Baku 2020 CEO; Rugby Sets Executive Elections; Coke 2012 Recycling Scheme

Baku 2020 CEO

Konul Nurullayeva is the new CEO of Baku 2020. She is the second woman to lead a 2020 Olympic bid.

Nurullayeva currently serves as head of international relations for the Azerbaijan National Olympic Committee and is secretary general for multiple Azeri sport federations.

She also served as chef de mission for the Azeri Olympic team in Vancouver.

"We want to bring the joys and passions of the world’s greatest sporting event to the Caucasus for the first time, so enabling this vibrant, open and enthusiastic region to realise its true sporting potential" she said in a statement.

Azad Rahimov, Azerbaijan’s Minister for Youth and Sport, added: "We are delighted to appoint Konul as CEO of our Bid. She is young, dynamic, deeply involved in our national sports and, above all, a great example and inspiration to the young people of Azerbaijan, many of whom we hope will be competing in the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games."

IRB Elections Set

The International Rugby Board set Dec. 12 as the date for its chairman election.

Originally scheduled for Oct. 19, the vote was postponed over concerns that the fight for chairman between incumbent Bernard Lapasset and Bill Beaumont were clouding the Rugby World Cup, taking place at that time.

Media reports say support for the two men is evenly split.

Coca-Cola Recycling at London 2012

All clear bottles at the London Olympics will eventually

turn into 80 million new Coke bottles.

Through a joint venture with ECO Plastics, Coca-Cola will recycle all of the clear bottles thrown away at the London Olympics at a facility in the United Kingdom.

"London 2012 provides a spectacular opportunity for everyone in the UK to raise the bar on sustainability," said Jon Woods, manager of Coca-Cola Great Britain and Ireland.

"We know from experience that our sponsorship can inspire our own business to take a leap forward in sustainability, and we’re committed to building on what we’ve learnt to help LOGOG make London 2012 the most sustainable Games of modern times."

Organizers have hyped London Olympics as sustainable and aim to send no waste to landfills.

Heart Failure Caused Hickstead’s Death

Post mortem results show that Eric Lamaze’s horse Hickstead died of heart failure.

The stallion, who Lamaze rode during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, collapsed and died during a world cup event on Sunday.

"The preliminary findings have revealed a catastrophic rupture of the major blood vessel, the aorta, which very rapidly led to heart failure," said Graeme Cooke, veterinarian director for the International Equestrian Federation said in a statement.

Further tests will be conducted in the following weeks to determine the reason behind the rupture, but these results could be inconclusive.

"This is an unusual incidentin Jumping and while we are investing the very many possible causes of a rupture of this nature, it is possible we may never know thereal reason behind it," Cooke said.

Lamaze earned a gold and a silver medal with Hickstead in 2008.

Greene King Sponsors Team Rwanda

A sponsorship deal will allow the Rwandan Olympic team to use pre-games training camps.

The pub retailer and brewer Greene King will support the team as they prepare for London 2012. The funding will go towards equipment and uniforms and enable the Rwandan team to train at the West Suffolk Athletics Arena in Bury St Edmunds in the U.K., also Greene King’s headquarters.

"The Games Training Camp in Bury St Edmundsis vital for our athletes," said Rwanda Olympic Team President Charles Rudakubana. "It will allow our athletes to acclimatise to the British environment, by training in the climate in which they will be competing."

About 18 coaches and athletes will use the facilities in Bury St Edmunds next summer.

New Zealand Aims High

Kiwi Olympians hope to fly high at the London Olympics.

New Zealand Olympic Committee secretary general Kereyn Smith she expects New Zealand to improve upon its nine-medal haul from the 2008 Games in London.

The New Zealand Herald reports that she thinks the country is in the league with some of the better-funded sports teams.

"Our cyclists and rowers are at the top of international competition alongside countries like Great Britain, Australia, the Netherlands and Germany. These teams operate with vastly superior budgets," she said.

"For a small country, we perform strongly at the Olympic Games. New Zealand finished Beijing in fifth position on the per capita medal table, ahead of Australia [which finished seventh]."

Smith made the comments following a warning that Australia is at risk of decreasing its medal tally in London. Australia is New Zealand’s neighbor—and chief sporting rival.

Written by Ann Cantrelland Ed Hula III.

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