Heiberg Recuperates from Heart Attack; Christchurch Quake Relief

Heiberg "Fine" After Heart Attack

An IOC spokesman tells Around the Rings Olympic marketing boss Gerhard Heiberg is recovering well after suffering a heart attack Thursday.

"I just spoke to [IOC chief of staff] Cristophe de Kepper," IOC communications director Mark Adams told ATR.

"[Heiberg’s] fine and we've spoken to him," he added, referring to the ailment as "a minor heart attack".

Norwegian news reports indicate the 71-year-old was skiing in the mountains Thursday when he fell ill and immediately sought medical help. He then underwent surgery at a hospital in Oslo and expects to be released this weekend.

An associate of Heiberg who has been in touch with him throughout the day told ATR ahospital stay might be the only way to slow the man down.

He says Heiberg told him he wants to go back to work next Monday.

Heiberg is part of an IOC delegation slated to attend the women’s ski jumping event Friday at the Nordic world championships in Oslo.

According to Aftenpost, he’ll have to miss the competition, most likely jumpers’ last chance to impress before IOC president Jacques Rogge decides later this winter whether to add the women’s event to the Olympic program for Sochi 2014.

As chairman of the IOC’s marketing commission, Heiberg negotiated the additions of both Dow Chemical and Procter & Gamble to the lucrative TOP sponsorship program last year.

He also served as president of the organizing committee for the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Games and joined the IOC as Norway’s only member later that year.

Meet-Turned-Fundraiser for Christchurch Quake Relief

Some of the world’s top milers are turning a postponed competition into a relief fundraiser in the wake of Tuesday’s earthquake.

The third annual International Track Meet was slated for Saturday in Christchurch until damage to the QEII Stadium forced organizers to reconsider.

Now runners will travel instead to Wellington this weekend to raise money for the Salvation Army’s Christchurch Earthquake Appeal.

"Any contribution we can make towards helping our friends and family in Christchurch is significant," New Zealand Olympic Committee secretary general Kereyn Smith said in a statement.

Kicking off Saturday’s event is the presentation of Beijing 1500m bronze medalist Nick Willis with the 2008 Olympic silver medal following a doping disqualification of first-place finisher Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain.

Willis will then compete against U.S. record-holder Alan Webb and Britain's Lee Emanuel as well as sub-4-minute milers Will Leer and Brandon Bethke in the meet’s showcase event, the men’s elite mile.

Also on the program are men’s and women’s long jump, men’s and women’s 1500m, men’s and women’s 100m, men’s elite 800m and a 4x100m school relay.

Online donations to the Salvation Army’s Christchurch Earthquake Appeal can be made here.

Munich Victim's ID Returned to Family

The ID card of an Israeli athlete killed in the Munich Olympics massacre has resurfaced decades after the 1972 tragedy.

Eliezer Halfin, a lightweight wrestler born in Latvia, was among the 11 athletes and coaches from the Israeli Olympic team to be taken hostage and later murdered by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September.

Until the son of a German police officer turned over Halfin’s competitor ID card to the Israeli embassy in Germany after his father’s recent death, the Olympian’s family had little by which to remember his proudest moment.

At a Wednesday ceremony in Jerusalem, Israeli officials bequeathed the document to Halfin’s sister in front of representatives from the embassy and the Olympic Committee of Israel as well as relatives of the murdered athletes.

"Even after 40 years, the memory of those murdered in Munich will not be forgotten," deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon said during the handover.

"That was the lowest point in the history of sport. What Holzer Tilmann, the policeman’s son, has done is a courageous, decent act that closes a circle."

Ayalon then called on the German government to redouble its efforts to find other such memorabilia from the massacre victims.

"Hundreds of documents are still missing," he said.

"The return of these documents to the families is more than just a humane gesture; it is of historical importance for perpetuating the event and engraving it on the pages of history."

Also at the ceremony, OCI deputy chair Aryeh Sieff promised to continue the NOC’s ongoing push for a moment of silence to honor Halfin and his countrymen at the opening of a future Olympic Games.

Secretary of State Eyes Brazil 2014, Rio 2016

Hillary Clinton, for one, is already looking ahead to Brazil’s coming decade of sport.

"This is an exciting time for Brazil and for our relationship," the U.S. secretary of state said Wednesday in Washington D.C. after meeting with Brazilian foreign minister Antonio Patriota.

"The whole world is looking forward to Brazil hosting the World Cup in 2014 and the Summer Olympics in 2016.

Clinton’s comments come ahead of President Barack Obama’s trip next month to Brazil, his first presidential visit to South America.

To read the complete transcript of Clinton's media briefing alongside Patriota, click here.

Google Doodle Pays Homage to Nordic Worlds

Google is doing its part to raise awareness of the Nordic world championships just underway in Oslo.

The search engine is famous for coordinating its homepage graphics with holidays, major events and the birthdays of celebrities past or present. The so-called "Google Doodle" now gracing Norway’s country-specific site is no different.

The stylized logo incorporates a Norwegian skier taking flight from Oslo’s famous Holmenkollen hill, the jumping venue for this week’s world championships.

Competition kicked off Wednesday and will run through March 6. Cross-country and Nordic combined are also on the program.

Mark Clark Joins Generations for Peace

After stints in Iraq, Congo and Papua New Guinea, Mark Clark is the new chief operations officer for Generations for Peace, based in Amman, Jordan. A Briton, Clark is an expert on sport as a tool for social development.

He helped the Iraq NOC rebuild after the collapse of the Saddam Hussein regime. In PNG Clark was an advisor at Papua New Guinea Sports Foundation

Written by Matthew Grayson.