ANOC Delegates Flock to Prague

(ATR) The work is underway for leaders of the Association of National Olympic Committees ahead of this week’s General Assembly.

Meetings of the ANOC commissions began on Tuesday and continue today. The Events Working Group, Finance and Audit, International Relations, Youth Commission, Legal Commission, Marketing and New Sources of Finance, Modernization and Athletes Commissions will all have met by midday Wednesday.

Chaired by ANOC President Sheikh Ahmad al Fahd al Sabah, the Executive Council will convene on Wednesday afternoon for final preparations for the General Assembly Thursday and Friday.

A hearty Czech welcome is planned tonight when Czech Olympic Committee president Jiri Kejval hosts the welcome reception for ANOC delegates at the Hilton.

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach and Sheikh Ahmad will make remarks at the soiree.

Czech tennis standout and 2012 Olympic doubles silver medalist Andrea Hlaváčková and three-time European figure skating championships medalist Tomáš Verner will co-host the event.

The 30-minute ceremony will also included an innovative, colorful and entertaining multi-media video mapping presentation showcasing Czech sport and architecture accompanied by live music

Some 1,300 delegates from nearly all 206 NOCs are expected to attend the XXII edition of the ANOC General Assembly in the Czech capital. It will be the largest gathering in the history of the ANOC General Assembly.

Czech NOC vice-president Roman Kumpost says that organizers are up to the challenge ahead.

"It is really a big pleasure that we can host this event with the highest number of delegates in the history of ANOC," Kumpost said. "Prague is a city very interested in hosting big events because it is a nice city in the heart of central Europe."

"We want to introduce Prague to everybody – it is a very interesting city to visit because it is very compact, very nice and very safe," he said.

"We want to make everybody feel at home here and show that we have a good, young team and the Czech NOC can organize a good event even if it is the biggest in ANOC history.

The highlight of the week is the fourth edition of the ANOC Awards, which will take place take place in Prague’s state-of-the-art, multi-purpose venue, Forum Karlin, on November 2nd. The annual awards gala provides a stage to celebrate the work of NOCs and recognize the outstanding sporting achievements of athletes from five continents in 2017.

Visitors to Prague’s ‘Golden City’ are encouraged to visit its iconic landmarks such as Old Town Square, Charles Bridge, Prague Castle, Wenceslav Square and John Lennon Wall. Kumpost noted that tours for delegates offered by the Czech NOC are filling up quickly.

Prague weather is expected to chilly and damp with rain in the forecast for Wednesday, but improving throughout the week.

Prague and the Czech Olympic Committee have previously hosted the EOC General Assembly in 1999 and 2015 in addition to the 115th Session of the IOC in 2003, where Vancouver was elected as host of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Kumpost said the Czech NOC is once again pleased to showcase the capital city and Czech Republic to what is the largest gathering of countries outside the Olympic Games.

"For me, it is very important that when the people here are leaving Prague that they are satisfied and they want to come visit Prague again," Kumpost said. "We are a friendly, young organization capable of hosting world sport."

Written and reported by Brian Pinelliin Prague

For general comments or questions,click here.

25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.