London, Rio Schedule Debrief; Minister Defends Brazil Work; 2022 Bids from Krakow, Lviv?

London, Rio Schedule Debrief Dates

London 2012's transfer of knowledge will run Nov. 17 to 21 in Rio de Janeiro.

Rio 2016 released the first details of the five-day meeting on Wednesday.

LOCOG leaders will brief Rio 2016 on what they learned during the Games-staging process. The organizing committees for Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018 will also be present, as will 2020 bid cities and other Olympic stakeholders.

IOC president Jacques Rogge will attend the debrief, visiting venues and observing progress toward the 2016 Olympics.

"The event will consist of a combination of plenary discussions and side meetings, which will look at the planning, operational and technical elements of organizing an Olympic Games, such as sport, accommodation, transport, culture, education and logistics," Rio 2016 said in a statement.

"There will also be sessions of the debrief that will address the experience of participants at the Games such as the athletes, spectators, workforce and the media."

A full media program for the debrief will be published "in due course."

Bold Claim for Ukraine 2022 Legacy

"We will fight, but it's still necessary to get the Olympics," deputy PM Borys Kolesnikov said Wednesday at a meeting of Ukrainian ministers, according to the Interfax news agency.

"At least all countries that have winter climate, including that in Sochi, are fighting, because if we get the right to host the Olympics in the Carpathians, we will secure hundreds of thousands of jobs forever."

Kolesnikov, also infrastructure minister, added it's"advantageous" for the country to bid.

Lviv, in the Carpathian Mountains, is expected to be Ukraine’s winter Olympic bid city.

The race for 2022 won't officially get underway until after the IOC decision on the 2020 Summer Olympics in September 2013.

Krakow Considers 2022 Bid

Officials from Krakow, Poland will meet this weekend to discuss a potential bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics, Around the Rings has learned.

Henryk Urbas, a spokesman for the Polish Olympic Committee, tells ATR "very preliminary meetings" with local and regional authorities are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

Krakow, Poland's second largest city with 1.4 million residents, is considered the country's artistic and cultural capital.

Sports Minister Defends 2014 World Cup Work

Brazilian sports minster Aldo Rebelo says not to worry about the pace of preparations for the 2014 World Cup.

Rebelo cited the London 2012 Olympics, saying there were hiccups in the lead-up and during the Games.

"The London Games were a great success and happened as planned despite these problems," Rebelo said, according to the Folha de S. Paulo daily.

"We all know the problems that exist. But there are problems even in the world's most advanced countries, and I can cite a few international events in making that point.

"However, there's a difference between building an image based on what's gone right and one that's founded on what's gone wrong."

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said Tuesday during an inspection visit to Brazil that the country needed to move faster in order to be ready to host the 2013 Confederations Cup and 2014 World Cup.

Barbados NOC Leaders Reelected

Steve Stoute will serve another four years as president of the Barbados Olympic Association.

Stoute won a fifth term this week by a ballot of 34 to 9. Erskine Simmons was also reelected as secretary general. Both men first came to their posts in 1996. However, Stoute was previously BOA secretary general since1968.

"This is extremely heartening because that means that the federations are satisfied with the work I have done for the last 16 years, most of which has been achieved in the previous 12 years," Stoute told The Nation News following his reelection.

Rio 2016, Nissan Unveiling?

Nissan will reportedly unveil its first Rio 2016-themed automobile at the Sao Paulo International Automobile Trade Show in late October.

Reports in Brazilian media say the company will unveil a version of its March supermini automobile, with "some visual detail" for the Games.

A cryptic statement on Nissan’s corporate website says a "unique concept car" will be released at the show, "specifically for Brazil, by cooperation with Brazilian designers and built in Brazil."

No details about the car were released.

"It is the birth of something special for Nissan and it will be a hugely significant milestone in our plans for Brazil," said Shiro Nakamura, Senior Vice President and Chief Creative Officer of Nissan Motor Co.

Celebration for Jamaica

Jamaicans honored the country’s most successful Olympic team on Monday.

Thousands packed the National Arena for a two-and-a-half hour celebration. Jamaicans won 12 medals at the Olympics, including four golds, as well as one gold at the Paralympic Games.

"Nothing that can stop a Jamaican when they are determined to succeed," Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller told the crowd, according to an Associated Press report.

Written by Ed Hula III.

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