Countdown To The Olympics

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has awarded the broadcast rights for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games and the London 2012 Olympic Games to SportsMax’s parent company, International Media Content Ltd. (IMC) in the Caribbean, it was announced today.

IMC has acquired the rights across all broadcast platforms, including free-to-air television, subscription television, internet and mobile phone, in the following territories: Anguilla, Antigua-Barbuda, Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cooperative Republic of Guyana, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Martin, St Vincent and Grenadines, Surinam, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Speaking about the partnership, IOC President Jacques Rogge said: “The IOC wants to ensure that as many people as possible around the world are able to enjoy the Olympic Games. We are very happy to be partnering with IMC to make this a reality in the Caribbean.”

Commenting on the deal, IOC Executive Board member Richard Carrión, who led the negotiations, said: “The IOC has agreed a comprehensive package with IMC that will not only ensure broad coverage of the Olympic Games in the Caribbean across all broadcast platforms, but also the promotion of Olympic sports and Olympic values beyond the 16 days of competition. We also look forward to working with IMC to making daily highlights of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games available in the region.”

Speaking about the agreement, Patrick Rousseau, Chairman of IMC, said: “It is with great pride that we add these IOC properties to the inventory of Caribbean rights that IMC currently holds. The Olympic Games is at the pinnacle of sports properties worldwide and the Summer Games in particular has seen tremendous performances from our Caribbean athletes.” He continued, “We are ecstatic about the acquisition of these rights which will allow us to increase the coverage of the Olympic Games utilising a combination of our regional free-to-air broadcast partners in each territory, as well as our SportsMax channel that broadcasts into 22 markets in the region.”

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For more information please contact the IOC Communications Department:

Tel: +41 21 621 60 00, email: pressoffice@olympic.org, or visit our web site at www.olympic.org.

“The IOC is convinced, more than ever before, that in this third millennium, sport does have a vital role to play in building a better and more peaceful world as it appeals to the community in general and to young people in particular. Sport can facilitate dialogue between different communities and be a catalyst for mutual understanding in our society. This is because we all know that sport is, in essence, the only language understood by everyone. Sports activities promote interaction, tolerance and the spirit of fair play. And we all know that if our youngsters learn through sport to respect each other, they will be well equipped for their role in contributing to a better society”. This was the message from the IOC President Jacques Rogge, to the organisers and participants at an event held on 26 September in Kinshasa by the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) and the Congolese Olympic Committee, on the occasion of the celebration of International Peace Day. This year, this Day was placed under the message from the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon: “We must disarm! We must have peace.”

This is the second time that the IOC has been associated with such a programme in this country. Just like the 2006 Peace Games, this new sporting event will be the opportunity for the various communities of your country not only to enjoy recreation and peace, but also to develop trust and confidence between the parties. On the programme, a marathon, in which around 300 runners took part, including some 30 Blue Berets, MONUC civil personnel and members of the Congolese National Police and Army. The main objective of this marathon was to show the way followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo towards peace: a refound peace that will start the departure of the MONUC and therefore the management of crises by the Congolese, with the help of the UNCT (United Nations Country Team). All along the route, which led the runners from the station to the cycling stadium in Kinshasa, signs and banners recalled the various steps towards peace and the necessity of disarming, each time with a reference to the following stage. Culture was also present, with musical events and shows by artists, young people’s associations and women’s groups on the theme of peace.

 

Besides this marathon, MONUC set up various activities throughout the country. From north to south, and from east to west, conferences and discussions, official ceremonies, prizegivings, and walks for peace brought together local authorities, leaders of various communities, young people’s associations and representatives of MONUC. Objective: to encourage dialogue towards peace and give a future to young Congolese people today and tomorrow.

 

 

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“The relationship between the athletes, the clubs, federations and the National Olympic Committees (NOC)” is one of the 15 sub-themes that will be discussed and debated at the XIII Olympic Congress in Copenhagen between 3 and 5 October 2009. Maria Colon from Cuba is a true role model in this regard, however she is the exception rather than the rule. Maria is, first of all, an Olympic champion. She beat all her opponents in the javelin competition at the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games.

