Terreno Deportivo

In less than 500 days, Vancouver 2010 will welcome the athletes and the world “With Glowing Hearts”. The Vancouver Organising Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) has announced that these words from the English version of “ÔCanada” (Canadian national anthem) and “Des plus brillants exploits” from the French version will be the official 2010 Winter Games mottos.

These mottos - which will forever be tied to Olympic and Paralympic athletic achievements in 2010 - express the character and personality of Canada’s Games. For John Furlong, VANOC Chief Executive Officer, “the mottos describe the pride that results from outstanding achievement; be it an athlete’s performance of a lifetime or the valuable contribution of a dedicated volunteer. There’s a champion in everybody and the mottos invite everyone to step up to their own podium and give their very best through the once-in-a-lifetime experience of the 2010 Winter Games”.

The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge, recalled that “finding the perfect motto for the Olympic Games is one of the great challenges organising committees face. It may be the last inspirational words an athlete reads on the field of play before their performance of a lifetime, or the first celebratory words they see when stepping onto the medal podium. It should both welcome visitors from around the world and motivate an army of volunteers. With Glowing Hearts is an inspired motto choice and we commend VANOC on selecting a motto that delivers on all of these counts and invites the world to share in these time-honoured words from Canada’s national anthem."

The motto, said Philip Craven, President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), “captures the warm and welcoming spirit of the host nation and it promises to the world that the extraordinary achievements of all athletes will be honoured and celebrated. The motto also continues the spirit of the Paralympic values: courage, determination, inspiration and equality.”

Games motto welcomes the world, inspires excellence

Canadians to welcome the world’s best winter athletes in 2010 “With Glowing Hearts”

For winter sports fans across the world, the road to Vancouver 2010 is now well and truly underway with the opening of ticket sales for this next edition of the Olympic Winter Games. The first phase of ticket sales for the Canadian public runs from 3 October 2008 till 7 November 2008, while fans outside Canada should contact their local National Olympic Committee (NOC) or its official ticket agent for more details on ticket availability in their territory.

Canada

As the host population for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Canadian residents have a great opportunity to be able to witness first hand the Winter Games on home soil. Canadians will be able to buy tickets in a number of different ways from the Vancouver 2010 Organising Committee (VANOC). The best place to start creating your experience is by checking out VANOC’s website, where you can learn all about the different options that are available to you if you live in Canada. The best part is that you don’t even have to rush: phase one will run until 7 November 2008, and requests received on 6 November will be weighted equally with requests received early in October, so pick your events, create your own personal experience and come along and join the fun.

Worldwide

For sports fans outside Canada, tickets will go on sale at different times in different territories as of 3 October 2008. The best way to find out about getting tickets where you are is by contacting your local NOC or its official ticket agent. You can get more information about the Games themselves and about visiting Canada at Vancouver2010.com. Speaking on the day of the ticketing launch in Canada, VANOC CEO John Furlong said, “Canadians can’t wait to welcome the world with glowing hearts, and we invite everyone to join us in what is sure to be a spectacular celebration of culture, winter sport and incredible athletic achievement.”

Ticket Sources

Fans are reminded that only tickets purchased from or obtained through official/authorised sources will enable entry to venues. Detailed information on official/authorised ticket sources, in particular a list of authorised ticket resellers (in Canada and internationally), is available on the official Vancouver 2010 ticketing website. Fans who have purchased or obtained tickets from unofficial or unauthorised sources run the risk of having those tickets cancelled, being refused entry and/or being asked to leave the venue without receiving a refund or qualifying for an exchange of ticket. Neither the International Olympic Committee nor VANOC nor any NOC may be held liable for any consequence (such as, without limitation, any loss or damage) related to a ticket purchased from or obtained through an unauthorised or unofficial source.

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.

The virtual Olympic Congress is on track. At the end of September, some 2,000 registrations and contributions had been recorded. These figures reflect the public’s genuine interest in contributing actively to the online consultation. The deadline for contributions has been set for 31 December 2008. For contributions, click here.

