KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Kokslien leads Norwegians to clean sweep and halfpipe stars book tickets to Sochi

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14/01/2014

Norway’s Mikko Kokslien produced one of the comebacks of the season at the weekend’s Nordic Combined World Cup stage in Chaux-Neuve (FRA). A brilliant cross-country ski saw him emerge overall winner, after finishing just 19th in the ski-jumping; it was his first individual victory in over a year. Magnus Krog and Joergen Graabak completed an all-Norwegian podium, edging out World Cup leader Frenzel.

The following day, Kokslien, competing alongside Graabak, had to settle for second place as the Norway II sprint team was pipped to victory by Germany II (Tino Edelmann and Fabian Riessle) by a margin of 0.4 seconds. In a thrilling contest, Germany I (Johannes Rydzek and Eric Frenzel) completd the podium line-up.

Heavy snow made for difficult conditions at the Halfpipe World Cup in Breckenridge (USA) at the weekend, but that failed to deter local duo David Wise and Maddie Bowman, who prevailed in the men’s and women’s competitions respectively to book their places on the US team for Sochi 2014.

In the men's event Wise took gold with 89 points, 3.8 ahead of Canadian Mike Riddle, with Kevin Rolland of France third. That pushed the American up to ninth in the overall standings in which Canada’s Justin Dorey remains top.

The women's event saw Bowman score 84 points, 1.2 ahead of Japan's Ayana Onozuka and six in front of third-placed Australian Amy Sheehan. She now lies just six points behind overall leader Devin Logan in the overall standings.

Ski halfpipe will make its debut on an Olympic programme. And who better to give you the lowdown on this new Olympic event than the King of Style himself, Mr Kevin Rolland?

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

It’s 2014! The Year of the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games!

©Nanjing 2014/Xi Yang

14/01/2014

2014 is the year we have all been waiting for… whether you are a YOG fan eagerly awaiting the 12 days of sporting action or an athlete giving your all to compete -  this summer we all get to celebrate the 2nd Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.

To give a taster of what is to come, check out this video clip which features some of the exciting sports that fans around the world will be able to watch on youtube.com/youtholympics and a snapshot of some of the fun activities off the field of play.  Plus we hear from some of the Youth Olympic Games Ambassadors and YOG graduates.  This is just a glimpse of the fun and excitement we will all get to share in just a few months’ time!

With every New Year comes new resolutions, so to all our YOG fans, how about you try out one of the 28 exciting Olympic sports!  Share your sporting experiences with us on Twitter @youtholympics.

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Scottish skip, Eve Muirhead, a stone’s throw from gold

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15/01/2014

Eve Muirhead, who will skip the Great Britain women’s curling team in Sochi, is part of a long line of elite Scottish curlers. After leading Scotland to the world championship crown, she is confident of following in the footsteps of compatriot Rhona Martin, whose team won gold at Salt Lake City 2002.

Eve Muirhead has curling in her blood. Her father Gordon competed for Great Britain at Albertville 1992 and won a gold medal with Scotland at the 1999 World Championships. It is a family tradition which she has maintained in determined fashion. “I would class myself as pretty stubborn when it comes to learning something and not giving up until I'm good at it,” explained the charismatic Muirhead, who is also a fine exponent of two other Scottish traditions, golf and bagpipe playing.

The Scot first burst onto the international scene as a precocious 16-year-old in 2007, when she claimed the first of her four world junior titles (the others came in 2008, 2009 and 2011).

Just three years later Muirhead was selected as the skip of the British team at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. After a good start, she and her team-mates succumbed to five defeats in a row, failing to qualify for the play-offs. “I don’t think I was too young,” she reflects. “I gained so much experience in Vancouver. I’ve got a lot of good memories from 2010. Obviously the results were disappointing; when you look back there are a lot of things we could have done better, but I think we can turn it into a positive.”

Inspired by London

As the lynchpin of Scotland’s women’s team, she went on to win medals at the next four European Championships (gold in 2011 and silver in 2010, 2012 and 2013). In March 2013 in Riga (LAT), the 22-year-old became the youngest female skip in history to claim gold at the World Championships, producing a marvellous shot with her final stone to help Scotland overcome Sweden 6-5 in the final. Consequently, Muirhead and her rink of Anna Sloan, Vicki Adams and Claire Hamilton were the first Team GB athletes to be selected for Sochi 2014.

Back in July 2012, Muirhead travelled down to London to experience the Summer Games, where she witnessed Jessica Ennis’ memorable success in the heptathlon in front of a raucous crowd in the Olympic Stadium. That proved to be a fantastic source of inspiration to the curler, encouraging her to work harder on her overall approach to her sporting career.

“It would mean the world”

At the end of November 2013, Muirhead, Sloan, Adams and Hamilton went on a remarkable run at the European Championships in Switzerland, racking up 10 victories on the trot before losing 10-5 to Margaretha Sigfridsson’s Sweden. But the Scot is happy to focus on the positives. “Our preparation is for Sochi,” she explains. “It would have been nice to come away with the gold medal, but we had such a great week. I think we're in a really good place and I'm happy with the way things are going. We've got a lot of good things to take away from this week. We just have to keep playing well and training hard.”

Muirhead is confident she can lead her team to Olympic gold 12 years after current Team GB coach Rhona Martin did the same in Salt Lake City. “We’ve trained really hard leading up to this and we’re capable of winning major championships – we’ve proven that,” she says. “It’s important we break the Olympics down into two parts – the qualifying then the play-offs and semi-finals are like a new event. In terms of winning gold, I’d say there’s us, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden and China, so there’s a good number in contention. Luck doesn’t really come into it. But to get the chance to represent Great Britain is extra special. An Olympic medal is the only one I'm missing. It would mean the world.”

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

Follow Ever Muirhead on the Athletes' Hub:

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

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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.