“Without the NOC, the trainer and coaches, I would have never achieved such a performance”, she says. And now she wants to give something back.  Maria coaches a group of young athletes at her former sports club. Together with the national track and field federation, she works on specific training programmes, so that the youngsters can achieve their goals, while having fun. “The fun factor is key”, she underlines. What’s more, she also supports the National Olympic Committee in its daily work, and has deployed political initiatives to give sport more weight in society. The Copenhagen debate aims to provide new ideas on how to trigger athletes’ interest in keeping in touch with clubs, federations and NOCs.

  Learn more about the Olympic Congress

 

The International Olympic Committee today announced the winners of a video contest requiring entrants to produce predictions on the future of the Olympic Games. Vanessa Lee of Canada and Lee Kang-Eun of South Korea will be rewarded for their winning submissions with a free trip to the Olympic Congress in Copenhagen.

Vanessa Lee, an aspiring Olympic archer, offered her vision of the future in a “live” report from the 2024 Games. Lee Kang-Eun delivered a heartfelt tribute to the positive power of sport.

The IOC sponsored the video contest with help from Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and other Olympians who called for submissions in a series of video challenges posted on the IOC’s web site in August.

“I want to know what you think the future of the Olympics is going to be. Seriously,” Bolt said. French archer Berangere Schuh, British BMX champion Shanaze Reade, Jamaican hurdler Melaine Walker, British boxer James Degale and British runner Dame Kelly Holmes also participated.

More than 200 people responded by uploading videos to the Olympic Congress site on YouTube before the contest closed on 22 September. More than 20,000 people from around the world have visited the site.

The video contest is part of the IOC’s expanded use of digital technology to promote Olympic values to a broader audience, especially young people. The outreach includes efforts to encourage two-way communication.

“The video contest was another way for people to share their opinions in advance of our Olympic Congress in Copenhagen,” said IOC President Jacques Rogge. “We want to hear what people have to say. We also want to use all the tools at our disposal to reach young people.”

Contest winner Vanessa Lee, who lives in Toronto, posed in her video as a competitor at “the 2024 Games in Sierra Leone.” She predicted that developing nations would dominate Olympic sport by then.

Discover Vanessa Lee’s winning video.

The other winner, Lee Kang-Eun, predicted that the Olympic Games would help make the dream of global harmony a reality by 2024. Lee is from Seoul, but she is currently studying sports marketing in Rennes, France, in pursuit of her goal of becoming an IOC member. 

Discover the winning video submitted by Lee Kang-Eun.

The messages from Bolt and the other Olympians are here, along with other video submissions.

Although the video contest ended on 22 September, the IOC is encouraging video submissions by anyone who would like to share their opinion. Videos can be uploaded at www.youtube.com/olympiccongress.

Please call the IOC press office to arrange an interview with either of the contest winners.

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For more information please contact the IOC Communications Department:

Tel: +41 21 621 60 00, email: pressoffice@olympic.org or visit our web site at www.olympic.org.

A “live” report from the 2024 Olympic Games and a heartfelt tribute to the positive power of sport proved to be the winning combination in the International Olympic Committee’s video contest for the Olympic Congress.

Vanessa Lee of Canada and Lee Kang-Eun of South Korea submitted their separate videos in response to a series of video challenges from Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and other Olympians that were posted on the IOC’s web site in August.

“I want to know what you think the future of the Olympics is going to be. Seriously,” Bolt said. French archer Berangere Schuh, British BMX champion Shanaze Reade, Jamaican hurdler Melaine Walker, British boxer James Degale and British runner Dame Kelly Holmes also called for submissions.

More than 200 people responded before the contest closed on 22 September, and more than 20,000 from around the world have visited the Olympic Congress site on YouTube. The IOC announced the winners today and will reward them with free trips to the Olympic Congress, which will take place in Copenhagen from 3 to 5 October.