“The Olympic Movement in society”
Contributors are inspired by the overall theme of the 2009 Olympic Congress: “The Olympic Movement in Society”. Concrete proposals were submitted on how sport can play an even more important role in a changing world. The appeal of the Olympic Games and the role the athletes have to play were other topics of high importance. Furthermore, the contributors showed a genuine interest in the themes related to young people and the digital revolution. For details on the Congress themes, click here.

From men and women from all continents, and of all age groups
The virtual Congress statistics show that contributions have been sent in from all continents. The range of contributions covers IOC members, members of National Olympic Committees, International Sports Federations, athletes and the general public. Furthermore, it is particularly encouraging to state that many contributions have been sent in from young people. “The overall mix is excellent”, commented Urs Lacotte, IOC Director General, who is in charge of the Olympic Congress.

Basis of discussion
The information gathered through the virtual Congress will form the basis of discussions at the 13th Olympic Congress held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in October 2009.

More information on the Congress Regulations and the Call for Contributions can be found at www.2009congress.olympic.org.

Podcasts

The 13th Olympic Congress is only one year away. Copenhagen will celebrate the event on Monday 6 October and at the same time launch the Congress logo. In 2009 Copenhagen is also staging the 121st IOC Session, which is decisive for the election of the host city of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

Taking the pulse

Taking the pulse of the Olympic Movement, analysing its strengths and weaknesses, and evaluating the opportunities and the risks it faces: these are the challenges which the IOC laid down for the 13th Olympic Congress. Since the previous Congress - the Centennial Olympic Congress held in Paris in 1994 - the world has changed. While the main concern at the previous Congress was to ensure the integration of all the constituents into the Olympic Movement, the challenge will be quite different in 2009. A guiding concept links all five themes chosen for this Olympic gathering: the role of the Olympic Movement in society and in all regions of the world.

Why hold a congress?

By taking a look at the outcome of previous congresses, the answer to this question speaks for itself. The Varna 1973 Congress rethought concept of amateurism. The new eligibility rule for the Olympic Games authorised the financial and material assistance which had in the meantime become indispensable to elite level training, while only personal profit derived from a sports activity remained prohibited. The Baden-Baden 1981 Congress paid unprecedented attention to the concerns of the athletes. For the first time, the athletes themselves played a leading role in a Congress. The Congress in Baden-Baden thus paved the way for the creation of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2006. The 1994 Centennial Congress in Paris proved trend-setting in an area of great interest today: protection of the environment, with the environment being declared as an essential component of Olympism.

The Olympic Movement in Society

The role of the Olympic Movement in society and in all regions of the world is the guiding concept of the 13th Congress. Under this umbrella, the five themes are:

- The Athletes

- The Olympic Games

- The Structure of the Olympic Movement

- Olympism and Youth

- The Digital Revolution

The themes, chosen by the 2009 Congress Commission, will include discussions and debates on the success of the Olympic Games, the Olympic values, the social and professional life of athletes during and after high-level sports participation, good governance, ethics of the world of sport, and youth and communication in the digital age.

Three thousand athletes in over 30 countries so far have taken advantage of the IOC Athlete Career Programme, offered in collaboration with Adecco. The programme delivered career development training and job placements, facilitating the integration of athletes into the labour market both during and at the end of their elite sporting careers. The IOC and Adecco today announced the extension of this programme until 2012. “The IOC recognises the value that these athletes bring to the world through their dedication to sport on a global stage. We were proud to first provide assistance to them with the launch of the Athlete Career Programme in 2005, and we are pleased to announce the expansion and strengthening of the Programme with Adecco,” said IOC President Jacques Rogge.

Advice, coaching and training
“Top athletes are passionate about their particular sport and dedicated to being the best in the world. They regularly represent their countries at events around the globe,” said Dieter Scheiff, CEO of Adecco. “We provide advice, coaching and training to prepare athletes from all over the world for a flying start to their career after sport.”

Duty of the IOC

An athlete who has achieved the status as one of the best in the world often dedicates his time exclusively to sport. This results in a unique set of life experiences that provide some important assets in a CV. One of the main tasks of the programme is to bring forward these assets, to prepare athletes for a more successful transition and to connect them with leadership companies around the world. The IOC Athlete Career Programme will continue to increase its support of Olympic athletes around the world through the cooperation of the International Olympic Committee, National Olympic Committees, International Sport Federations and Adecco.

