IOC factsheet - Women in the Olympic Movement: 

 

How can we keep the Olympic Games as a premier event? This is one of numerous questions that will be debated at the Olympic Congress in Copenhagen between 2 and 3 October 2009, where approximately 900 delegates will get together to shape the future of the Olympic Movement. The recent successes of the Olympic Games in Athens, Turin and Beijing will allow the IOC to reflect on lessons learned and to find even better ways to position the Olympic Games.

 

 The athletes are at the heart of the Games, and at the end of the day it is their outstanding performances that are remembered. Mexico City 1968 with Bob Beamon’s historic jump; Grenoble 1968 with Jean-Claude Killy’s triple medal win; Munich 1972 when Mark Spitz became a legend; Montreal 1976 with Nadia Comaneci’s perfect tens. Not forgetting Eric Heiden, Carl Lewis, Hermann Maier, Björn Daehlie and most recently Shaun White, Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps. It’s these performances and memorable Olympic ceremonies that drive the IOC, Organising Committees, National Olympic Committees and International Sports Federations to work hard to provide the most adapted environment in which to compete and perform. The Copenhagen debate will strive to provide solutions to make the Olympic Games stronger and even more enjoyable. Enjoy watching all the highlights of previous Games in this video.

 

 

 Learn more on the Olympic Congress 2009

Tuesday evening, at the Pontaise Olympic Stadium, the unmissable Athletissima athletics meeting kicks off in Lausanne. The planet’s best athletes will compete on a Tartan track said to be very fast and on which many records have been broken. Among the athletes present at this 34th edition will be Usain Bolt, Dayron Robles, Steve Hooker, Asafa Powell, Barbora Spotakova, Shelly-Ann Frazer, Dawn Harper, Melaine Walker, Allyson Felix and Maryam Jamal, to name just a few.

At The Olympic Museum on Saturday 4 July, during the Mini Stars Relay organised by Athletissima and The Museum, future champions competed in a race along the path from the quayside at Ouchy to The Museum’s entrance. There was the two-man race: one boy and one girl; family: one child and one parent; and open category: two children under 15. A record number of over 70 teams were at the start line.

The cherry on the cake was the traditional autograph session, in which took part, with grace and good humour, a string of prestigious runners like Jamaica’s Asafa Powell, Olympic 4x100m relay champion last year in Beijing, and the USA’s Kerron Clement and Jamaica’s Sheerick Williams, the two silver medallists in the 400m hurdles in Beijing.

On 8 July 1977, as part of the inauguration of the new track at the Pierre de Coubertin Stadium in Lausanne, an international athletics meeting was organised. It took place in the pouring rain. Won over by the passion of the crowd who, despite the disastrous weather conditions, cheered them on all evening long, the athletes promised to return to Lausanne before the end of the summer to participate in a second meeting. This was held in August in front of 10,000 enthusiastic spectators! And thus began the Lausanne athletics meeting which took on the name Athletissima in 1977. Thank you rain!

Like Athens in 2004, Turin in 2006 and Beijing in 2008, Vancouver 2010 will be closely examined by a Grand Témoin de la Francophonie, this time the former President of the Swiss Confederation, Pascal Couchepin, who was appointed by the Secretary General of La Francophonie, Abdou Diouf. The role of the Grand Témoin is to lead activities promoting awareness and observation of the French language, and increasing its use.

 

At the announcement of this nomination, IOC President Jacques Rogge stated: “We are looking forward to working with Mr Couchepin. We have already had the opportunity of working with him in the framework of his functions within the federal government. His solid international experience and his knowledge of the sports world will certainly be valuable assets in his new role of Grand Témoin de la Francophonie.” Pascal Couchepin is a key figure in the Swiss political landscape. He was President of the Swiss Confederation twice, in 2003 and 2008. Within the Federal Council, he led the Federal Department of Economic Affairs from 1998 to 2002. In this function, he was in charge of the ministries of agriculture, foreign trade, labour and professional education. During this period, he represented Switzerland within the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and served as Governor of the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Currently Head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs, responsible for questions of social security, health, education, university education, research and culture, he will leave this post in October 2009 to devote himself to his new mission promoting the French language at the Olympic Games.

