International Women’s Day: Sport empowering women and girls

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©IOC/Jason Evans/Getty Images

06/03/2015

With International Women’s Day (8 March) just around the corner, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) salutes all those that contribute to the development of girls’ and women’s sport. On this occasion, The Olympic Museum is hosting its very own special weekend celebrations honouring female athletes who are making a name for themselves in what are traditionally considered to be male-dominated sports. 

Despite the progress made in the long road to full equality in sport, there are still many barriers and prejudices to overcome. Reacting to clichés of certain sports being “a man’s game”, or “not for girls”, The Olympic Museum is shining a spotlight on women who are challenging directly such preconceptions by practising such sports.


Inspiring female athletesOn 7 and 8 March, The Olympic Museum is bringing together a boxer, a wrestler, a mountaineer and an extreme sports athlete to share their experiences, passions and reasons for pursuing their respective disciplines. The two-day event will feature sports demonstrations, round-table discussions and film projections of, and with, inspirational female athletes. 

Click here for more information on this weekend’s programme at The Olympic Museum.
On International Women’s Day, United World Wrestling (UWW) will also conclude its eight-week “Super 8” campaign. Over the course of the last two months, this programme has brought together eight female wrestlers, including Olympic champions Saori Yoshida (JPN), Natalia Vorobieva (RUS) and Carol Hunyh (CAN), for a series of activities and sports demonstrations, in a bid to raise awareness of women’s wrestling and increase female participation at all levels of the sport.

Watch here an interview with Canada’s first Olympic women’s wrestling champion, Carol Hunyh:

In support of UWW’s Super 8 campaign, The Olympic Museum is looking back at how wrestling, a sport which dates back to the Ancient Games, has opened up to women. Featuring portraits of eight ambassadors, archive images and interactive displays, the exhibition will run until 28 June 2015.

For more details on this exhibition, click here.

Looking ahead to empower women and girlsFostering gender equality and strengthening women’s participation in, and through, sport is one of the IOC’s key missions. This was emphasised in the adoption last December of Olympic Agenda 2020, the IOC’s strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement. The IOC continues to work with International Federations (IFs) and National Olympic Committees (NOCs) to achieve the goal of women representing 50 per cent of the athletes taking part in the Olympic Games, as well as promoting the participation and presence of women in sport generally.

The IOC is eager to look ahead; eager to demonstrate the value of sport in various arenas of civil society. Next week, it will join UN Women at the 59th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, in New York, to co-host a side event that will explore how girls and women can be empowered through sport. This will be a unique opportunity to bring together Member States, UN agencies, NGOs, civil society and representatives from the world of sport to position sport as an important tool to promote and achieve gender equality.

Under the theme of empowering girls and to mark International Women’s Day, Worldwide TOP Partner Procter & Gamble has also released a new video featuring American Olympic ice hockey player Hilary Knight, which celebrates inspirational young women around the world redefining what doing sports ‘like a girl’ means.

Watch the video here:

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“Can Sport Save the World?” – IOC President addresses NOC Congress in Denmark

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05/03/2015

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach was the guest of the Danish National Olympic Committee today at its Congress in Copenhagen.

He told the audience: “Sport can neither save the world alone nor can it alone make the world a better and peaceful place. But sport has the power to contribute to a better harmonious and peaceful world.”
He also made it clear that: “choosing a host city does not mean that the IOC necessarily agrees with the political or the legal system in the host country.  It means however that in every country where we organise Olympic Games we want to send the strong message of tolerance, respect and fair play as well as the compliance with all the values of the Olympic Charter for all participants at the Olympic Games.”
The IOC President was joined by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, an IOC member, President of the Danish National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation Niels Nygaard, and the Danish Minister of Cultural Affairs, Marianne Jelved.
President Bach also spoke about Olympic Agenda 2020, the strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement.
He told the audience that, just eight weeks after the reforms were unanimously agreed by IOC members at the 127th Session in Monaco, many of the recommendations have already been implemented.
IOC financial statements are prepared and audited according to IFRS standards even if these higher standards are legally not required. The IOC will also produce an annual activity report, including the allowance policy for IOC members.
The transparency report will show that the IOC distributes 90 per cent of its revenues to the sporting movement and to the athletes.
President Bach told the Congress that: “we are always working for building bridges and never for erecting walls, that we follow this call for tolerance and solidarity.”
Please click here to read the full speech

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IOC President meets Rio youngsters for fencing 'master class'

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu. A Creative Commons license.

©IOC/Ian Jones (4)

28/02/2015

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach today met up with young fencers in Rio to put them through their paces.

A gold medalist in fencing at the Olympic Games Montreal 1976, Bach spoke to and crossed swords with many of the young athletes for more than an hour.


In all, about 30 fencing students welcomed the IOC President at the Clube Municipal Tijuca, which caters to young athletes between the ages of 5 and 17.

“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

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu. A Creative Commons license.

©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.

©IOC / Ian Jones