Countdown To The Olympics

During his visit to Vancouver and Whistler last week for the Vancouver 2010 one-year-to-go celebrations, IOC President Jacques Rogge had the opportunity to see first-hand a number of the venues that will be used during the Vancouver 2010 Games. Rogge was able to visit the Olympic and Paralympic Village Whistler, the Whistler Olympic Park, the Whistler Sliding Centre, the Richmond Olympic Oval, Cypress Mountain, the International Broadcast Centre and the Vancouver Olympic Centre.

During his visit to the Whistler Olympic Park, Rogge commented on the progress of the Vancouver Games project: “Most of the construction is finished and VANOC is now in the sport event phase, which is going extremely well.” He continued: “Of course, there is still a whole year of work ahead but I’m very confident about the outcome. I think that these Games are going to be unforgettable for the athletes because of the quality of the infrastructure, the quality of the people running the events, the fantastic scenery, and the love of sport of the Canadian people. These are going to be smashing Games!”

Competition Venues

All the competition venues for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games have been completed, and sports events to test out their operations are currently underway. The snow and sliding sports will take place in Whistler and on Cypress Mountain, while the ice sports will all take place in the Vancouver and Richmond area. The unique setting and design elements of many of the venues will undoubtedly please not only the athletes, but also the spectators both in the venues and on TV.

Non-Competition Venues

Most of the non-competition venues are now nearing completion and will be handed over to VANOC during the course of 2009. This will allow the organisers to get them ready for the arrival of the athletes and media, who will be the principal users of the Olympic Villages and media centres.

VANCOUVER 2010

Exactly one year out from the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, the future Olympic snowboard venue just featured a superb show with more than 300 athletes from 31 countries. Last week, the world’s best riders met at Cypress Mountain for the Snowboard FIS World Cup to compete in the snowboard cross and halfpipe events.

“Buzz around the city”
Athletes, coaches, officials and spectators got a snapshot of the atmosphere that can be expected next year during Games time. IOC President Jacques Rogge, who visited the snowboard cross competitions during his trip to Vancouver on the occasion of the 2010 countdown activities, said: “It’s just great to witness here the enthusiasm of the Canadian people and the athletes. I cannot wait to come back here in one year’s time for the Olympic events.” Britain’s number one ranked female snowboard athlete, Zoe Gillings, shared these feelings just before her snowboard cross competitions in which she placed 10th: “I’m in Vancouver right now and there is a real buzz around the city. I can’t believe the Games are only 12 months away, I’m really excited” she said.

Enthusiastic athletes
The venue at Cypress Mountain received fantastic feedback from various athletes. World Cup leader Lindsey Jacobellis (US), who won gold in the snowboard cross event, stated enthusiastically: “I love courses like this one with great jumps and turns. It was a blast to ride this course and even better to win the race”. Likewise, US superstar Shaun White was also more than just pleased with his victory in the halfpipe event: “This win means a lot to me. You get to know everything, the pipe as well as the whole set-up. Next year is going to be wild! All the riders did well. There is so much talent out there.” And Ryoh Aono from Japan, who placed second behind White, said: “Well, of course I wanted to win today but I will get another chance in one year.”

Vancouver – a “spectacular host”
Despite the fact that the parallel giant slalom had to be cancelled, FIS officials can look back on successful competition days of on the very spot where Olympic stars will compete next year. FIS Snowboard Race Director Marcel Looze concluded: “Vancouver has been a spectacular host to the snowboard athletes for the past several days and we are fully satisfied with this venue for the 2010 Winter Games.”

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced its agreement with SPORTFIVE International Sàrl (SPORTFIVE) for the Olympic broadcast rights for the XXII Olympic Winter Games (2014) in Sochi, Russia, and the Games of the XXXI Olympiad (2016).

SPORTFIVE has acquired the rights across all media platforms, including free-to-air television, subscription television, internet and mobile phone, across 40 countries in Europe (excluding France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom).

The IOC selected SPORTFIVE on its capacity to market the Olympic broadcast rights and its passion and commitment for the Olympic Games and the Olympic values.

SPORTFIVE will now seek broadcast partners on all platforms within the territories in which it has acquired rights, with the obligation to the IOC to ensure that the broadest possible audience has access to broadcast of the Olympic Games, including a commitment in each country of at least 200 hours of free-to-air television coverage for the Summer Olympic Games and 100 hours for the Olympic Winter Games.

IOC President Jacques Rogge said: “This agreement marks an exciting new era in the broadcasting of the Olympic Games. The IOC is committed to ensuring that as many people as possible have access to the best possible Olympic broadcast experience. We look forward to working with SPORTFIVE to make this a possibility across Europe. I would also like to thank our current partner, the European Broadcasting Union, for its hard work and dedication to the Olympic Movement over many years and we look forward to continuing our partnership for the Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Olympic Games.”