As President Rogge often stresses, the IOC is deeply attached to the defence of the French language, as it was created in French, by Pierre de Coubertin, the reviver of the Olympic Games, in an era (end of the 19th century) when French was the language of diplomacy. Since April 1915, the IOC headquarters have been in the French-speaking region of Switzerland. We should also recall that, in accordance with Rule 24 of the Olympic Charter, French is an official IOC language, alongside English, and is therefore of fundamental importance for the Olympic Games. Furthermore, if there is a discrepancy between a French text and an English one in the Olympic Charter, or any other IOC document, the French text prevails, in the absence of any written instruction to the contrary.

 

Last August in Beijing, the French language had a satisfactory place, thanks to the organisers’ considerable efforts. This was the conclusion of the Grand Témoin for these Games, former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, in his report on the use of French at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. A copy of this report will be officially presented today to President Rogge at a meeting in Lausanne with Pascal Couchepin, who will be accompanied by Pierre de Cocatrix, the Chief of Staff of the Secretary General of La Francophonie. Besides the presentation of the Grand Témoin’s mission in Vancouver, and a discussion on preparations for the Games, the cooperation project between the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) and the Olympic Movement will also be addressed, with the focal points being the first Youth Olympic Games in August 2010 in Singapore, the next edition of the Francophone Games in Beirut, and preparations for the 2013 edition.

Canada is recognised throughout the entire world for its bilingualism and diversity. The Federal Law of 1969 made French and English the two official languages of the Canadian Federal State. The Organising Committee for the Games in Vancouver (VANOC) has therefore made a strong commitment to ensuring that the 2010 Olympic Winter Games respect the linguistic reality of the host country. The creation of a VANOC advisory panel on the official languages is a perfect illustration of this. A multi-party agreement between VANOC, the federal government and the host cities of the Games was signed, fixing very high standards in the area of bilingualism. To underline the important contribution of the country’s French-speaking communities, VANOC also signed a collaboration agreement with the Canadian Foundation for Cross-Cultural Dialogue and the British Columbia Francophone Federation. Reflecting this agreement, the Place de la Francophonie, situated in downtown Vancouver, will be, throughout the Games, a place of gathering, celebration, artistic creation, economic exchange and gastronomy.

 Discover the report on French at the Beijing Games on the official web site of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie

Share knowledge and experience; debate about best practices; unite the efforts of all the stakeholders around joint initiatives; develop solutions to meet environmental challenges; and ensure sustainable, ethical and responsible sport: these are the objectives of the second annual seminar organised on 18 and 19 June 2009 in Lausanne by the International Academy of Sports Science and Technology (AISTS).

The interactive seminar will focus on the Sustainable Sport and Event Toolkit (SSET) that was created jointly by AISTS and the Vancouver Organising Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC). This guide provides practical ways to create a sustainable commitment and strategy around environmental, social, and economic issues.  The IOC, one of AISTS’ founding members, is also the Principal Supporting Partner of the SSET, thus expressing its commitment to promote best practices and innovations developed in the domain of sport and sustainable development. The SSET translates the principles behind the Olympic Movement’s Agenda 21 into practical guidelines, with a view to providing sports organisations and events organisers with the means to make sport more sustainable, and sustainability more relevant.

 

This seminar will cover all the key areas concerning sustainable development in sport, from creating a sustainable commitment and strategy to its implementation; from venue choice and construction of infrastructures to their management; and from the role of the community to its involvement in the supply chain, while going through transport and accommodation, catering, marketing and communications, without forgetting athlete and public engagement. These subjects will be treated during modules, case studies or workshops. The list of speakers is composed of experts recognised throughout the world in the areas of sport and of sustainable development, representing the IOC, International Sports Federations, National Olympic Committees, Organising Committees for the Olympic Games, sponsors and NGOs.

To register for the seminar or to get more information, click on www.aists.org/sustainable.

 Learn more about the IOC policy on promotion of sustainable development.