IOC HQ Floods; FIBA Rearranges Calendar; Wakeboard World Champs

IOC HQ Floods

IOC headquarters will reopen Wednesday after flooding from a burst pipe near Chateau de Vidy.

According to reports from Lausanne newspapers, about 150 employees are relocated to another IOC building in the Olympic capital as a result of the water, which stood as high as 2 meters.

All communications are down for the time being, and some recent business archives are affected too.

IOC director general Christophe De Kepper said it’s too early to put a figure on what the costs of repair will be.

Several restaurants and a camping site also suffered damage from Sunday morning’s flooding, and the nearby freeway was closed until 11 a.m. as a result.

The pipe was about 200m away from the IOC and burst due to wear and tear, not the bad weather of late in the canton of Vaud.

Efforts made by Around the Rings via phone and email to contact the IOC for comment are so far unsuccessful.

FIBA Rearranges Calendar

An expanded Basketball World Cup will debut in 2019.

FIBA announced Saturday changes to the competition calendar that will move its showcase event from the even years between Summer Olympics to the year immediately preceding the Games.

The tournament will also increase from 24 to 32 teams after the 2014 edition in Spain. Qualification will run over a two-period, and the World Cup will serve as an Olympic qualifier along with four Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.

Continental championships, meanwhile, move from every two years to every four years beginning in 2017.

The shakeup is part of FIBA’s push to make the international calendar friendlier for professional clubs, particularly in the NBA, who are concerned about the wear and tear their players take on national duty.

"National teams are the locomotive of basketball in each country. We need to protect and enhance their role," FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann said in a statement.

"At the same time, clubs invest daily into our sport and their investment also needs respect and protection," added the IOC member from Switzerland.

FIBA also plans to review the women’s calendar and system of competition within the next year.

IOC Inspects Wakeboard World Champs

Sunday’s finals of the 2012 Cable Wakeboard World Championships delivered the "highest standards seen to date," says the International Waterski and Wakeboard Federation.

That’s good news for the IWWF’s bid for inclusion at the 2020 Olympics.

IOC inspectors including South Africa’s Sam Ramsamy were on hand in the Philippines to evaluate the sport’s candidacy ahead of December presentations to the Program Commission, of which he is a member.

Frederic von Osten and Sophia Marie Reimers of Germany won the gold medals Sunday as the weeklong championships came to a close.

Click here to watch a webcast of the event, and stay tuned to ATR for more from Kuno Ritschard, president of the IWWF.

"Inside Sochi"

With fewer than 500 days to go until Sochi 2014, Around the Rings is taking the opportunity to introduce our partner, Bruce Talley, a Sochi resident who publishes the newsletter "Inside Sochi" featuring the latest news from the Black Sea resort.

Here are some of the highlights from his most recent newsletter, which can be found here:

• A new article details the development at Sochi's seaport

• High-speed rail will connect the Coastal and Mountain Clusters

• Journalists in Sochi during the 2014 Winter Games will have free internet access

Written by Matthew Grayson

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