Istanbul Bid Leadership; "Powerful" Olympians; Bach on IOC Presidency, German Bids

Istanbul 2020 Bid Leadership

Sources in Turkey tell Around the Rings that the bid leadership team will be officially unveiled next week.

ATR is told Turkish Olympic Committee vice president Hasan Arat is to chair the bid alongside IOC member Ugur Erdener, who will have a very senior role.

Istanbul will be the last of the six bidders in the race for the 2020 Olympics to announce its bid leadership team.

Baku, Doha, Rome and Tokyo have already presented their bid organizations to media. Madrid will do so at a briefing on Monday in the Spanish capital when its logo and website are also revealed for the first time.

ATR has also learned that Istanbul is not planning to launch a lavish logo at this applicant city stage of the bid contest. The bid team is currently busy preparing a "functional word mark" spelling out Istanbul 2020 that will shortly be used as part of bid messaging.

If Istanbul is selected as a candidate city, then an "all-singing and dancing" logo and corporate identity would be produced for the 15-month campaign leading up to the IOC vote in September 2013.

Istanbul and its rival bids are currently fine-tuning their applicant files that are due for submission to the IOC by its Feb. 15 deadline.

Olympians Among "Power 100"

Olympic champions are peppered throughout Bloomberg Businessweek’s annual rankings of the 100 most powerful athletes in the U.S. market.

Tennis stars Rafael Nadal of Spain and Roger Federer of Switzerland, both gold medalists from Beijing, claim the fifth and sixth spots behind American football stars Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady as well as hoops star LeBron James, who won gold with Team USA in 2008.

Fellow basketball gold medalists Shaquille O’Neal (7), Kobe Bryant (13), Dwight Howard (14), Dwayne Wade (16), Chris Paul (46), Kevin Garnett (54), Deron Williams (63) and Carmelo Anthony (75) follow James on the list.

Athletes known primarily for their performances at the Games hold down spots 34 (reigning eight-time Olympic swim champ Michael Phelps), 48 (world’s fastest man Usain Bolt), 65 (speed skater Apolo Ohno) and 82 (U.S. ski darling Lindsey Vonn).

Serena and Venus Williams, who won doubles titles together in both Sydney and Beijing, come in at 25th and 93rd. Venus also won singles gold in Sydney.

Abby Wambach (79) and Hope Solo (88) of the U.S. national team make the cut after winning gold in Beijing and falling just short to Japan at last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany.

"This is the third year of the Power 100, and it continues to be a cutting-edge tool to measure the power and value of athletes," says Bloomberg’s Rick Horrow about the rankings, weighted 50-50 between on-field and off-field metrics.

Bach on IOC Presidential Run, German Olympic Bids

Thomas Bach, president of the German Olympic Sports Confederation, says there are no developments on his much-expected run for IOC president–or any future German Olympic bids.

Speaking to German broadcaster DPA, Bach said for now he would only continue to "support the President in his remaining term in office." He noted that there is still a year and a half until the IOC vote to replace Jacques Rogge.

He added he had not been asked about another Munich Olympic bid.

Berlin and Hamburg both expressed interest in bidding for the 2024 Games, and on that front too he said there is no news.

Last Chance for 2012 Taekwondo

Taekwondo’s last 24 tickets to London are up for grabs this weekend at the European Olympic Qualification Tournament in Kazan, Russia.

A total of 119 athletes from 39 countries will compete with only the top three athletes in each weight category earning a berth at the Games.

Fighters from Spain, Turkey and Germany will be among the favorites, according to the World Taekwondo Federation.

The two dozen qualifiers from this weekend will join 96 athletes who booked spots at London 2012 through five previous tournaments as well as four Team GB host nation quota recipients and four so-called "wild card" recipients chosen through consultation among the WTF, IOC and Association of National Olympic Committees.

Netherlands Targets Top 10

The Netherlands Olympic Committee (NOCNSF) wants to be one of the top 10 sporting countries in the next 10 years.

At Tuesday’s meeting of the NOCNSF, the body approved a measure that would give increased support to sport bodies where Dutch athletes are currently performing well on a consistent basis such as cycling, equestrian, speedskating and swimming.

While a winter sport powerhouse that normally places in the top 10 of the Winter Olympic medal tally, the Netherlands has only cracked the top 10 at the Summer Games once in 2000. At the Beijing Olympics, the Netherlands finished 12th.

A report on the NOCNSF website says the decision faced resistance from smaller sport federations within the NOC.

New Zealand Sees 100th Medal Ahead

Kiwi Olympians seem poised to win the island country’s 100th medal in London.

"We’re into the six month countdown and New Zealand has a significant number of athletes well placed for a podium finish," said New Zealand Olympic Committee secretary general Kereyn Smith at a six-months-to-go ceremony until the Games.

"We’re aiming for our 100th medal this year in London and a strong all-round performance from our Olympic athletes."

New Zealand has claimed 90 medals in 104 years of Olympic competition.

Pin Points ...

... Gold Medal Collectibles (GMC) Auction No. 14 is now open and will be accepting bids until Feb. 25 at 11 a.m. PT. The most expensive item is a 1976 Innsbruck Winter Games gold medal prototype starting at $14,000 ...

... Over the weekend at the 5th Unofficial London 2012 Pin Meet, two new internal pins were cited amongst the traders. For a recap of the event and to view the pin of the week issued by North Korea, visit London pin expert Paul McGill’s website.

Andreja Wieser Consulting

Veteran Olympic consultant Andreja Wieser opened her own consulting firm for hospitality and protocol.

Wieser began her Olympic work with the 2006 Klagenfurt bid. Most recently, she worked with Innsbruck 2012 as well as with the IOC, LOCOG, VANOC and BOCOG.

She can be reached at aw@andrejawieserconsulting.com.

Media Watch

Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt’s run at redemption is profiled by USA Today.

Britain’s Sky News has a blog post about the benefits of the Olympics.

Written by Mark Bisson,Ed Hula IIIand Evan Owens.

20 Years at #1: