Olympic Newsdesk -Taekwondo Hijabs; Fox Olympic TV Bid Depends on Chicago

Muslim women competitors wore hijabs for the first time at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. (Getty Images)Taekwondo Allows Hijab for Muslim Women

Muslim women competitors will be allowed to wear head scarves for the first time at the World Taekwondo Championships, which will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark Oct. 14-18.

The World Taekwondo Federation first let Muslim women wear hijabs during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, then made it permanent after revising the federation’s competition rules at the WTF General Assembly in January.

“The decision allowing the wearing of hijabs in taekwondo tournaments, including during the Olympic Games, is motivating women who have strong religious beliefs to take a more active part in the sport and the Olympic movement,” said WTF technical committee chairman Dae Won Moon in a statement.

“This measure means that taekwondo is one of the few sports that treats women and men equally in the Muslim world. We believe that our respect for others’ cultures and beliefs will allow taekwondo to enhance its status as an Olympic sport.”

Taekwondo joins a number of sports, including softball and table tennis, which allow Muslim women to don the hijab in competition.

International Softball Federation spokesman Bruce Wawrzyniak told Around the Rings that softball allowed the wearing of hijabs in competition two years ago and says it has helped enhance the growth of the sport among women in the Middle East.

“It has meant a lot for us in the development of our sport in the Middle East,” Wawrzyniak told ATR. “It helps make our sport that much more accessible to women in the Middle East. “It makes it simpler for women and removes more obstacles for them to play softball. There are no more barriers for them to overcome other than simply learning the game.”

Chicago 2016 Would 'Tempt' Murdoch

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdock said his company is unlikely to bid for broadcasting rights for the 2014 and 2016 Olympics unless Chicago is selected to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, reports the MediaDailyNews.

TheNews Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch said his company has no plans to bid for the Olympics but might be enticed if Chicago hosts the 2016 games. (Getty Images)United States broadcast right's bidding for the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the 2016 Olympics will take place after the 121st IOC Session & XIII Olympic Congress in Copenhagen next month. On Oct. 2 at the Copenhagen meeting, the 2016 Summer Olympics will be awarded to either Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro or Tokyo.

Murdoch said broadcasting the a potential 2016 Chicago Olympics games "may be very tempting." Yet, Murdoch told the Web site that he views the Olympics largely as a "money loser" and that his company has not thought broadcasting the games.

However, NBC has said it made a profit from the Beijing Games although the exact total has not been disclosed. NBC has broadcasted the Summer Olympics since 1988 and the last two winter games. NBC Universal will broadcast the upcoming Vancouver Winter Olympics and London 2012. NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker said he hopes to continue broadcasting the Olympics after 2012 but only if it is profitable.

NBC, News Corp. and Walt Disney's ESPN were expected to compete for broadcast rights.

"I imagine the bidding will be high. And in spite of all the propaganda and everything—I don't want to call anybody a liar – but no one's ever made any money out of them," Murdoch said.

Disney CFO called the Olympics a "marquee property."

Murdoch, Zucker and Staggs made their comments on Tuesday at the two-day Goldman Sachs Communacopia XVIII Conference in New York.

Recently, the IOC has reached a number of deals to broadcast the 2014 and 2016 Olympics including a deal with Spanish public broadcaster RTVE worth $100 million.

The IOC still has not reached deals for the 2014 and 2016 games for broadcasting in Great Britain, Germany, France and the United States.

Media Center Takes Shape for 2012 Olympics

London 2012 organizers complete the structure of the International Broadcast Center for the Olympics. The 4,500-tonne steel structure was built in Stratford, east London in just 10 weeks.

The IBC, combined with the Main Press Center (MPC), will accommodate around 20,000 broadcasters, photographers and journalists during the Games. Post-2012 the facilities will create a just under 900,000 square feet (83,613 sq m) of business space which will be sold off.

The IBC foundations are now complete and work is under way on the roof lining, flooring and cladding. The foundations of the MPC are 50 percent finished and due to be completed later this fall.

Sebastian Coe, chair of the London 2012 organizing committee, said the IBC will be “a vital, yet mostly unseen part of Games-time operations, pumping out hundreds of thousands of hours of the sporting action around the world and providing a hub for the tens of thousands of broadcast media who will be telling the stories of our Games”.

The IBC includes around 52,000 square meters of studio space.

Sochi Joins World Union of Olympic Cities

Sochi,The media center for the 2012 London Olympics. (ATR/Panasonic:Lumix) the 2014 Winter Olympics city, was inaugurated into the World Union of Olympic Cities on Tuesday.

Sochi Mayor Anatoliy Pakhomov and Daniel Brelaz, Mayor of Lausanne, signed an agreement adding the Russian city to the Union Mondiale des Ville Olympiques (UMVO) at a ceremony in Moscow.

Among representatives from the Russian and Swiss governments and the Olympic Movement were: Gilbert Felli, the IOC’s Olympic Games executive director, Sochi 2014 president and CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko and Vyacheslav Bykov, Russian ice hockey’s national coach, who is a double Olympic champion and Sochi 2014 ambassador.

The World Union of Olympic Cities is an organization for existing Olympic cities and future hosts who want to maintain a close association with the Olympic Movement. It aims to offer a platform for an exchange of experience and competencies between member cities in consultation with the IOC.

Felli and other speakers noted the importance of the Olympic Games to host cities as well as the enhancement of Russian-Swiss relations.

“It's very important to the IOC that Olympic host cities receive a sustainable boost in development terms and also that the Games leaves a noticeable legacy,” he said. “Russia is a great country and I can confirm that all promises given by the Sochi 2014 organizers at the bid stage continue to be kept.”

Chernyshenko said the inauguration of Sochi to the group was a “a real honor”.

“In the two years since Sochi won the right to host Russia’s first Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Sochi has already seen significant transformation which will accelerate over the next few years,” he said.

“Ultimately, hosting the Winter Games will leave a major Olympic legacy for the people of Sochi and Russia, and being part of the UMVO will help us to share ideas to enhance that legacy and help pass on best practice to future hosts.”

Written by Mark Bisson, Greg Oshust, Sam Steinberg.

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