Federation Chiefs at Pan Ams; ASOIF Update; New Faces for London 2017

Federation Chiefs at Pan Ams

While the sports of the Pan American Games are generally organized by the continental federations for each sport, a number of international federation leaders are in Guadalajara.

Julio Cesar Maglione, president of FINA, has more than just an interest in the aquatics events at these Pan Ams. He is also the ranking vice president for the Pan Am Sports Organization and president of the Uruguay NOC.

Modern pentathlon president Klaus Schormann presented a watch to PASO president Mario Vazquez Rana during a brief ceremony at the PASO Assembly.

World Taekwando Federation president Chungwon Choue was bestowed with an honorary degree Tuesday night by the University of Guadalajara.

IBAF president Riccardo Fraccari was in Guadalajara for just a couple of days, heading on to Panama for the conclusion of the World Cup of Baseball.

He met with International Softball Federation president Don Porter on Wednesday morning to discuss the possibility of the two sports joining forces in an attempt at Olympic reinstatement for the 2020 Games. Porter tells Around the Rings that both federations are waiting for word from the IOC as to whether a joint bid from the sports is possible. He says both federations will hold general assemblies in the coming weeks where the joint bid will be discussed.

International Water Ski Federation president Kuno Ritschard is also in Guadalajara, where water ski is one of the eightsports up for addition to the Olympic program in 2020. Also spotted this week were Roberto Marotta, secretary general of FIRS, the international federation for roller sports; Keith Calkins, International Racquetball Federation president and Geroge Mieres, secretary general of the World Squash Federation.

Summer Olympic Federations Enhance Data Platform

The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations is planning to further develop its data platform for members.

Since the International Sports Info System was endorsed by the ASOIF General Assembly in April, the focus has shifted to providing live results data and athlete biographies. Provision for multi-sport Games through results from IF major events and competitions is also a priority.

A full status report, including the commercial opportunities, was presented to ASOIF Council at its meeting two weeks ago in Lausanne. The first results of the technical "IF Data Analysis" are also outlined after gathering information from ASOIF members through questionnaires, conference calls and interviews with federations.

ASOIF director Andrew Ryan gave a status report on the association's projects at the council meeting with president Denis Oswald reviewing progress in preparations for London 2012, Rio 2016 and the Nanjing Youth Olympics Games in 2014.

Ryan tells Around the Rings that ASOIF members have not reported any major issues that need to be resolved before next year's Olympics. He indicated that each of the 26 London Olympic sports had minor individual issues to tackle, including the fine-tuning of venue operations.

The ASOIF Council has decided to set up a Court of Arbitration for Sport seminar for all international federations, billing the event as "a good opportunity for our members to review the Olympic IF interface with CAS and its operations".

The meeting will examine CAS plans under the new presidency of John Coates and discuss operational issues including those for London 2012. The seminar takes place at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne on Dec. 9.

Ahead of that is the fifth edition of the annual IF Forum in Lausanne from Nov. 14 to 16.

The next ASOIF Council meeting is on Jan. 16 during the inaugural winter YOG in Innsbruck.

Boost for London 2017 IAAF Bid

Newly-crowned world champions Jesse Williams of the U.S. and Fabiana Murer of Brazil will serve as official ambassadors of London’s bid to host the 2017 athletics world championships.

The pair also join the bid's athlete commission, which includes two-time Olympic gold medalist and four-time world champion Haile Gebrselassie. British Olympic gold medalists Denise Lewis and Jason Gardener are chair and vice-chair.

At the Daegu 2011 world champs, Williams leapt 2.35m to secure gold in the men’s high jump while Murer cleared 4.85m for victory in the women’s pole vault.

"Bringing the world championships back to Europe and to a global city like London in 2017 would be a great way to follow a spectacular Olympic Games in my home country in 2016," Murer said in a statement.

London faces competition from Doha in the race to secure the 2017 athletics world champs. The IAAF vote on the host city comes Nov. 11.

Reported by Ed Hula in Guadalajara and Mark Bisson

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