Bach on Sochi Discrimination; Stamp for Table Tennis Star; New EIS Chair

Bach on Sochi Discrimination

IOC president Thomas Bach has again offered reassurances to gay rights groups that his organization will do everything to ensure the Sochi 2014 Games are free from discrimination.

Bach on Monday sent a letter to All Out director Andre Banks responding to a request seeking clarification about whether the Olympic Charter explicitly opposes discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The gay advocacy group last month presented a petition with more than 300,000 signatures to the IOC in Lausanne, urging it to pressure Russian officials to protect the rights of their LGBT citizens.

"Our task at the IOC is to ensure that the Charter is fully applied at the Olympic Games and is fully accepted at all venues for all participants from athletes and officials to media and spectators," he said in the letter seen by Around the Rings.

"Assurances were given to the IOC again last week that this will be the case during the Sochi Games and clearly, this is what the IOC demands and expects. The IOC has also received written confirmation from Dmitry Kozak, the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of the Games, to that end."

Bach referenced the furor around Russia’s anti-gay law in his speech prior to the lighting of the Olympic flame at ancient Olympia last weekend.

In his letter to Banks, he said Russia had committed itself to comply strictly with the provisions of the Olympic Charter and its fundamental principles.

"It is important to stress that the IOC’s remit does not extend to the internal affairs of sovereign nations, no matter how we may feel about them," Bach said.

"We are not a supra-national parliament or government and we must leave such deliberations to the competent authorities. The IOC cannot hope to influence national legislation outside the scope of the Games and has to respect the law of each host country."

Table Tennis Star Stamp

Swedish table tennis champion Jan-Ove Waldner was featured on a Chinese postal stamp.

He is the first living foreigner to ever be printed on a Chinese stamp.

Waldner won the gold medal in men’s singles at the 1992 Olympics. The stamp was created through cooperation between the Chinese and Swedish postal services.

"They have already sold three million and they have 13 million more to sell," said Waldner to the ITTF."It's huge. It doesn't get much bigger than this in China."

New Chair for English Institute of Sport

UK Sport has appointed John Steele to chair its science, medicine, and technology arm, the English Institute of Sport.

The EIS, which has more than 250 staff providing approximately 4,000 hours of sport science and medical support to over 1,700 athletes across the country, worked with 86 percent of the athletes and 27 of the 29 sports that won a medal at the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

"I am delighted to take on this new role at the EIS at a critical time for British sport as it looks to build on its tremendous successes in recent years," said Steele, a former CEO of UK Sport and the Rugby Football Union.

"As a nation, we are now amongst the best in the world at preparing our athletes for success on the global stage and I am proud to be involved in this process going forward."

Steele succeeds Steve Cram as chair of the EIS. Cram stepped down from the role in June 2013 after 10 years.

Perec Runs for Peace and Sport

Olympian Marie-José Pérec will run the New York Marathon will the aim of raising money for Haiti through Peace and Sport.

The money raised will go toward new sport equipment and to provide training for sport instructors throughout the country.

This is the third year that Peace and Sport has partnered with the New York Marathon.

"I am delighted to contribute to this wonderful project in Haiti and more generally to all of Peace and Sport’s actions," said Perec in a statement."It will be a true challenge but Peace and Sport and all of its ambassadors are committed to the cause."