Stage Set for Peace and Sport Forum
More than 500 delegates from 100 countries are en route to Monaco for this week’s fifth international Peace and Sport forum.
That includes 50 official government delegations, 40 National Olympic Committee presidents, 30 international sports federations, 20 IOC members and five heads of state, among them Peace and Sport patron Prince Albert II.
Other organizations, private sector companies and NGOs will also send representatives for the occasion.
"The community of those who want to get involved or increase their involvement in this initiative is growing all the time," Peace and Sport founder and president Joel Bouzou said in a statement.
"In this context, our platform aims to bring together initiatives and people who wish to deploy sport for peace and use it as a catalyst for their projects."
Among the program’s highlights are a debate on international sports diplomacy, a discussion on the Arab Spring, a roundtable on the role of sport in the future of the Middle East and a plenary session run entirely by former athletes, including Olympic pole vault champion Sergey Bubka and marathon legend Tegla Loroupe.
Events begin Wednesday and wrapup Thursday with a gala dinner as well as the 4th Peace and Sport Awards ceremony.
Archers Qualify for London 2012
Six countries have qualified for the archery competition at the London Olympics.
In Tehran at the Asian Continental Qualifying Tournament, Hong Kong, Iran and Thailand won a spot in the men’s competition.
Indonesia,Malaysia and Mongolia won a place in the women’s.
Athletes’ last chance to qualify will be at a competition in Ogden, Utah next June.
U.S. Leads Pan Ams Medal Tally
The U.S. continues to lead the medal count at the Pan American Games with 165 total, 62 of them gold.
Brazil is in second place with 27 gold medals and Cuba is third with 21. Host country Mexico is ranked fifth with 18 gold medals.
The remaining sport competitions in Guadalajara include athletics, basketball, boxing, canoe, field hockey, football and gymnastics. The Games end Sunday.
Written by Ann Cantrell.
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.