage, please contact our Images team at: images@olympic.org

Social mediaFor up-to-the-minute information on the IOC and regular updates, please follow us on Twitter, Facebookand YouTube.

 

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Austria and Russia take biathlon relay honours

10/01/2014

Austria took the honours in the men’s 4x7.5km relay event in Ruhpolding (GER) on Thursday, January 9 – holding off the challenge of Germany by the tightest of margins in a fast, high-quality day’s racing.

The Vancouver 2010 silver medalists came home in 1.15:40.9, just 0.1 seconds ahead of their rivals, as Dominik Landertinger pulled away at the end of the final kilometre to edge ahead of Simon Schempp, with whom he had contested a thrilling final-stage battle.

Remarkably, it was Austria’s first relay win in four years and their first ever in Ruhpolding. Their previous victory in this event came on home snow in in Hochfilzen in December 2009. Veteran Christoph Sumann, who led the Austrians out on both occasions, stressed the importance of the win for his team’s Sochi 2014 challenge: “Winning 30 days before the Olympics makes us one of the favourites,” he said

Austria now sit second in the overall World Cup relay standings, just five points behind leaders Russia.

The previous day saw success for Russia in the women’s 4x6km event, as the Olympic champions secured their first relay victory of the season. In excellent conditions and inspired by captain Olga Vilukhina, they finished in 1:09:42.2, a full 6.2 seconds ahead of Germany, with Norway third. “I really concentrated on my race and gave all of my effort on that last lap,” said a delighted Vilukhina.

The win pulled Russia up to third in the overall World Cup table, behind Germany and Ukraine.

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

 

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Seppe Smits, the lowlander with a licence to dream

©Getty Images (2)

10/01/2014

When he steps out at Sochi in 2014 Seppe Smits will become the first ever Belgian snowboarder to compete at the Olympic Games. Despite being born in a country with no mountains, he has doggedly pursued his dream to become one of his sport’s best performers and is a genuine medal prospect in slopestyle, having won the world title in 2011.

The Belgian city of Antwerp is not the kind of place where you would expect one of the world’s best snowboarders to hail from. Yet that is exactly where Seppe Smits grew up and where he developed his passion for acrobatics of all types on the trampoline and the bicycle. Forever looking to push the limits, he dreamed of making it big one day.

His first contact with the snow came on a family holiday in the Alps. The long drive down from Belgian proved worth it as the youngster excelled on the slopes before going back to his native Antwerp to hone his talent in the ski dome in the outskirts of the city.

Accompanied by his mother Niek Ducro, Smits discussed his love for his sport as part of IOC partner Procter & Gamble’s “Thank You, Mom” campaign: “People often say that you want the one thing that you can’t do,” he commented. Undeterred by the odds, he was determined to prove them wrong.

Top of the world

Smits made his international breakthrough in the halfpipe, Big Air and slopestyle events in the Europa Cup before going on to impress as a 16-year-old at the 2007 World Cup and on the profes-sional circuit, starring on the Ticket To Ride Tour and at the X-Games. The young Belgian rider has obtained his best results in Big Air, an event in which he has shown his gift for hanging in the air and pulling off amazing tricks.

Another forte is slopestyle, which the IOC added to the Sochi 2014 programme in 2011, the year in which the gravity-defying Belgian won the world title in La Molina in the Spanish Pyrenees, topping the podium from Sweden’s Miklas Mattsson and Finland’s Ville Paumola thanks to some typically polished tricks. Then in November 2012 he enjoyed one of his proudest moments as he triumphed in a World Cup event on a purpose-built jump in front of thousands of his fans in Antwerp. 

Podium possibilities

The intrepid Belgian set himself two objectives for the 2013/14 season: “The Olympic Games and the X-Games, where the level of competition is more or less the same. Win the X-Games and you become a rock star. Win the Games and you become a legend.”

He believes he has a genuine chance of getting in among the medals in Sochi. “The podium is a possibility,” he says. “I’ve got a good technical range and if I can break out my very best tricks, then anything can happen. That said, if the others all have their very best day too, then it will be tough. We’ll find out soon enough.”

