Olympic Highlights 11/10/2024
IOC
PRESIDENT
On 8 October, IOC President Thomas Bach chaired a remote meeting of the IOC Executive Board (EB) from Olympic House in Lausanne. The EB discussed the Olympic Games Paris 2024, which were a tremendous success with record-breaking numbers. A full debrief will be held in December 2024. Various Olympic institutional issues were also discussed. After the meeting, it was announced that the IOC membership will meet at Olympic House on 30 January 2025, for presentations by the IOC presidential candidates and an Extraordinary IOC Session, during which the members will vote on the host of the Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2028. Read the press release here.
At Olympic House, the IOC President received International Canoe Federation (ICF) President Thomas Konietzko. During their meeting, they addressed a number of Olympic topics including the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Also at Olympic House, the IOC President met the President of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), Ary S. Graça F°. They discussed a number of topics, including the Olympic Games Paris 2024, and the use of new technology.
President Bach spoke with Tony Estanguet, President of the Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024. Together, they discussed the success of these Games and their sustainable and beneficial impact for everyone.
This week, the IOC President welcomed the World Olympians Association (WOA), which held its Extraordinary General Assembly at Olympic House. On this occasion, over 100 Olympians signed the Olympians Wall.
At Olympic House, President Bach hosted the PLR - Les Libéraux-Radicaux Vaud Supporters Club, including the President of the Vaud Council of State, Christelle Luisier, and Councillor of State Pascal Broulis. Various subjects of mutual interest, including the excellent relations between the IOC, the city of Lausanne, the Canton of Vaud and Switzerland, were discussed on this occasion. Mrs Luisier emphasised the longstanding ties of friendship between Switzerland and the Olympic family. She also referred to the various initiatives put in place by the local authorities to support the sports organisations based in the Canton of Vaud particularly, and in Switzerland generally.
The President also spoke with Michael Payne, a marketing consultant and former IOC Marketing Director.
Meetings were held with IOC EB Member Nenad Lalovic and IOC members Ser Miang Ng and Spyros Capralos. Various current Olympic issues were discussed.
The Secretary General of the Belarus NOC, Kseniya Sankovich, was at Olympic House this week for consultations and to discuss the Olympic Games Paris 2024. She met the NOC Relations team and also had the opportunity to greet the IOC President.
MEMBERS
IOC Member Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant has been appointed Chair of the Coordination Commission for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games French Alps 2030. Beckers-Vieujant brings a wealth of experience and expertise to this role having successfully led the Coordination Commission for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024. Through this experience, he has gained a deep knowledge of the French governance and sports system and has established excellent relations with the French authorities at all levels, the sports organisations, including the French National Olympic Committee (Comité National Olympique et Sportif Français - CNOSF), and society at large. Read the news release here.
OTHER OLYMPIC NEWS
Ahead of World Mental Health Day, celebrated on 10 October, the Vice-Chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission and Olympic champion in shooting, Abhinav Bindra, discussed the lessons learned throughout his Olympic journey and how he plans to help athletes in his new role as IOC Mental Health Ambassador. Find out what he had to say here.
The IOC has released the initial figures from the new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered cyber abuse protection service that was put in place during the Olympic Games Paris 2024, the largest and most comprehensive service of its kind in sports history. Find more about it here.
Nominations are now open for the 2024 IOC Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Champions Awards. Full detailed info here.
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATIONS
SUMMER IFS
International Basketball Federation (FIBA)
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and FIBA have agreed a four-year broadcast partnership for premium national team basketball events in Europe. Starting in November 2025, the deal now covers the public service television, radio and digital platforms of 19 EBU members. EBU members will broadcast every game played by their national teams live and free of charge. Full details here.
International Volleyball Federation (FIVB)
Over 40,000 children, including 5,000 players, took part in a festival held in Bhubaneswar, India, organised in a partnership between the FIVB Volleyball Foundation, the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) and the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT). The event aimed to get children active through volleyball. It featured 60 outdoor courts and multiple indoor venues that hosted fun-filled volleyball activities for the children. The festival also broke the Guinness World Record for the most players in a volleyball exhibition match, with 430 players together in a single game. Full info here. In addition, the FIVB Volleyball Foundation, the KISS and the KIIT signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU establishes a strategic framework for upcoming projects and partnerships aimed at encouraging youth participation in volleyball and creating pathways for future development. Full details here. FIVB President Ary S. Graça F° was also honoured with the KISS Humanitarian Award for 2024 and awarded the Doctor of Letters Degree by the KIIT.
World Rowing
World Rowing celebrated recently the One-Year Countdown to the 2025 World Rowing Championships in Shanghai. The Championships will take place at the state-of-the-art Shanghai Water Sports Centre in September 2025. The ceremony not only launched the Championships’ countdown but also celebrated the 2024 edition of the renowned Head of the Shanghai River Regatta, an internationally acclaimed event now taking place annually in the heart of Shanghai, on Suzhou Creek. Read full news here.
NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES
Argentinean NOC
The 40th Session of the Argentinean Olympic Academy (AOA), whose Director is Silvia Dalotto-Marcó, was held from 30 September to 4 October. Forty attendees aged between 19 and 29 followed a serious of presentations, and took part in group discussions and various sports activities. The topics addressed included sports leadership, the Olympic Values Education Programme, the IOC Young Leaders Programme, sustainability and environmental protection in sport. Two of the participants, one man and one woman, will be selected to represent the NOC and the AOA at the International Session for Young Olympic Ambassadors at the International Olympic Academy in Olympia, Greece, next year. The session was partially funded by Olympic Solidarity. Full details here.
Barbados Olympic Association (BOA)
Barbados football coach Kerry Trotman has been awarded an Olympic Solidarity scholarship to follow the International Coaching Course (ICC) training through the Hungarian University of Sports Sciences (HUSS) in Budapest, Hungary. Organised by the HUSS in collaboration with the IOC and supported by Olympic Solidarity, the programme is running from 30 September to 29 November 2024 and offers high-level, performance-focused training in sports sciences and sport-specific methodologies. A former member of the Barbados Women's Football National Team, she holds a FIFA/CONCACAF Coaching Educators' certification, and is currently a Senior Coach for Technique Football Club (U15). More details at www.olympic.org.bb.
RECOGNISED ORGANISATIONS
International Olympic Academy (IOA)
The IOA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Islamic Solidarity Sports Association (ISSA). This synergy is aimed at enhancing collaboration between the two organisations in several key areas, including promoting the practice of sport, safeguarding its integrity, and advancing educational initiatives. IOA President Isidoros Kouvelos and ISSA President Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al Faisal signed the MoU in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the 3rd Saudi Games. In addition, a Conference on Olympism was organised by the Saudi Olympic Academy in cooperation with the IOA on 6 and 7 October, highlighting the growing collaboration between the two institutions on initiatives aimed at raising the standards of Olympic education and promoting the development of young athletes and sports administrators in the country. More details here.