Happy Memories from Doha 2019, Challenges in 2020: ATRadio

(Atlanta) – The future of the ANOC World Beach Games and challenges the pandemic poses for the 200+ national Olympic committees are among topics discussed in the premier edition of the Around the Rings / ANOC Podcast.

The podcast will be available at 5 AM ET, Monday, October 12.

ANOC Secretary General Gunilla Lindberg joins ATR Editor Ed Hula to mark the one-year anniversary of the World Beach Games in Doha, Qatar. Those games were hugely successful, staged with just three months’ notice after San Diego, USA, pulled out.

Hula says he is especially excited about upcoming podcasts.

"The NOCs are the biggest branch of the Olympic Family. Among them, they represent the entire world - from the tiniest to the mightiest."

The podcasts will be heard approximately once a month for the coming year. Each podcast will focus on issues affecting the world’s NOCs – everything from athlete representation to marketing and more.

The next edition of the WBG has been postponed until 2023 to allow athletes and NOCs time to prepare following next year’s Summer Games in Tokyo and the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing six months later.

"It’s a tough time" right now because of the pandemic, Lindberg says. "In some countries sport is almost nonexistent."

Lindberg says ANOCand the IOC have both contributed financially to help the NOCs prepare for

Tokyo, but that more will be needed.

Lindberg says the challenge of re-figuring qualifications has been "a nightmare" but says overall cooperation among the IOC, international federations, and organizers has been "fantastic".

In the podcast, Lindberg also discusses why the beach games have been such a hit; what’s next for the event, and preparations for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The project is the latest iteration of the long-standing partnership between ATR and the Association of National Olympic Committees.

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About Around the Rings

Since 1992, AroundTheRings.com has been the only publication devoted to providing original, on-the-scene reporting about the $5 billion dollar business of the Olympic Movement. Based in Atlanta, Ga., with a worldwide team of correspondents, Around the Rings provides multi-platform sport business news coverage with online content, video reports, podcasts, daily email blasts, weekly newsletter, and market-leading social media.

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For more information: Greer Wilson, greer.wilson@aroundtherings.com