Vanessa Lee, an archer who hopes to compete in the 2012 Games, presented her vision of the future in video that features an interview with her at “the 2024 Games in Sierra Leone.” Lee, 20, poses as a competitor and tells the viewing audience that it is her fourth Olympic Games.

“It’s great seeing so many athletes from developing countries really step up their game. They’re really the ones to beat these days,” she tells her interviewer, a friend who poses as a sports journalist.

Lee Kang-Eun used her video to offer her prediction that the Olympic Games would help make the dream of global harmony become a reality by 2024. Although from Seoul, she is currently studying sports marketing in Rennes, France, in pursuit of her dream of becoming an IOC member.

“I think the word ‘harmony’ is the best word to describe the future of the Olympic Games,” she says on her video. Lee, also 20, tells the video audience that the Games and Olympic athletes set an example that fosters both political and social harmony.

“The Movement sends the message that if you try your best, if you have a dream and you go for it — never give up — you can really achieve that dream,” she says.

Discover Vanessa Lee’s winning video.

Discover the winning video submitted by Lee Kang-Eun.

The messages from Bolt and the other Olympians, as well other video submissions from the public, are here.  

Although the video contest is over, the IOC is encouraging video submissions from anyone who would like to share their opinion. Videos can be uploaded at www.youtube.com/olympiccongress

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced an extension to its current partnership with Omega through to 2020, including the XXII Olympic Winter Games (2014) in Sochi, Russia, the Games of the XXXI Olympiad (2016), the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (2018) and the Games of the XXXII Olympiad (2020). 

The announcement, made at The Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, means Omega will continue as the Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Games, bringing its relationship with the Olympic Movement to a total of 29 Olympic Games.

IOC President Jacques Rogge welcomed Omega’s commitment to the Olympic Movement: “Omega’s devotion to the development of sports timekeeping, its commitment to athletes and its dedication to the Olympic Movement are a source of enormous confidence for the IOC and the organisers of the Olympic Games.”

 

 Learn more

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is very pleased to announce the presence of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, at the XIII Olympic Congress, which will open on 3 October 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Mr Ban Ki-moon will open the IOC Congress with a keynote address to the Olympic family.

For IOC President Jacques Rogge, the presence of Mr Ban in Copenhagen strengthens the partnership between the two organisations. “It’s a strong commitment to the recognition of the increasingly important role of sport in the implementation of internationally agreed development goals, such as the Millennium Development Goals. In the global community of the 21st century, the Olympic Movement is more accountable to the whole of society than ever before, and it must be sure of its place in all regions of the world. This is why the participation of the United Nations in its Congress, placed under the main theme of ‘the Olympic Movement in Society’, is invaluable.”

The Congress will be held under the theme of “the Olympic Movement in Society”. Participants will discuss the current status of the Olympic Movement and projections into the future around five main themes: Theme 1 “The Athletes”, Theme 2 “The Olympic Games”, Theme 3 “The Structure of the Olympic Movement”, Theme 4 “Olympism and Youth” and Theme 5 “The Digital Revolution”.

On Saturday 19 September 2009, the Chairman of the IOC Coordination Commission for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, Jean-Claude Killy, and IOC Olympic Games Executive Director Gilbert Felli attended the release of two male Caucasian or Persian leopards into spacious pens in the Sochi National Park. Released into the pen by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the leopards, which were imported from Turkmenistan, will form part of an initial group of five leopards that will be used to try and reintroduce the species into this region of Russia following their disappearance from the area in the 1920s due to excessive hunting.

Speaking following the release, Killy said: “This will be a great environmental legacy from the Sochi Games. Prime Minster Putin and I were delighted to see these beautiful animals arrive at the reintroduction centre, as it is a project that we have both been following very closely since its inception nearly two years ago. The Sochi 2014 Organising Committee and the local government authorities know how much we at the IOC want organisers to treat the environment with respect when they are organising the Games, and this is an encouraging sign from our Russian friends.”

