European Games Progress; Brazilian Airports Update; Thorpedo Readies Comeback

European Games Update

European Olympic Committees president Patrick Hickey tells Around the Rings he is "extremely happy" with the progress of the consultation phase to stage a European Games.

"From what I have heard, I am extremely happy. But nothing is finalized yet because there are still ongoing talks taking place with European federations," the IOC member from Ireland told ATRon Thursday.

Deloitte is close to wrapping up its feasibility study on the continental Games proposal. Meetings have taken place with 28 European federations to get their feedback, and a few more are scheduled in the coming few weeks.

"They are key partners in everything that has to be done. We are not rushing that," Hickey added.

A 15-member EOC commission tasked with overseeing the feasibility study will meet in November to analyze Deloitte's final report, which will determine if the EOC moves to the next stage of planning for the multi-sport event.

Hickey plans to make a presentation on the findings to the EOC general assembly that convenes in Sochi on Nov. 23 and 24.

On Tuesday, Hickey held a meeting in London with Olympic Council of Asia president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah to seek his advice on how to stage a continental Games. The continental chiefs also discussed issues relating to NOCs around the world.

"They have a hugely successful Asian Games. It's something we admire very much in what has been achieved there, so it was only natural to get his expertise and advice," Hickey said.

Hickey is keen to create a continental games in Europe along the lines of the Asian or Pan American Games. The European Youth Olympic Festival is the only multi-sport event for Europe.

While a European Games could be lucrative for federations, question marks surround where the event would fit into the already crowded European sports calendar, how it would be funded and how marketing and sponsorship revenues would be divided.

Airports on Schedule, Says Brazil’s Aviation Boss

Brazil’s secretary of civil aviation says airport upgrades are "perfectly on schedule" ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympics.

"Some of them will be ready before then," Wagner Bittencourt told reporters during a Thursday conference call, "but the deadline for the last airport to be completed is December 2013."

With venues in 12 cities, the football finals are more dependent on a robust transport infrastructure than the Rio Summer Games, but both FIFA and the IOC are keeping a close watch on the massive renovations underway throughout the host country.

FIFA is keen to take greater control of preparations and sent secretary general Jerome Valcke to Belgium earlier this month for the first of what’s expected to become a series of crisis talks with Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff.

At the top of her plan to speed up the overhaul is the sale of Brazil’s airports to private companies via a system in which airport authority Infraero maintains up to 49 percent of capital stock.

Bittencourt said this concessions process is underway with high interest already evident from both domestic and foreign investors.

Upwards of $3 billion is expected to be spent on airport improvements in the run-up to the pair of mega-events.

Thorpedo Prepares to Compete Again

Australia's five-time Olympic gold medalist Ian Thorpe says he is prepared to fail at London 2012.

"I'm more comfortable knowing that, chances are, I'm going to fail at this. I've become comfortable with that," the 29-year-old told BBC Sport.

Thorpe, who won three golds at Sydney 2000 and two at Athens 2004, returns to competitive swimming in two weeks after a five-year break.

The results of his training sessions in Lugano, Switzerland will be on display at swimming meets in Singapore, Beijing and Tokyo in November.

He has set his sights on swimming as fast as he can in the build-up to the 2012 Olympics rather than worrying about the threat posed by America's 14-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps when he gets there.

"Medals are good but, for us in swimming, times are better because you have very little control over who wins," Thorpe said.

"The best way to win the nicer-colored medals is to make sure your process is a lot better than everyone else's. Simpleas that."

Admitting he has left his Olympic preparations late, Thorpe conceded: "I don't think anyone's done this before with the time frame that I have. Realistically, it's probably too short.

"For some reason, in my mind, this is helping me. It's making it harder so I'm more focused."

Phelps told the BBC he looks forward to racing Thorpe next year.

"He is a great competitor, he is a hard worker, he is someone I'm happy is back in the sport. It should make a lot of events a lot more interesting," he said.

Russia Supports Baku 2020

The Russian Olympic Committee has thrown its weight behind Baku's 2020 Olympic bid.

Azeri news agencies report that the NOC's executive director Marat Bariev is working closely with the Azerbaijani sports ministry on the 2020 candidacy.

"We are open for tips and advice and are ready to help Baku to get the right to host the Olympics. As a neighboring country, we are interested in this," Bariev was quoted by News.az.

He says he believes Baku is capable securing 2020 hosting rights. "As a sport center and dynamically growing economic sector, Baku is attracting the attention of many. It is simply necessary to work more actively and to show oneself," Bariev added.

Baku faces competition from Doha, Istanbul, Madrid, Rome and Tokyo in the race for 2020.

Reported by Mark Bisson and Matthew Grayson

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