The 6th World Forum on Sport, Education and Culture in Busan, Korea, concluded last weekend with an Action Plan adopted by the more than 600 participants. The document, which was presented by Zhenliang He, Chairman of the IOC Commission for Culture and Olympic Education, sets out ambitious initiatives to be taken by different stakeholders in the following fields:

- Youth

- the Youth Olympic Games

- Universality

- Post-athletic life

- OCOG and NOC education and culture programmes

- Partnerships

- The Olympic Congress

First-hand input from youngsters and Olympians
The forum’s panel discussions and presentations held under the overall theme "Sport and Education for the Now Generation" guaranteed first-hand input into the Action Plan. Who could better give recommendations in the youth field than youngsters themselves, featured on the podium during the Forum? And who would be better suited to give recommendations on the post-athletic life than former athletes? Explaining how sport made her fit for life in general, Manuela Di Centa, Olympic champion in skiing, member of the IOC and the IOC’s Athletes’ Commission and member of the Italian Parliament, said during her presentation in Busan: "Today, when someone asks me which of my Olympic medals I won is the most important for me…, I can only reply: ‘it is not a single medal, but the path I took to get it’."

Education programmes in Olympic host countries
The Forum also focused on the question, how Olympic education can be brought to a wide range of youngsters – be it through activities on a national level or through initiatives by Olympic Organising Committees of past and future host cities. Yang Zhicheng from the Beijing 2008 Organising Committee (BOCOG) explained how the biggest Olympic education programme in history was implemented in his country in the run-up to the Games. Some 400 million children from more than 400,000 elementary and secondary schools benefitted from Olympic education, which was integrated into the regular school curriculum. The set-up of an Olympic Education System in China is one important legacy from the Games.

London spot on
Nick Fuller from the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) showed that the host city of the next Summer Olympic Games is already spot-on in regard to reaching out to young people. The day London received the flag during the Closing Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games was the starting signal for "Get Set", the London 2012 domestic education programme. A new interactive "Get Set" website can be found at www.london2012.com/getset .

Read the full text of the Busan Action Plan which also dedicates a special section on the Youth Olympic Games, which will take place for the first time in 2010 in Singapore and will include important educational elements.

Youngsters from around the world were on the podium last week during the 6th World Forum on Sport, Education and Culture in Busan, Korea. Under the motto "We are the Now", students from Korea, Australia, Great Britain and Jordan told how sport had helped them to develop life skills and of the difficulties they had faced to combine their sporting career with their school education.

Aiming high through sport
"Sport has taught me about who I am, who I want to be and how to set goals," explained Clementine Pickwick, a student from Canberra in Australia. Clementine is an all-round sports talent and practises volleyball, badminton, water polo and athletics. Role models like Cathy Freeman - an indigenous Australian like Clementine – have always helped her to aim high. The skills Clementine obtained through sport, such as commitment, listening to instructions, leadership and working in a team, have benefited her far beyond sport. Still in her teens, Clementine has already received several prestigious awards such as the Rotary citizenship award and a distinction as Young Indigenous School Student of the Year for academic achievement. "All these opportunities have given me a worldwide network of friends," she raved. For the time after school she hopes to obtain a scholarship to play volleyball overseas as well as a degree in journalism.

Be a good student or an athlete?
Minjee Park, a student from Korea, had different experiences and had had to make a tough choice between being a good student or an athlete at a young age. Chronic asthma brought her into swimming, a sport she loved from the first minute and which also improved her health enormously. As soon as she became competitive, she had to decide if she wanted to excel in school or in the pool. "The fantastic opportunities I obtained through swimming forced me to think seriously about which direction my life would take. The pressure was on me to choose between being a student or an athlete, when what I really wanted was to be both; a path that did not exist".

Minjee’s and the others’ experiences were a key input in the formulation of the Busan Action Plan, which will be published shortly on www.olympic.org/busanforum .