Having already blazed a unique trail in his home country, the ambitious 22-year-old is ready to take his career to the next level. But no matter how he fares in Sochi, he will be guaranteed a place in the history books as the first Belgian snowboarder to compete in the Olympic Games, an achieve-ment that will give him much satisfaction: “That’s one thing you’re always looking to do as an ath-lete: do something that no one else has ever done.”

Kearney marks century with Park City triumph

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Aksel Lund Svindal, up there with the greats

08/01/2014

Reigning Olympic super-G champion Aksel Lund Svindal is one of the greatest Alpine skiers of the last decade and will be on the prowl for medals in four events at Sochi.

It seems inevitable that Norway’s Askel Lund Svindal will be in among the medals at Sochi 2014. After all, the imposing all-rounder, who is a worthy heir to Norwegian skiing greats Kjetil Andre Aamodt and Lasse Kjus, has been a regular presence on World Cup, world championship and Olympic podiums since 2007.

Setting out his objectives for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, he said: “My aim is to arrive in Sochi as the favourite. That’s something I can do by myself. I don’t need any luck for that.”

Svindal won the 2007 and 2009 FIS World Cup titles and has collected a total of seven crystal globes in super-G, giant slalom, downhill and the combined. He has been a serious World Cup contender in every season of a career, with the exception of 2008, when his career was put on hold for a year following a serious injury at Beaver Creek the previous December. His haul of eight world championship medals includes five golds (downhill in 2007 and 2013, giant slalom in 2007 and combined in 2009 and 2011), and he has also won three Olympic medals, beating the American duo Bode Miller and Andrew Weibrecht to take gold in the super-G title at Vancouver 2010, where he also collected downhill silver and giant slalom bronze.

An incredible experience

“It’s really cool to take part in the Olympic Games. It’s an incredible experience,” says Svindal, whose middle name, Lusk, is the maiden name of his mother, who died when he was eight. “You feel as if you belong to something that’s much bigger than your sport and your day-to-day surroundings.” Though he competes in every event bar the slalom, the Norwegian star is primarily a speed specialist and has notched a hatful of downhill and super-G wins at all the major venues on the global circuit. He is also a formidable competitor in giant slalom and is regularly in the mix in the combined.

As he looked ahead to Sochi, where he will contest all four Alpine ski events, Svindal offered an insight into the secrets of his success: “I visualise the race, the turns, the terrain and the line I need to take to find the fastest route to the bottom. I don’t listen to music. I try to block everything out and just focus. I also work on my adrenaline levels to find amount the energy I need to go fast.” Revealing what he has learned from his sport, he added: “To go hell for leather. To pick things up along the way by winning and losing. And to work hard and play fair.”

It is qualities such as those that could well see the Norwegian on top of the Olympic podium once more in 2014.

Follow Aksel Lund Svindal on the Athletes' Hub:

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Svendsen lands 33rd biathlon win

©Getty Images

08/01/2014

Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen’s preparations for Sochi 2014 gathered pace in Oberhof (GER) at the weekend as the three-time Olympic medalist secured wins in the biathlon sprint and the men’s pursuit.

Svendsen, Olympic champion in the 20km individual and 4 x 7.5km relay events, earned his 33rd career victory on Sunday by winning the pursuit in a time of 34:47.7, seeing off compatriot Ole Einar Bjoerndalen by 35.6 seconds. France’s Martin Fourcade finished third, one minute behind.

An identical lineup had taken the sprint honours in difficult, foggy conditions, Svendsen finishing in 26:44.3 seconds to beat Bjoerndalen by 0.4 seconds. Fourcade picked up three penalties and took third place once again.

The Norwegian admitted surprise at his success, saying: "I did not come here thinking that I could win two times, but I raced at Schalke after Christmas and I had a good feeling after that."

There was better fortune for Fourcade the following day, when he won the season’s first mass start event. Silver medalist in this discipline at Vancouver 2010, Fourcade finished 5.2 seconds ahead of Russia’s Alexi Volkov – while Tarjei Boe, another Norwegian, came in 19 seconds behind in third. Svendsen had led the field early on, but eventually had to be contented with 11th position.

Fourcade explained that he had used the disappointments of earlier in the weekend as motivation to break his Oberhof duck. “I was not happy about my last shooting yesterday and found the power inside to win and I am happy,” he said afterwards. “This was the only World Cup venue where I had never won before, so I am quite happy.”

