Rio Golf Course; 2015 IOC Session; Yahoo Olympic Broadcasting Bid?

Golf Course Reveal Ahead for Rio

Rio 2016 tells Around the Rings the winning architect for its Olympic golf course will be unveiled during this week’s IOC project review.

Among the eight finalists for the coveted task are teams that pair Jack Nicklaus with Annika Sorenstam and Greg Norman with Lorena Ochoa.

A mix of more golfing greats – Gary Player, Peter Thomson – and course architects – Robert Trent Jones Jr., Ross Perrett, Tom Doak, Gil Hanse, Martin Hawtree – round out the competition.

The announcement follows presentations heard last month by the jury representing Rio 2016, city government, the International Golf Federation and the legacy entity that will oversee the management of the course post-Games.

Besides regular update meetings, IOC inspectors will also visit the Athletes’ Park, a site adjacent to the Olympic Village that will serve as a leisure area for athletes during the Games.

"The park opened last year during the five-years-to-go celebrations, and after hosting the 4th Rock in Rio festival two months later will now be open to the general public," an organizing committee spokesman tells ATR.

The project review, Rio’s fifth to date, runs Tuesday and Wednesday with a visit by the larger IOC Coordination Commission scheduled for June.

Kuala Lumpur, Lima for 2015 IOC Session

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Lima, Peru are the two confirmed candidates bidding for the 2015 IOC Session, Around the Rings has learned.

The 2015 Session will have a vote for host of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Ai Weiwei Regrets Designing Bird’s Nest

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei says the Beijing Olympics in 2008 were political propaganda.

Ai, a long-time critic of the Chinese government, told a Japanese newspaper that he regrets designing the Beijing National Stadium, better known as the Bird’s Nest.

"The Beijing Olympics have oppressed the life of the general public with the latest technologies and a security apparatus of 700,000 guards. It was merely a stage for a political party to advertise its glory to the world," he said.

"I became disenchanted [over the project] because I realized I was used by the government to spread their patriotic education."

Jamie Oliver Teams with Samsung

Chef and television personality Jamie Oliver is the new face of Samsung's Olympic campaign.

As a brand ambassador, Oliver will appear in Samsung advertisements and public relation campaigns.

"Jamie Oliver shares Samsung's commitment to expanding the spirit of the Olympic Games," said Sunny Hwang, VP and head of global sports marketing.

"Together, it is our goal to do what we can to inspire people around the world to get involved with London 2012," he said. "Jamie has a unique perspective on some important global issues such as living a healthy, balanced life. He is a passionate communicator and has an innate talent for making these issues relevant to people from every walk of life."

Oliver added: "Samsung have developed some fantastic initiatives to get young people from around the world involved in the Games and we both want as many people as possible to be part of this incredible event."

Samsung is also represented by David Beckham, who joined as a brand ambassador last May.

P&G Digital Campaign

Procter & Gamble continues to expand its Olympic advertising with a new digital campaign.

MarketingWeek reports that as part of P&G’s "Thank You Mum" campaign, people can win tickets to the London Olympics by uploading a video in which they express gratitude to their mothers.

Brand ambassadors Keri-Anne Payne and Paula Radcliffe will take part through their own videos, and former Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm will also join the campaign.

The worldwideOlympic sponsor recently announced that it would drastically cut its marketing budget and use efforts like the London Olympics to more efficiently sell its brand and products.

Yahoo Olympic Broadcasting Bid

Yahoo Inc. could launch a bid for the Canadian Olympic broadcasting rights.

Toronto’s The Globe and Mail reports that the company hopes to secure the rights for the 2014 and 2016 Games in an effort "to enhance its reputation as a content producer and revitalize its fortunes after losing ground to rivals such as Google Inc."

Bids from the Canadian Olympic broadcast consortium and BCE were rejected by the IOC, which viewed their offers as unacceptable.

The newspaper reports that the bids were in the $70 million range, but could not get on-the-record confirmation from either of the original bidders.

Canadian broadcasters are weary of bidding large sums of money for the 2014 Games because it is unknown if National Hockey League players will be allowed to compete.

"CBC and CTV have had two lowball bids rejected now," Peter Sisam, a consultant who works with the IOC on its broadcasting deals, told The Globe and Mail. "There are other options out there, Yahoo is just one more."

Yahoo has also reportedly not finalized its bid.

Gingrich Attacks Romney Over Olympics

U.S. presidential candidate Newt Gingrich says Mitt Romney’s handling of the Salt Lake City Olympics reveals the "dishonesty" in his campaign.

In an interview with "Face the Nation" on CBS, Gingrich responded to a video clip of Romney in which he argues that the Salt Lake Games illustrate his ability to secure funding from the federal government.

"We actually received over $410 million from the federal government for the Olympic Games. That is a huge increase over anything ever done before. We did that by going after every agency of government," said Romney in a video from 2002.

The former Speaker of the House of Representatives said the video shows that Romney is a political insider, a title that Romney has used to critique his main rivals in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

"What he said was perfectly reasonable. Here's a guy who did a great job going to Washington. He is the consummate insider. He is the establishment candidate. He should thank the American people for saving the Winter Olympics, because it's their money he used to do it."

Media Watch

The New York Times Magazine devoted its March 4 edition to London. "In this year of austerity and Olympic spectacle, what will London show the world," the cover reads.

The daily also reports on how residents of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas are serving as obstacles to preparations for the 2016 Olympics.

Rio now has one of the most integrated Operations Centers for any city in the world. "I have seen better infrastructure in individual departments in other cities," Guru Banavar, I.B.M.’s chief technology officer of the global public sector, said of the system his company designed. "But I haven’t seen this level of integration in other cities." The report from The New York Times quotes Carlos Osorio, former secretary general of Rio 2016 and now Rio’s secretary of public works and conservation.

AdAge looks at NBC’s efforts to sell advertising for the 2012 Olympics.

Written by Ann Cantrell .

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