Almost exactly one month after the Olympic Games ended in Beijing, and a week after the Paralympic Games, Asia is offering another chance to promote Olympic education and values through sport, with the 6th World Forum on Sport, Education and Culture taking place from yesterday until 27 September in the Korean city of Busan. Organised jointly by the IOC and the city of Busan, in partnership with the Korean Olympic Committee and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the Forum has brought together more than 800 representatives of the Olympic family, governmental and non-governmental organisations, United Nations agencies, universities and the media.

Speaking on behalf of the IOC President at the opening ceremony, IOC First Vice-President Lambis V. Nikolaou recalled that “these exceptional Games [in Beijing] enabled one-fifth of humanity to come into contact with the values of Olympism, and allowed the world to discover a country with a unique history and culture. These Games left a fantastic legacy – including in education – to China. For this reason, the theme of this 6th Forum, ‘sport and education for the now generation’, is highly topical. The mission of our Movement is certainly to develop sports practice, but we also have a duty to educate and promote values such as respect, tolerance and solidarity.”

Lambis V. Nikolaou then explained how, in today’s world, the practice of sport and mentalities have changed. As a result, he stressed, “to get this new generation back onto the field of play, and to reach out to it, we have to communicate differently, using new methods, such as the Youth Olympic Games, the first summer edition of which will be held in 2010 in Singapore; the Olympic Values Education Programme; or the ‘Best of Us’ promotional campaign; the ‘Heroes’ public service announcement; and ‘Olympic Express’, the first e-journal on the Games aimed at young people all over the world.” He then referred to the activities of the IOC Medical and Athletes commissions, not forgetting the education programmes put in place by Olympic host cities such as Beijing, Vancouver, London and Sochi, and the inclusion of Olympism and youth as a theme for the Olympic Congress in 2009.

The Opening Ceremony was also an opportunity to pay tribute to the man who, for more than 10 years, has worked tirelessly for the defence and promotion of the Olympic ideal from sporting and cultural points of view, assuming the chairmanship of the Cultural Commission then the Commission for Culture and Olympic Education. Zhenliang He has devoted virtually his whole life to the Olympic Movement and the principles it stands for. With his Commission colleagues, he has worked untiringly to make education and culture a priority in the Olympic Movement’s agenda, thus continuing along the path laid by the IOC founder, Baron Pierre de Coubertin. This tribute was paid in Busan, where Zhenliang He is taking part in his last world conference as Chairman of the Commission for Culture and Olympic Education.

Learn more on the promotion of Culture and Olympic Education

An exciting Agora was held on Tuesday evening at the Olympic Museum, entitled Beijing 2008 – the Review. The aim of the evening: to assess the positive aspects and the lessons learnt from these Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing, and to address, among other things, the theme of the limits of sporting exploits, since there were so many world records set in various sports.

Alongside the two presenters, Jean-Philippe Rapp and Jean-François Develey, there were a number of top speakers: Jacques Rogge, IOC President, and Gilbert Felli, IOC Olympic Games Executive Director; Stanislas Wawrinka, Olympic doubles champion alongside Roger Federer; Anne-Caroline Chausson, Olympic BMX champion; Sergei Aschwanden, judo bronze medallist; Fabien Ohl, UNIL social sciences professor; and Pierre-Étienne Bourban, the EPFL’s Deputy Vice-President and material sciences professor.

How did the IOC President feel about these Games? Without claiming that they were the best Games ever organised (!), Jacques Rogge spoke about the Opening Ceremony’s three billion spectators, the perfect organisation, the exceptional architecture of the venues, the Olympic Village that the athletes themselves said was the best ever, the 41 world records set, etc. In short, an exceptional adventure, as confirmed by the three Olympic medallists on the stage.

The legacy of the Games was then addressed, with President Rogge underlining that the venues would serve some 100,000 students from local universities on a daily basis. Without forgetting a new airport, ring roads, new metro lines, the creation of two million jobs and almost 400 million children initiated into the Olympic values.

Also discussed was the progress made in the fight against doping, with prevention and detection methods becoming increasingly efficient. There were fewer than 10 medals withdrawn during the Games, as numerous athletes had tested positive beforehand and were therefore not allowed to compete in Beijing. The problem of security was also addressed. Recalling the Munich and Atlanta attacks, as well as the many heads of state present in the Chinese capital, Jacques Rogge said that there could never be too many security measures. Sergei Aschwanden thought that security was no tighter than in Sydney and Athens!

