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(PRWEB) December 16, 2011

IOC ACTIVITIES

PRESIDENT

This week in Vidy, IOC President Jacques Rogge has met:

IOC member Ching-Kuo Wu;
G. Nicolas Hayek Jr, CEO of Swatch Group, accompanied by Swiss Timing CEO Eckhard Frank and Director General Christophe Berthaud;
World Squash Federation (WSF) President N. Ramachandran;
a delegation from the NOC of Ghana, led by its President, Francis Dodoo;
World Karate Federation (WKF) President Antonio Espinos; and
Deputy Mayor of Shanghai Zhao Wen.

Also this week he attended the traditional meeting with the City of Lausanne representatives and Lausannes sports leaders.

This weekend, the IOC President will be in Athens (Greece), where he will take part in the ceremony to light the flame of the Innsbruck Winter Youth Olympic Games.

Next week, President Rogge will be made an Officer of the Legion of Honour by the President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, at a ceremony organised at the Elys?e Palace in Paris.

INTERNATIONAL SPORTS FEDERATIONS

SUMMER IFS

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has announced the details of its plans to celebrate its centenary next year. Indeed, the IAAF, which was created in Stockholm (Sweden) two days after the Closing Ceremony of the 1912 Olympic Games, will be 100 years old on 17 July next year. A Centenary Working Group has been set up, headed by IAAF Council member Helmut Digel. The activities/events include publishing a book, running an exhibition, broadcasting a TV series, organising a World Congress on School and Youth Athletics and establishing an IAAF Hall of Fame.

Venezuela and Turkey will host the World Olympic Qualifying Tournaments for the London 2012 basketball competitions. The decision was taken by the Central Board of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) at its recent meeting in Madrid (Spain). From 2 to 8 July 2012, Caracas, Venezuela, will host the 12 mens teams vying for the last three Olympic places. The previous week, from 25 June to 1 July, in the Turkish capital of Ankara, 12 womens teams will battle for the five remaining places for London.

Australias Jamie Dwyer has been honoured by his fellow hockey players who named him Player of the Year 2011 of the International Hockey Federation (FIH). His compatriot Matthew Swann won the Young Player award. They received their prizes at the Owen G. Glenn FIH Champions Trophy in Auckland (New Zealand) from FIH President Leandro Negre. The winners of the womens Player of the Year awards will be announced at the Argentine Champions Trophy, which will be held in Rosario between 28 January and 5 February 2012. The 2011 FIH All-Star teams will be decided by public vote on the FIH web site between 12 and 21 December.

At the Judo Grand Slam organised recently in Tokyo (Japan), the President of the International Judo Federation (IJF), Marius L. Vizer, and the President of the French Judo Federation, Jean-Luc Rouge, presented donation cheques offered by their Federations to the three Japanese provinces most affected by last Marchs earthquake: Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi. The donations will be used to support the re-development of judo in the affected areas.

The best nine Athletes of the Year 2011 have been selected by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) in its five aquatic disciplines. After collecting votes from the FINAs 202 national member federations, media and aquatic experts, the list of the best athletes has been published. They are: for swimming, Ryan Lochte (USA) and Melissa Franklin (USA); for diving, Qiu Bo (China) and Wu Minxia (China); for water polo, Filip Filipovic (Serbia) and Alexandra Asimaki (Greece); for synchronised swimming, Natalia Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina (Russia); and for open water swimming, Thomas Lurz (Germany) and Keri-Anne Payne (Great Britain).

The International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) Executive Board has awarded the 2016 Senior World Championships to Moscow (Russian Federation), which successfully organised the 2011 edition. The Argentine city of Buenos Aires will host the Centenary (64th) UIPM Congress from 18 to 21 October 2012. In addition, at its 63rd Congress, the UIPM approved the proposed No Needle Policy, which comes into force immediately. The UIPM thus joins other IFs and the IOC in enforcing this policy for the London 2012 Games, aiming to limit athletes use of syringes or any other medical equipment that could potentially be used for doping purposes.

Bernard Lapasset has been re-elected as Chairman of the International Rugby Board (IRB) for a second consecutive term until 2016. The IRB Council, which recently met in Los Angeles (USA), also elected South African Rugby Union President Oregan Hoskins as Vice-Chairman. Lapasset and Hoskins will begin their tenures on 1 January 2012.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has announced that Serbian Novak Djokovic and Czech Petra Kvitova have been named 2011 ITF World Champions. Bob and Mike Bryan (USA) have been named Mens Doubles World Champions for the eighth time, while Kveta Peschke (Czech Republic) and Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia) have become Womens Doubles World Champions for the first time. The Czech Republics Jiri Vesely and Russias Irina Khromacheva won the Junior titles; and Dutch duo Esther Vergeer and Maikel Scheffers won in the wheelchair category. The trophies will be presented at the World Champions Dinner on 5 June 2012, during the French Open in Paris.

The World Archery Federation (FITA) has announced the re-launch of its online shop. New products, a new design with simplified processes and a new customer service are among the improvements made at the website.

The International Triathlon Union (ITU) has become a member of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The IFs affiliation was ratified at the 15th IPC General Assembly in Beijing (Peoples Republic of China) (see also Recognised Organisations) last weekend. Paratriathlon has been included in the programme of the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio.

NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES

Some 35 sports leaders from the Dominican provinces of San Juan de la Maguana, El?as Pi?a and Las Matas de Farf?n took part in a sports administration course organised recently by the Dominican NOCs sports academy in the framework of Olympic Solidarity. During the four days of the course, 26 themes were addressed, such as the bases of the Olympic Movement, time management, using prohibited substances in sport, team selection, and organising an Olympic mission.

The Lithuanian NOC has informed us that a silver coin worth 50 litas has recently been struck for the London 2012 Games. This is the fifth in a series of commemorative coins. The obverse of the coin features a representation of yachting and sails. Lithuanias Gintare Volungeviciute won the silver medal in the laser radial class at the Beijing 2008 Games. The coin was presented in the presence of NOC President Arturas Poviliunas and Secretary General Vytautas Zubernis.

A few weeks ago in Lima, the Peruvian NOC organised the Latin-American Peace and Sport Forum, under the auspices of the IOC, and with the support of the municipality of Miraflores. The Forum was opened by the Minister for Education, Patricia Salas. A message from President Rogge was read by IOC member Iv?n Dibos. Representatives of 12 countries in the region drafted a declaration that underlined the most important points resulting from the three-day meeting. These included the right to sport for all, integration through sport, strengthening womens participation in the Olympic sphere, and establishing physical education in schools and universities.

RECOGNISED ORGANISATIONS

At its 15th General Assembly, held last week in Beijing, the IPC awarded the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships to the French city of Lyon.