Olympic Briefs - IOC Celebrates Women in Sports; POC wants PSC Clarity

The IOC celebrated International Women’s Day and the 2009 Women and Sport Awards today at The Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The Women and Sport Awards recognize five women in the world of sport who have played a great role in strengthening the participation of women and girls in sport on an international level.

The recipients were: Lydia Nsekera of Burundi (Africa), Maria Caridad Colon Ruenes of Cuba (Americas), Arvin Dashjamts of Mongolia (Asia), Danira Nakic Bilic of Croatia (Europe) and Auvita Rapilla of Papua New Guinea (Oceania).

“On the field of play, we are moving closer and closer to men and women competing in even numbers on the world’s greatest sporting stage,” IOC member Anita DeFrantz said.

“It is still the mission of the IOC Women and Sport Commission to see more women in sport involved in decision-making and in the media. The landscape is slowly changing, and women will have a much bigger role to play in sport in the future. This year’s IOC Women and Sport Awards winners are helping to make this happen.”

POC President Wants Clear Definition of Roles

After Philippines Olympic Committee officials called for Philippines Sports Commission head Harry Angping to be removed, POC President Jose Cojuangco wants lawmakers to clearly define the roles of the POC and PSC.

POC officials had accused the PSC, the government body that controls funding for sports throughout the country, of violating the Olympic Charter and its practice of non-intervention from governments. Such interfering could lead to sanctions against the Philippines at IOC-sanctioned sporting events.

PSC Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told local media he called Angping to say the current predicament is "just a matter of trying to come to an understanding of the policy both of the PSC and the POC."

Cojuangco had previously called lawmakers several times to revise Republic Act 6847 because it doesn’t include a definition of the roles for the country’s sports organizations.

“This is what I hope would not happen. I believe our lawmakers will find time to clearly define the roles of the PSC and POC,” Cojuangco said.

…Briefs

…The England Rugby Sevens team announced their support for Sevens’ inclusion in the Olympic program. “It’s a very exciting prospect to think that we could be involved in the Olympic program” coach Ben Ryan said in a statement. “If sevens was given Olympic status the sport would rocket, it would be on a completely different level. For the players it would mean everything, the venues, the podiums, the gold medals; it’s definitely something that the players are desperate to be involved in. The Rugby Sevens program is already very exciting, if we can add to that by competing in the Olympics it would be amazing.”

…The International Paralympic Committee announced their representatives to the IOC’s various commissions on Thursday. The most notable name is IPC chief Philip Craven who serves on two commissions, carrying on in his roles on the 2009 Congress Commission, and the Culture and Olympic Education Commission. To view the full list, click here

…A 4,000-year-old ax was discovered at the London Olympic Park on Thursday. The ax was found as part of a two year archeological investigation into the park. According to a press release, “Archaeologists believe the unfinished prehistoric ax was placed in waterlogged ground on purpose, giving a unique insight into the first eastenders that [sic] lived and hunted in the area.” Archaeological finds around the Park site include four prehistoric skeletons buried in graves around an area of Iron Age settlement, a Roman coin, Roman river walls, medieval and Neolithic pottery, Second World War gun emplacements and a complete 19th century boat used for hunting wild fowl on the lower River Lea.

…RBC has selected elementary school basketball coach Shelley Deacon as its first British Columbia torchbearer for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Deacon will be among the approximately 12,000 people who will carry the torch across Canada. Over 2,300 additional torchbearers will be selected by RBC in a contest that runs through July 15.

Written by Isia Reaves.