The final subject was new technology (new swimming pools, equipment, wetsuits and shoes, etc.) Prof. Bourdan opined that this progress was nothing new, and was likely to develop further. It certainly improved athletes’ performances, as well as their wellbeing and safety.

This Olympic Agora will be broadcast on TSR2 on Monday 20 October at 8.15 p.m.

If you want to get one of the last places for the 12th World Sport for All Congress, register now at http://www.sportforall2008.olympic.org.my.

Under the motto “Sport for All – Sport for Life”, the event will take place in Genting Highlands, Malaysia, from 3 to 6 November 2008.

Experts and participants from the Olympic family, universities, the UN system, governments and NGOs will discuss the following themes:

- Physical activity for young people
- Role of Sport for All in the world of information technology

- Sport for All’s responses to the challenges of ageing populations
- Sport for All and social justice
- Focus on the Olympic and Sports Movement’s Sport for All initiatives

How to adjust sports facilities to the needs of young people? How to advance Sport for All programmes by using different means of information technology? Ageing or inactivity: which is the villain for functional deterioration? And how to promote the Olympic values through Sport for All? These are just a few of the topics which will be addressed during lively sessions at the Congress.

Join now - registration closes on 30 September 2008.

Learn more about the speakers and the programme

The IOC Disciplinary Commission, composed of Thomas Bach (Chairman), Denis Oswald and Gerhard Heiberg, met today in Lausanne (Switzerland) on three pending doping cases from the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

The meeting was convened to deal with adverse analytical findings for Vadim DEVIATOVSKIY, Belarus, silver medallist in the men’s hammer throw competition; Ivan TSIKHAN, Belarus, bronze medallist in the men’s hammer throw competition; and Adam SEROCZYNSKI, Poland, who placed fourth in the men’s kayak double (K2) 1000m event.

The IOC Disciplinary Commission gave the two Belarusian hammer throwers the opportunity to provide further information until 17 October 2008. The decision by the IOC Disciplinary Commission will be taken once this information has been analysed.

The decision concerning the Polish canoeist will be issued by the IOC Disciplinary Commission on 8 October 2008.

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For further information, please contact the IOC Communications Department on +41 21 621 60 00 or e-mail: pressoffice@olympic.org.

The IOC Disciplinary Commission, composed of Thomas Bach (Chairman), Denis Oswald and Gerhard Heiberg, met today in Lausanne (Switzerland) on three pending doping cases from the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

The meeting was convened to deal with adverse analytical findings for Vadim DEVIATOVSKIY, Belarus, silver medallist in the men’s hammer throw competition; Ivan TSIKHAN, Belarus, bronze medallist in the men’s hammer throw competition; and Adam SEROCZYNSKI, Poland, who placed fourth in the men’s kayak double (K2) 1000m event.

The IOC Disciplinary Commission gave the two Belarusian hammer throwers the opportunity to provide further information until 17 October 2008. The decision by the IOC Disciplinary Commission will be taken once this information has been analysed.

The decision concerning the Polish canoeist will be issued by the IOC Disciplinary Commission on 8 October 2008.

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For further information, please contact the IOC Communications Department on +41 21 621 60 00 or e-mail: pressoffice@olympic.org.

After 12 days of competition, the Closing Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games on 17 September 2008 officially ended a period of record-breaking competition and events.

279 world records

Almost 4,000 athletes from a total of 147 different countries around the world came to Beijing to compete in their respective sports. Some athletes competed in more than one event, but they all participated at an elite level. Of these 147 countries, five competed in the Paralympic Games for the first time, including Burundi, Gabon, Georgia, Haiti and Montenegro. The Games saw a total of 279 new world records set and a total of 339 new Paralympic records broken.

1.9 million tickets sold

A record number of 1.9 million tickets were sold, with an additional 600,000 tickets provided to children, educational institutes and community groups. The Opening and Closing Ceremonies were sold out, as were all the swimming events and most of the athletics events.

Out of more than 1,000 doping tests conducted, there were three anti-doping rule violations. The doping tests performed included urine (Erythropoietin, EPO) and blood tests (Human Growth Hormone (hGH), synthetic haemoglobin (HBOC), blood transfusions (BT) and other substances.

After 12 days of competition, the Closing Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games on 17 September 2008 officially ended a period of record-breaking competition and events.

279 world records

Almost 4,000 athletes from a total of 147 different countries around the world came to Beijing to compete in their respective sports. Some athletes competed in more than one event, but they all participated at an elite level. Of these 147 countries, five competed in the Paralympic Games for the first time, including Burundi, Gabon, Georgia, Haiti and Montenegro. The Games saw a total of 279 new world records set and a total of 339 new Paralympic records broken.

1.9 million tickets sold

A record number of 1.9 million tickets were sold, with an additional 600,000 tickets provided to children, educational institutes and community groups. The Opening and Closing Ceremonies were sold out, as were all the swimming events and most of the athletics events.

Out of more than 1,000 doping tests conducted, there were three anti-doping rule violations. The doping tests performed included urine (Erythropoietin, EPO) and blood tests (Human Growth Hormone (hGH), synthetic haemoglobin (HBOC), blood transfusions (BT) and other substances.

For the man who won 13 Grand Slam singles titles, Roger Federer, winning an Olympic gold medal in Beijing helped him to forget a difficult first part of the year. On 16 August 2008, the Swiss tennis player added an Olympic gold medal to his collection by winning the men’s doubles with Stanislas Wawrinka. “It’s a magical moment. Something incredible in my career," said Federer. “It has definitively inspired me. It helped me to stay positive and be motivated for the US Open and not maybe be too disappointed.” Which turned out to be exactly right as, a few weeks later, Federer won his fifth consecutive US Open title.

In 1992, at the age of 11, Federer watched Marc Rosset win a tennis gold medal at the Barcelona Games. This victory perhaps brought out this desire to take part in the Olympic tournament, which brought together the best players of the time. At his first Games, in Sydney in 2000, he missed the Olympic podium by one step, but met his girlfriend of eight years. Four years later, in Athens, he was the flag-bearer of the Swiss delegation, but exited the tournament prematurely. In 2008 in Beijing, he carried the Swiss flag for the second time while celebrating his 27th birthday. “To carry the flag is one of the achievements you only dream about. It was one of the great moments in my career,” said the man considered as the greatest player of all time, before adding, “The Olympic Games is like Wimbledon to me. It’s really a dream come true to be part of it, walking into the stadium at the Opening Ceremony”.

Roger Federer is among the stars of the IOC campaign entitled “Heroes”, along with other legendary Olympic athletes including Yao Ming, Laure Manaudou, Liu Xiang, Yelena Isinbayeva, Kenenisa Bekele, Vanessa Ferrari and Carolina Kluft. All these athletes are superheroes seeking to achieve the seemingly impossible. “Heroes” leverages the determination and performance of Olympic athletes to communicate the key Olympic values. “Heroes” forms part of the IOC’s promotional campaign entitled “The Best of Us” - a simple, powerful idea that transcends cultures and borders, motivating young people around the world to participate in sport by proving that sport can bring out the best in them. The campaign was launched in 2007 and continues to run after the Beijing Games.

For the man who won 13 Grand Slam singles titles, Roger Federer, winning an Olympic gold medal in Beijing helped him to forget a difficult first part of the year. On 16 August 2008, the Swiss tennis player added an Olympic gold medal to his collection by winning the men’s doubles with Stanislas Wawrinka. “It’s a magical moment. Something incredible in my career," said Federer. “It has definitively inspired me. It helped me to stay positive and be motivated for the US Open and not maybe be too disappointed.” Which turned out to be exactly right as, a few weeks later, Federer won his fifth consecutive US Open title.