The World Cup now moves to Ruhpolding (GER) – its penultimate event before Sochi 2014.

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

What sports will be on the programme in Sochi?

©Getty Images (16)

08/01/2014

It's Go Time!

The full lowdown on each winter discipline.

Alpine skiing

Medal events: 10
Athletes: 320
Dates: 9–22 February

Alpine skiing first appeared on the Olympic programme in 1936, when men’s and women’s combined events were held. Now, the Olympic programme features ten medal events, with men and women both contesting downhill, super combined, super-G, giant slalom and slalom. The Sochi 2014 Alpine skiing events will open with the men’s downhill on 9 February, when Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal will be looking to improve on the silver medal he won in Vancouver in 2010.

Biathlon

Medal events: 11
Athletes: 220
Dates: 8–22 February

Biathlon debuted at the Winter Games in 1960, when the only event was the men’s 20km individual race. The relay was added in 1968, while the 10km sprint debuted in 1980, before women’s events were first held in 1992. Pursuit and mass start events were added in 2002 and 2006 respectively, while Sochi 2014 will see the mixed relay make its Olympic debut. Reigning women’s 15km champion Tora Berger, of Norway, will be eyeing more gold in Sochi, having enjoyed a superb 2013 World Cup season.

What’s New?
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.

Bobsleigh

Medal events: 3
Athletes: 170
Dates: 16–23 February

A four-man bobsleigh race took place at the first Winter Games in 1924, with a two-man event added four years later and the women’s two-man event debuting at the 2002 Games. Swiss duo Beat Hefti and Thomas Lamparter have already tasted success in Sochi, having won the two-man event at the World Cup in February 2013. The home crowd, meanwhile, is sure to get behind Alexander Zubkov as he aims to lead the Russian four-man team to Olympic success at the Sanki Sliding Centre.

Cross-country skiing

Medal events: 12
Athletes: 310
Dates: 8–23 February

Cross-country skiing has been contested at every edition of the Winter Games, dating back to 1924, and Sochi 2014 will feature 12 events (six for men and six for women) ranging from a 1.5km sprint to the 50km (men) and 30km (women) mass start races. Norway’s reigning sprint and individual pursuit Olympic champion Marit Bjørgen is again expected to challenge for medals in the women’s events, while her compatriot, Olympic gold medallist Petter Northug, will look to dominate the men’s events.

Curling

Medal events: 2
Athletes: 100
Dates: 10–21 February

After featuring at the first Winter Games, in 1924, curling did not appear on the Olympic programme again until 1998, when the men’s and women’s titles were won by Switzerland and Canada respectively. Canada won the men’s title in 2006 and 2010, while Sweden’s women – led by skip Anette Norberg – also topped the podium in both 2006 and 2010. With Norberg now retired, Sweden will be looking to new skip Margaretha Sigfridsson to help them complete a hat-trick of titles.

Figure skating

Medal events: 5
Athletes: 148
Dates: 6–22 February

In addition to the singles, pairs and ice dancing events, a figure skating team contest will also be held in Sochi – marking the event’s debut on the Olympic programme. Three-time world champion Patrick Chan, of Canada, will be aiming to win his first Olympic medal in the men’s singles, while South Korea’s Yuna Kim will be hoping to defend her women’s singles title. Russian hopes are likely to rest on world pairs champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov.

What’s New?
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.

Freestyle skiing

Medal events: 10
Athletes: 282
Dates: 6–21 February

Sochi 2014 will see four new events join the freestyle skiing programme, with both a men’s and a women’s event in ski slopestyle and a men’s and a women’s event in ski halfpipe joining ski cross, aerials and moguls. Great Britain’s James Woods is the reigning World Cup champion in the men’s ski slopestyle and will be aiming to win his country’s first ever Winter Olympic skiing medal in Sochi, while Switzerland’s two-time world champion Virginie Faivre will be the woman to beat in the ski halfpipe.

What’s New?
Ski halfpipe – Men’s and Women’s  Each athlete will perform an array of big airs and other tricks in the halfpipe before being judged on technical difficulty, style, flow, variation and execution.
Ski slopestyle – Men’s and Women’s  Skiers combine airs and tricks on a course featuring rails and a variety of jumps before being scored on execution, difficulty of line, landing and their use of the course.

Ice hockey

Medal events: 2
Athletes: 468
Dates: 8–23 February

Ice hockey has been played at every edition of the Winter Games, with the women’s event making its debut in Nagano in 1998. In Vancouver in 2010, hosts Canada enjoyed a fairy-tale ending to the men’s tournament as Sidney Crosby scored the gold medal-winning goal seven minutes and 40 seconds into overtime to secure a 3-2 win over the USA. The Canadian women also delighted the home crowd by winning their third successive Olympic title, following a 2-0 win over the USA.

Luge

Medal events: 4
Athletes: 110
Dates: 8–13 February

Luge first featured at the Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck in 1964 and has remained on the programme ever since, with Sochi 2014 marking the debut of the mixed team relay event. Germany enjoyed a clean sweep of the 2013 World Cup titles, with reigning Olympic champion Felix Loch and 2013 world champion Natalie Geisenberger claiming the men’s and women’s crowns respectively, while Tobias Wendl and Tobias Artl topped the doubles standings.

What’s New?
Luge team relay – MixedEach country 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.

Nordic combined

Medal events: 3
Athletes: 55
Dates: 12–20 February

Nordic combined, which features ski jumping and a cross-country skiing race, has appeared at every Winter Games since 1924. The results of the ski jumping element determine the starting places for the cross-country race, with the jumping points converted into time penalties. France’s Jason Lamy Chappuis, who won the individual normal hill/10 km event in Vancouver in 2010, will be among the medal favourites again after finishing second overall in the 2013 World Cup.

Short track speed skating

Medal events: 8
Athletes: 120
Dates: 10–21 February

Short track speed skating was added to the Olympic programme at the 1992 Winter Games, with one individual and one relay event for both men and women. Additional individual distances were added in 1994, before men’s and women’s 1,500m events joined the programme in 2002. In Sochi, men and women will contest the 500m, 1,000m and 1,500m, while there will also be a 3,000m relay for women and a 5,000m relay for men.

Skeleton

Medal events: 2
Athletes: 50
Dates: 13–15 February

Men’s skeleton featured on the Olympic programme at the 1928 and 1948 Winter Games, which were both held in St Moritz, where the sport originated on the famed Cresta Run. Following a 54-year absence, skeleton reappeared on the programme in 2002 in Salt Lake City, when a women’s event was also added. The Olympic skeleton competition consists of four heats run over two days, with the gold medal going to the competitor with the fastest aggregate time.

Ski jumping

Medal events: 4
Athletes: 100
Dates: 8–17 February

Ski jumping has been contested at every Winter Games, but Sochi 2014 will mark the first time that women will compete in the event at the Games. From 1924 to 1960, only the individual large hill event was held at the Games, with the individual normal hill being added in 1964 followed by the team large hill event in 1988. Austria’s Gregor Schlierenzauer won the men’s overall World Cup title in 2013, while Japan’s 2012 Youth Olympic champion Sara Takanashi took the women’s World Cup crown.

What’s New?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.

Snowboarding

Medal events: 10
Athletes: 252
Dates: 6-22 February

Snowboarding is the newest discipline on the Winter Games programme, having first been held in Nagano in 1998, when giant slalom and halfpipe events were contested. Snowboard cross was added in 2006, while Sochi 2014 will see slopestyle and parallel special slalom events make their first appearances at the Games. The last two men’s Olympic halfpipe titles have been won by American Shaun White, who wowed the crowd in Vancouver in 2010, scoring an Olympic record 48.4 points out of 50.

What’s New?
Snowboard slopestyle – Men’s and Women’s  Athletes will be scored after descending a 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’s
Riders will race two at a time down the same slope on two parallel courses, outlined with gates and triangular flags.

Speed skating

Medal events: 12
Athletes: 180
Dates: 8–22 February

Speed skating has been part of the Winter Games since the first edition, in 1924, with women’s events added to the programme in 1960. In Sochi, men and women will each race over 500m, 1,000m, 1,500m and 5,000m. Men will also contest the 10,000m, while women will also race over 3,000m. Since 2006, men’s and women’s team pursuit events have also been held. The Netherlands’ Ireen Wüst and Sven Kramer are the athletes to watch in the women’s and men’s events respectively.