IOC Vice-President Thomas Bach, who led the negotiations, commented: “The IOC is delighted to announce its partnership with SPORTFIVE. This agreement will ensure that Olympic fans across Europe have as much choice as possible in how they follow the Olympic Games across a variety of platforms. The agreement will also generate significant revenues, which will be distributed throughout the Olympic Movement, including to the International Sports Federations, the National Olympic Committees and the Organising Committees for the Olympic Games, to help stage the Olympic Games and ensure the development of sport across the world. I would like to thank all the organisations that participated in the tender for their hard work and their continued interest in the Olympic Movement.”

Richard Worth, CEO of SPORTFIVE Group, said “We at SPORTFIVE are honoured and delighted to have been appointed as the IOC partner for European TV rights for the 2014 and 2016 Olympic Games. We have already been working together with the IOC for a number of months to reach this point, and have been positively encouraged by the excellent spirit of partnership and co-operation which has developed. Our determination is to fully uphold the Olympic ideals throughout our relationship with the IOC and to establish a broadcaster network of the highest quality and commitment. We are also extremely fortunate to have received the full support of Groupe Lagardère and Lagardère Sports in this process, and it is a significant step forwards for all concerned in maintaining the reputation of SPORTFIVE as Europe’s leading sports marketing organisation.”

In addition to the agreement with SPORTFIVE, the IOC has already reached agreements with SKY Italia in Italy and FOX Turkey in Turkey for the 2014 – 2016 period. With respect to the remaining countries (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom), the IOC will commence direct negotiations with broadcasters and media groups in due course. Any agreement in these countries will also include a commitment of at least 200 hours of free-to-air television coverage for the Summer Olympic Games and 100 hours for the Olympic Winter Games.

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The agreement with SPORTFIVE includes the Russian Federation, host of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.

The host city of the 2016 Olympic Games will be announced at the 121st IOC Session, to take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, in October 2009.

The agreement is a result of the tender process for the sale of the broadcast and exhibition rights for all territories within Europe for the XXII Olympic Winter Games (2014) in Sochi, Russia, and the Games of the XXXI Olympiad (2016), which was launched on 8 May 2008. For further information, please see the press releases related to the tender: http://www.olympic.org/uk/news/media_centre/press_release_uk.asp?id=2559.

For further information on the 2014-2016 broadcast rights within Italy, go to: http://www.olympic.org/uk/news/media_centre/press_release_uk.asp?id=2837

For further information on the 2014-2016 broadcast rights within Turkey, go to: http://www.olympic.org/uk/news/media_centre/press_release_uk.asp?id=2846

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), created in 1894, is a non-governmental organisation with volunteer members who represent its work around the world, and an administrative staff based in Lausanne, Switzerland. The IOC and its 205 National Olympic Committees worldwide promote the Olympic Movement, whose vision is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport. In addition to selecting the host city and coordinating the staging of the Olympic Games, the IOC and NOCs collaborate with a range of organisations and their members in the public and private sectors to place sport at the service of society. The main goal is to promote the values of Olympism, which include excellence, respect and friendship.

SPORTFIVE, the world’s no.1 football agency and one of the largest sports agencies world-wide covers the entire spectrum of sports rights marketing, from the worldwide TV rights trading to stadium advertising, shirt sponsorships, stadium development and hospitality programs.

In all, the group markets more than 30 national football associations and over 250 international clubs and 10 leagues. In addition to its core business – football – SPORTFIVE also does business in international handball, rugby, tennis, rallying, triathlon, athletics and more. SPORTFIVE is a company of Lagardère Sports.

For further information, please contact the IOC Communications Department, Tel: +41 21 621 60 00, email: pressoffice@olympic.org

To contact SPORTFIVE: 

Caroliene Götz, Vice President Corporate Communications, SPORTFIVE GmbH & Co. KG

One year before the Vancouver Games, we know now which teams – men’s and women’s – will go on an Olympic journey next February for what will be one of the greatest ice hockey tournaments ever. Thanks to their victories in their respective qualifying groups – all of which were held on home soil – Latvia, Norway and Germany have earned their Olympic ticket. These last three qualified teams can now prepare themselves, just like the nine other teams that have already qualified, for the men’s ice hockey tournament.

On the women’s side, eight teams have qualified for Vancouver since last November.

Group A: Canada, Sweden, Switzerland and Slovakia
Group B: USA, Finland, Russia and China

The 12 participating teams have been allocated to the following three pools:

Group A: Canada, United States, Switzerland and Norway.
Group B: Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Latvia.
Group C: Sweden, Finland, Belarus and Germany.

The 2010 Olympic ice hockey tournaments will be staged in two venues, Canada Hockey Place and the UBC Thunderbird Arena. For the ice hockey fans, the first venue is the home to the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks. The women’s tournament will run from 13 to 25 February; while their male colleagues will compete from 16 to 28 February.

Vancouver 2010

Vancouver and Whistler will host the XXI Olympic Winter Games from 12 to 28 February 2010 and the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games from 12 to 21 March 2010. The seven Winter Olympic sports that will be on show in Vancouver are Luge, Skiing, Skating, Ice Hockey, Biathlon, Bobsleigh and Curling.

 Official website of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF)

 One year to go until Vancouver