The reinsertion project, which is part of Sochi 2014’s environmental legacy and follows up on its commitment to not only protect but also enhance the unique environment in the Krasnodar region, will see the leopards live in a special centre for breeding and rehabilitation in the Sochi National Park, with their offspring being released into the wild in the Caucus nature reserve. Female leopards will arrive in due course, and experts believe that it will take 10 to 15 years to create a nucleus of the leopard population in the area. The areas where the leopards will be released in the future were all carefully chosen to resemble, as closely as possible, their habitat in Turkmenistan. The programme is being supported by WWF-Russia, private companies and a number of Russian government agencies.

Sochi was elected as the host city for the XXII Olympic Winter Games at the 119th IOC Session in Guatemala City on 4 July 2007. Sochi won the vote against the cities of Salzburg (Austria) and PyeongChang (Republic of Korea) in the second round of voting. The Russian city edged out PyeongChang by 51 votes to 47, with Salzburg having been eliminated in round one. The Sochi Games will play host to the seven Olympic Winter sports currently on the Olympic programme and will run from 7 to 23 February 2014.

 

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced an extension to its current partnership with Omega through to 2020, including the XXII Olympic Winter Games (2014) in Sochi, Russia, the Games of the XXXI Olympiad (2016), the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (2018) and the Games of the XXXII Olympiad (2020).

 

The announcement, made at The Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, means Omega will continue as the Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Games, bringing its relationship with the Olympic Movement to a total of 29 Olympic Games.

 

IOC President Jacques Rogge welcomed Omega’s commitment to the Olympic Movement: “Omega’s devotion to the development of sports timekeeping, its commitment to athletes and its dedication to the Olympic Movement are a source of enormous confidence for the IOC and the organisers of the Olympic Games.”

 

Gerhard Heiberg, Chairman of the IOC Marketing Commission, said, “Omega’s accuracy, technological competence and years of experience have contributed to the success of the modern Olympic Games. Omega works in close collaboration with our other technology partners to provide integrated technology support to the Organising Committees of the Olympic Games.”

 

Stephen Urquhart, President of Omega, said “Omega is proud to continue its long-standing association with the IOC and the world’s premium sporting event. Since 1932 the Olympic Games have provided us with a unique platform to convey our message of precision, quality and innovation in a prestigious and fitting environment.”

 

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For more information please contact the IOC Communications Department:
Tel: +41 21 621 60 00, email: pressoffice@olympic.org , or visit our website at www.olympic.org

 

To contact Omega: OMEGA International Press Office, Rue Stämpfli 96, 2504 Bienne, Switzerland Tel. +41 32 343 9211, Fax +41 32 343 9715, E-mail: press@omega.ch – Internet: http://www.omegawatches.com

 
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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.
 
Worldwide Partners currently confirmed for Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 are: Coca-Cola, Acer, Atos Origin, GE, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Samsung and Visa.
 
Atos Origin, Panasonic and Samsung have extended their partnerships until 2016.
 
Coca-Cola and Omega have extended their partnerships until 2020.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is very pleased to announce the presence of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, at the XIII Olympic Congress, which will open on 3 October 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Mr Ban Ki-moon will open the IOC Congress with a keynote address to the Olympic family.

 

For IOC President Jacques Rogge, the presence of Mr Ban in Copenhagen strengthens the partnership between the two organisations. “It’s a strong commitment to the recognition of the increasingly important role of sport in the implementation of internationally agreed development goals, such as the Millennium Development Goals. In the global community of the 21st century, the Olympic Movement is more accountable to the whole of society than ever before, and it must be sure of its place in all regions of the world. This is why the participation of the United Nations in its Congress, placed under the main theme of ‘the Olympic Movement in Society’, is invaluable.”

The Congress will be held under the theme of “the Olympic Movement in Society”. Participants will discuss the current status of the Olympic Movement and projections into the future around five main themes: Theme 1 “The Athletes”, Theme 2 “The Olympic Games”, Theme 3 “The Structure of the Olympic Movement”, Theme 4 “Olympism and Youth” and Theme 5 “The Digital Revolution”.