In 1992, at the age of 11, Federer watched Marc Rosset win a tennis gold medal at the Barcelona Games. This victory perhaps brought out this desire to take part in the Olympic tournament, which brought together the best players of the time. At his first Games, in Sydney in 2000, he missed the Olympic podium by one step, but met his girlfriend of eight years. Four years later, in Athens, he was the flag-bearer of the Swiss delegation, but exited the tournament prematurely. In 2008 in Beijing, he carried the Swiss flag for the second time while celebrating his 27th birthday. “To carry the flag is one of the achievements you only dream about. It was one of the great moments in my career,” said the man considered as the greatest player of all time, before adding, “The Olympic Games is like Wimbledon to me. It’s really a dream come true to be part of it, walking into the stadium at the Opening Ceremony”.

Roger Federer is among the stars of the IOC campaign entitled “Heroes”, along with other legendary Olympic athletes including Yao Ming, Laure Manaudou, Liu Xiang, Yelena Isinbayeva, Kenenisa Bekele, Vanessa Ferrari and Carolina Kluft. All these athletes are superheroes seeking to achieve the seemingly impossible. “Heroes” leverages the determination and performance of Olympic athletes to communicate the key Olympic values. “Heroes” forms part of the IOC’s promotional campaign entitled “The Best of Us” - a simple, powerful idea that transcends cultures and borders, motivating young people around the world to participate in sport by proving that sport can bring out the best in them. The campaign was launched in 2007 and continues to run after the Beijing Games.

Thousands of readers followed the Beijing Olympic Games with the “Olympic Express” e-journal on www.olympic.org. Feedback from young people, parents and teachers has been overwhelming. The project proved to be adequate for these target groups. The platform of the Olympic Games allowed us to reach out to people often difficult to attain. Another educational project, the so-called “A quote a day” interviews with IOC President Rogge, was followed on www.olympic.org and on TV as part of the daily 30-minute highlights issued by the Beijing Olympic Broadcasting unit. President Rogge explained in each one of the modules the meaning of Olympic symbols, the importance of the different players in the Olympic Movement and his own role and responsibilities.

Olympic Express will be an integral part of www.olympic.org until the end of September. The content of the 49 different editions – each with eight pages of interactive content- allows readers to get acquainted with all Olympic summer sports and to relive the Beijing Games in a very special way. Adapted to 8 to 12 year-olds, Olympic Express also enables them to get acquainted with Chinese culture and to discover how the Chinese experienced the Games.

Discover the Olympic Express

A quote a day will be integrated in the educational section of www.olympic.org. The President’s explanations are an attractive pedagogical means to get young people in schools acquainted with Olympism. Olympic Express and the “Quote a day” project are part of an overall effort by the IOC to reach out to young people with well-adapted means and tools. The web site remains an excellent platform for this.

Discover the "A quote a day" interviews

Thousands of readers followed the Beijing Olympic Games with the “Olympic Express” e-journal on www.olympic.org. Feedback from young people, parents and teachers has been overwhelming. The project proved to be adequate for these target groups. The platform of the Olympic Games allowed us to reach out to people often difficult to attain. Another educational project, the so-called “A quote a day” interviews with IOC President Rogge, was followed on www.olympic.org and on TV as part of the daily 30-minute highlights issued by the Beijing Olympic Broadcasting unit. President Rogge explained in each one of the modules the meaning of Olympic symbols, the importance of the different players in the Olympic Movement and his own role and responsibilities.

Olympic Express will be an integral part of www.olympic.org until the end of September. The content of the 49 different editions – each with eight pages of interactive content- allows readers to get acquainted with all Olympic summer sports and to relive the Beijing Games in a very special way. Adapted to 8 to 12 year-olds, Olympic Express also enables them to get acquainted with Chinese culture and to discover how the Chinese experienced the Games.

Discover the Olympic Express

A quote a day will be integrated in the educational section of www.olympic.org. The President’s explanations are an attractive pedagogical means to get young people in schools acquainted with Olympism. Olympic Express and the “Quote a day” project are part of an overall effort by the IOC to reach out to young people with well-adapted means and tools. The web site remains an excellent platform for this.

