Chefs de Mission Tour Pan Am Venues
Representatives from 42 National Olympic Committees wrap up visits to Guadalajara on Wednesday, just a day before the city marks six months to go until its Pan American Games.
The three-day gathering of chefs de mission is a chance for organizers to pass along Games protocol, calm security concerns and convince everyone the Mexican metropolis will be ready when competition kicks off October 14.
"You are responsible for checking on everything. Now is the time to ask questions and study each answer," Mexican Olympic Committee president Felipe Muñoz Kapamas told delegates Monday morning during opening remarks.
"You need to assess how things are at the Village, in the Pan American Family hotel but above all, you will need to assess how your athletes are."
Given the construction delays long hounding these Pan Ams, it’s no surprise venue inspections ate up the bulk of Monday.
Chefs de mission split into two groups based on language preference – English or Spanish – to tour the Pan American Village, Guadalajara Chivas Stadium, Scotiabank Aquatics Center, Telcel Tennis Stadium, Telmex Athletics Stadium, Nissan Gymnastics Stadium and CODE Paradero Sports Complex.
"You had a chance to visit and assess them," COPAG general director Carlos Andrade said Tuesday during a presentation from the organizing committee on visa requirements, transportation logistics, press accreditation, cultural activities and life in the Pan Am Village.
"We’re working hard to ensure that every facility where athletes set foot is of the best quality."
Delegates were also given the opportunity to ask questions during an hours-long Q&A session and to approve the crew of between two and 10 volunteers that will serve at the beck and call of their delegations throughout the two-week mega-event.
The chefs de mission will say their goodbyes Wednesday, six months before they return to Guadalajara for the Games.
Metals for Medals
Metals from the United States and Mongolia are being mined for the London Olympics.
Rio Tinto was unveiled as the Official Mining and Metals Provider of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games on Wednesday. They will provide the gold, silver and copper to produce 4,700 medals for the Games.
Every Olympian and Paralympian hopes the metal, sourced from the Kennecott Utah Copper mine in Salt Lake City, and the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia will hang around their necks next year.
The London-based company also supplied the metal for the 2002 medals.
With the agreement, LOCOG now has 40 official partners.
Restructuring Ahead for Horse Sport
A constitutional task force will revamp the governance structure of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI).
The FEI Bureau approved its creation Wednesday, an action in line with recently reelected federation president Princess Haya’s vision to streamline horse sport.
"The mandate for the Constitutional Task Force is to seek input from all members of the FEI to drive the effort and dialogue towards an optimal governance structure for the International Federation, with a view to maximizing input and buy-in based on the needs of National Federationsand stakeholders today and in the future," the FEI said in a statement.
The leaders of the equestrian federationsof Canada, Colombia, Australia, Mauritius and Denmark will compose the five-member force.
Their work begins immediately, though they won’t meet in person until May 7 in Lausanne. Six months later, they’ll present their recommendations to the FEI general assembly slated for November in Rio de Janeiro.
RWC is New Zealand’s "Olympics"
Rugby World Cup boss Martin Snedden tells Kiwis the RWC "is our Olympics".
Speaking on Wednesday, he said it is imperative New Zealand stage a good event, in light of the destructive earthquakes that rocked the country last September and February.
"We will never host an Olympics. We will never host a World Cup.
"This is our Olympics and it is really important we host it well."
Christchurch was hit especially hard with the second tremor and its RWC venue was damaged so badly that matches in the September to October tournament had to be relocated.
Hockey Agreement for Brazil
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) will work with the Brazilian Olympic Committee to build the sport ahead of the 2016 Olympics.
On Tuesday, the FIH unveiled details of the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the federation and Olympic committee.
"The focus of the project will be on improving the Brazilian national teams so they will be able to qualify and compete with the rest of the field at the 2016 Olympics,' said FIH President Leandro Negre. 'But beyond 2016, we want to leave a stronger hockey legacy in Brazil and help develop the sport from the grass roots level."
FIH will also acquire made solicit donations of sticks, balls and goal-keeping from sponsors over a two year period for Brazilian hockey, and recruit a high level performance director for the country.
Interested applicants have until the end of the week to apply for the job by clicking here.
SportCal Celebrates 20 Years
A who’s who of sports marketing will gather in London next month to celebrate the past two decades and to look ahead to the next two.
The aptly titled "20 Years of Sport" is both a 20th anniversary celebration for sports marketing publication SportCal and a day-long conference focusing on the evolution of the industry.
Among the confirmed speakers are bidding consultants Terrence Burns, Mike Lee and Jon Tibbs as well sponsorship pioneer Patrick Nally and former IOC marketing director Michael Payne.
The event is slated for May 11 at Canary Wharf. The day’s full program is available here.
Registration costs $643 for SportCal subscribers and $969 for non-subscribers.
Peace and Sport, Sport Accord Join Forces
SportAccord, the umbrella organization for International Federations, will enlist the help of Peace and Sport to promote social responsibility among member IFs.
The partnership was made official last week in London on the sidelines of SportAccord 2011 as Peace and Sport president Joel Bouzou put pen to paper alongside SportAccord president Hein Verbruggen.
Written by Matthew Grayson and Ed Hula III.
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