Bobsleigh Fed Gets New Name -- Federations Focus

(ATR) After nearly 100 years, delegates at the international bobsleigh federation’s annual congress voted for a name change.

Formerly known as the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (FIBT), the bobsleigh federation is switching to the English language for its new name, the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF).

The new name and acronym are also accompanied by a new logo for the federation, one IBSF president Ivo Ferriani says is "modern and dynamic and represents both of our sports."

"We started this transition four years ago. Now it’s time to go into the future as International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation with one logo."

In the statement from the federation, they reveal the former French name and acronym had been used for historical reasons, citing the foundation of the International Olympic Committee and its original use of a Francophone element during its early development as the inspiration for the original name.

The IBSF congress also voted on the host city for the 2019 bobsleigh and skeleton championships. Whistler, British Columbia has won the rights to the championship. Whistler outbid attempts from Altenberg, Germany and St. Moritz, Switzerland.

The Whistler Sliding Centre hosted the bobsleigh, skeleton and luge events during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, as well as the 2013 luge world championships.

Rio 2016 Provides Tracker for Qualifiers

This year will be a busy one for athletes looking to make the trip to Rio.

A majority of the qualifying events for the 2016 Olympic Games will take place during the 2015 athletic calendar. Athletes from the 28 ASOIF sports will look to seal their spot at the 2016 Games.

To help keep track and make sense of the qualifying process, the Rio 2016 organizing committee has created a web page that lists and updates each of the Olympic sporting events and which athletes have qualified.

The site provides a drop-down menu for each event that shows which individuals and countries are currently qualified. It also adds a brief description of the next qualifying event to take place for that sport.

Along with a list of qualifiers, the site gives quick access to press releases announcing any recent qualifications and a document detailing all qualifying rules for each event.

Written by Kevin Nutley

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