Discover the "A quote a day" interviews

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced the composition of the Evaluation Commission which will visit the four Candidate Cities bidding to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The team will be headed by Nawal El Moutawakel, who chaired the Evaluation Commission for the 2012 Olympic Games bid process. Her team, composed of representatives from the Olympic Movement as well as a number of advisors, will analyse the candidature files of the four bidding cities - Chicago (USA), Tokyo (Japan), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Madrid (Spain) - due for submission to the IOC by 12 February 2009. The Commission will, in addition, make on-site inspections around the second quarter of 2009 before then issuing a comprehensive technical appraisal for IOC members one month before they elect the host city on 2 October 2009 during the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen. This appraisal, known as the IOC Evaluation Commission report, is also made available for the general public and other interested parties on www.olympic.org

The composition of the Commission is as follows:

The Commission will also comprise an ANOC representative, still to be appointed, and advisors.

Commenting on the announcement, IOC President Jacques Rogge said: "The Evaluation Commission plays an important role in assessing the Candidate Cities’ ability to host the Olympic Games. We have here a professional team with a wide range of knowledge and experience. I would like to thank Nawal El Moutawakel for accepting to lead it. Nawal did an excellent job as chairwoman of the Evaluation Commission of the 2012 Candidate Cities. As an Olympic champion, a newly elected member of the IOC Executive Board and Sports Minister in Morocco she will bring an invaluable contribution to the Commission."

Commenting on her appointment, Nawal El Moutawakel said: ‘I feel privileged to chair for the second time an Evaluation Commission and am grateful to the IOC President for his trust and support. The team will have the complex and exciting task to evaluate the potential of four highly capable Candidate Cities. Our role will be to assess their technical capabilities in a transparent and neutral way in order to provide IOC members with the information they need to guide their choice on 2 October 2009. I rely on the valuable experience of my colleagues and look forward to taking on this challenge.”

[1] Cities are listed in the order of drawing of lots.

Note to the editor: Olympic champion in the 400m hurdles at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, Nawal El Moutawakel was the first Moroccan athlete to win a gold medal. Her outstanding sporting career and her dedication to sport led her to become a member of the IAAF Council in 1995; Secretary of State, responsible for Youth and Sport, to the Minister of Social Affairs in Morocco in 1997 and Minister of Sports in 2007. She has been an IOC member since 1998 and was elected member of the IOC Executive Board this summer in Beijing.

For more information please contact the IOC Media Relations team on +41 21 621 6000, email: pressoffice@olympic.org

At the invitation of the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge, stakeholders of the Olympic Movement met today in Lausanne to discuss current European Union (EU) matters. All participants agreed to work together on a detailed definition of the specificity and the autonomy of sport, which needs to be further clarified with regard to the wording on sport in the Lisbon Treaty.

After the meeting, Jacques Rogge said: "It is important that the Sports Movement works in unity to defend and promote its values and structures - also in the European context. This is crucial when we base ourselves on the existing Declaration on Sport annexed to the Nice Treaty, but also when we think in terms of the future and the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, which would give sport a legal basis in the EU for the first time. I am glad to see that today the IOC, the European Olympic Committees (EOC), the International Federations (IF) with their representatives from summer and winter sports, the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) as well as the football world with FIFA and UEFA came together to speak with one voice."

List of participants in the meeting:

IOC / EOC

Jacques Rogge, IOC President

Mario Pescante, IOC Executive Board member and Chairman of the IOC International Relations Commission

Patrick Hickey, IOC member and EOC President

Guy Drut, IOC member and EOC Executive Committee member

Kai Holm, IOC member and EOC Executive Committee member

AIOWF

René Fasel, IOC Executive Board member and IIHF and AIOWF President

Yves Vonlanthen, IIHF Administration and Legal Manager

ASOIF

Andrew Ryan, ASOIF Director

GAISF

Hein Verbruggen, IOC Honorary Member and GAISF President

FIBA / FIBA-Europe

Patrick Baumann, IOC member and FIBA Secretary General

George Vassilakopoulos, President of FIBA–Europe

FIFA

Jérôme Champagne, FIFA Director of International Relations

IRB

Bernard Lapasset, IRB President

Darren Bailey, IRB Director of Legal Services

UEFA

Gianni Infantino, UEFA Deputy General Secretary

William Gaillard, UEFA Director of Communications and Public Affairs

CNOSF

Jean-Paul Clémençon, Chief of Staff - CNOSF