IPC Rebrands 10 Para-Sports -- Federations Focus

(ATR) The International Paralympic Committee is seeking to create greater brand identity and clarity with new names for the sports it governs.

The IPC acts as the International Federations for 10 para-sports including athletics, powerlifting, shooting, swimming, alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, ice hockey, snowboarding and dance sport.

Each of the governing bodies for the 10 sports will be named in the following format: "World Para-(Insert sport)" with the exception of World Shooting Para Sport as to avoid confusion with parachuting. World Para Nordic Skiing will combine biathlon and cross-country.

"The decision to change the sport committee names of each sport has been taken to make it clearer to the public which sport the IPC is responsible for and to make each Para sport more distinctive from their Olympic or able-bodied equivalents," the IPC said in a statement.

"The rebranding also ensures that the Agitos, the Paralympic symbol, and the word Paralympic are only used in connection with the Paralympic Games."

The new identities of the sports also include revamped logos and competition emblems.

"Although the new sport names and identities have been launched on 30 November, we expect the rebrand process, which will cover a number of assets in each sport, will take a full 12 months to complete," said IPC commercial and marketing director Alexis Schaefer.

IBSF World Cup Near

The start of the 2016-2017 BWF IBSF World Cup series begins this weekend in Whistler, Canada from Dec. 2-3. The event will be held at the Whistler Sliding Center – the same track used during the 2010 Winter Games.

Bobsleigh and Skeleton athletes from 22 countries including Olympic medalists Lizzy Yarnold of Great Britain and Kallie Humphries of Canada along with Martin Dukurs of Latvia and Yunjong Won of Korea will be participating in the event.

The series serves as an Olympic qualifier for PyeongChang 2018. To qualify for the Winter Games, athletes must compete in five IBSF races on three different tracks over the two winters.

To complete the tour, a total of eight races will be held in six countries. The final event of the year will be held at Lake Placid, USA from Dec.12-17. To start 2017, the next stop of the tour will be in Altenberg, Germany from Jan 2-8.

All races will be streamed live from the federations YouTube Channel.

ASOIF President Urges Tokyo 2020 to Utilize Federations

Association of Summer Olympic International Federations president Francesco Ricci Bitti says Tokyo 2020 can learn from the mistakes of Rio 2016 in terms of venue preparations and communication.

"The takeaways from Rio are many and important, and I’d like to be sure and to keep my consideration of the main two items – the master plan and the duty of the International Federations to provide the best condition to the athletes who are the real protagonists of the Olympics," Bitti told leaders of the Olympic Movement at the closing plenary session of the Rio 2016 transfer of knowledge.

"I enjoyed these days," Bitti said. "It was a mixture of festival and celebration of the success of Rio 2016 and also an occasion to consider the issues behind the organization of the biggest event of the world. I apologize for being a bit grounded, and it’s good to have dream and vision but we need to realize the problems organizers face."

Bitti was among the few Olympic Movement executives to offer critical opinions of the Rio Games during the closing session of the three-day debriefing in Tokyo. He says that the delay in venue construction in Rio caused the IFs to contribute more support than usual and that federations should be more involved with organizing the Games from the beginning.

"This is a message for the future," he said. "The model could be changed to level more the expertise o the IFs.

"During my meetings I recommend Tokyo to change this. It’s important to involve everyone from the beginning. Who are better consultants than the IFs who have much expertise at organizing these events? And we are free of charge!"

Click here to read more about the closing session of the Rio 2016 debrief in Tokyo.

FIS Events Canceled Due to Lack of Snow

The International Ski Federation has announced it will be canceling events at both Beaver Creek, USA and Lake Louise, Canada due to poor snow conditions.

The 2016 Audi Birds of Prey FIS World Cup was to be held in Beaver Creek, Colorado from Dec. 2-4. The Beaver Creek site has been the host of World Cup skiing races since 1988.

"In the business of ski racing, we sometimes are faced with challenges that are simply beyond our control,"USSA Vice President, Events Calum Clark said in a statement.

"The Birds of Prey World Cup is a highlight for our entire organization each season and we look forward to returning to Beaver Creek in 2017."

The men’s World Cup speed races in Lake Louise, Canada scheduled for Nov. 26-27 were also canceled by the FIS. That was the first time in 29 years the Cup had not been held at the site.

The next event scheduled to be held at Lake Louise will be the ladies Audi FIS Ski World Cup beginning on Dec. 2.

Written by Courtney Colquitt and Kevin Nutley.

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