Last September, the Olympic

Transcription

1 THE 111TH IOC SESSION IN SYDNEY Last September, the Olympic Family arranged to meet on the other side of the world in Sydney, the oldest and largest of Australia s cities. The Sydney Opera House was the site of the traditional opening ceremony of the 111 th IOC Session, attended, among others, by the Governor General of Australia, Sir William Deane, several ministers and personalities, as well as representatives of the Olympic Movement. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Simone Young, opened the ceremony with the Australian national anthem, Advance Australia Fair, and the Olympic Anthem. As President of the NOC, John Coates observed: Seven years ago, the International Olympic Committee honoured us by entrusting us with the organization of the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, the Games of the new millennium. We then decided to make these the athletes Games, where the athletes would all benefit from the best conditions possible to enable them to excel themselves, He also recalled Australia s role in the Olympic Movement since the Sorbonne Congress in 1894, and its participation in all the editions of the Games of the Olympiad, saying: Sport is at the core of our social structure. Australia is a young country, which has always been passionate about the achievements of its athletes throughout its history. The IOC President began his opening speech by warmly congratulating the Australian public, expressing the gratitude of the Olympic Movement for the excellence of the work accomplished since Sydney was chosen in September 1993 in Monaco as Olympic host city. He stressed that: The Games of the Olympiad are the most important gathering of the youth of the world, one of a kind. Furthermore, the IOC President informed the audience of the decision made by North Korea and South Korea to march together behind the same flag during the Opening Ceremony of the Games of the XXVII Olympiad in Sydney. After the official speeches, an arts programme enabled the many guests to discover the indigenous art and culture, with a dance spectacle by the Yidaki Didg and Dance group. The Sydney Children s Choir, directed by Lyn Williams, sang Gondwana Voices and Ancient City. Kakadu and Elevator Music, performed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, brought this ceremony to a close. The IOC President took this opportunity to award this year s IOC Olympic Prize on Sport Sciences John Holloszy, in recognition of his contribution to research carried out for the improvement of sports performance and the treatment of pathological conditions, and to award the Olympic Order to Dame Lowitja O Donoghue and Stepan Kerkyasharian in recognition of their services to the Australian community. The Session, which was held from 11 to 13 September, heard the reports given by the Chairpersons of the following IOC commissions and working groups: Culture and Olympic Education (Zhenliang He); Athletes (Peter Tallberg); Nominations, Ethics, Governor General of Australia, Sir William Deane. President of the Australian NOC, John Coates. Dame Lowitja O Donoghue. 35

2 Sydney 2000 Juridical, Sport and Law (Kéba Mbaye); Women and Sport (Anita DeFrantz); Finance and the XIX Olympic Winter Games, Salt Lake City 2002 (Marc Hodler); Marketing (Richard W. Pound); Medical (Alexandre de Merode); Press (Richard Kevan Gosper); Olympic Programme (Franco Carraro); Radio and Television (Un Yong Kim); Sport and Environment (Pal Schmitt); Sport for All (Walther Tröger); Coordination for the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, Sydney 2000, and Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, Athens 2004 (Jacques Rogge); and the XX Olympic Winter Games, Turin 2006 (Jean-Claude Killy). Reports were also presented by members of the IOC administration: the Director General, François Carrard; the Secretary General and Director of the Olympic Museum, Françoise Zweifel; the Director of Sports, Olympic Games Coordination and Relations with International Federations, Gilbert Felli; the Director of the Executive Office of the President and International Cooperation, Fékrou Kidané; the Director of NOC Relations and Olympic Solidarity, Pere Miró; the Director of Control and Coordination of Operations, Thierry Sprunger; the Director of Communications and New Media, Franklin Servan-Schreiber; and the Director of Technology, Philippe Verveer. Reports were also given on the organizing committees for the Olympic Games by Michael Knight for Sydney; Mitt Romney for Salt Lake City; Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki for Athens; and Valentino Castellani for Turin. Furthermore, the 111 th IOC Session elected Thomas Bach as IOC vicepresident and Gunilla Lindberg and Franco Carraro as Executive Board members. Following the reforms affecting the composition of the IOC, adopted in December 1999, the following were also elected to the Executive Board: Denis Oswald (representing the Summer Olympic International Federations); Ottavio Cinquanta (representing the International Winter Sports Federations); Mario Vázquez Raña (representing the National Olympic Committees); and Sergey Bubka (representing the athletes). The Session also co-opted the following as new IOC members: - as a member linked to a function within an IF: Ruben Acosta (volleyball); Tamas Aján (weightlifting); Bruno Grandi (gymnastics); Paul Henderson (sailing); Gian-Franco Kasper (skiing). - as a member linked to a function within an NOC: Alfredo Goyeneche (Spain); Seyed Mostafa Hashemi Taba (Islamic Republic of Iran); William J. Hybl (United States of America); Kipjoge Keino (Kenya); Carlos Arthur Nuzman (Brazil); Lassana Palenfo (Côte d lvoire); Henri Sérandour (France); Zaiqing Yu (People s Republic of China). - as a member linked to a function within the International Paralympic Committee (IPC): Robert Steadward. The Session also elected five Honour members: Giovanni Agnelli, Alain Danet, Kurt Furgler, Henry Kissinger and Yoshiaki Tsutsumi. The IOC now comprises 125 active members, with Philipp von Schöller, IOC member since 1977, now becoming an honorary member. In accordance with tradition, the Session concluded with a speech by the IOC Doyen, João Havelange. The next Session will be held in Moscow, Russian Federation, from 13 to 16 July The proceedings of the 111 th Session were broadcast live to the media on an internal television network. The delegation from Sydney The delegation from Salt Lake City

3 Sydney 2000 The delegation from Athens The delegation from Turin IOC vice-presidents, Thomas Bach and Kéba Mbaye. Gunilla Lindberg and Franco Carraro. Denis Oswald. Ottavio Cinquanta. Mario Vazquez Raña. Sergey Bubka. Alain Danet and Henry Kissinger. 37

4 38 Sydney 2000 The IOC members at the 111th Session.

5 The new IOC members Alexander Popov. Jan Zelezny. Rubén Acosta. Tamás Ajan. Alfredo Goyeneche. Bruno Grandi. Seyed Mostafa Hashemi Taba. Paul Henderson. William Hybl. 39

6 Gian-Franco Kasper. Kipjoge Keino. Carlos Arthur Nuzman. Lassana Palenfo. Henri Sérandour. Robert Steadward. Zaiqing Yu. Susie O Neill. Manuel Estiarte. 40