On the Scene in Lima - "Get Moving!" Insists IOC Sport for All Chair

(ATR) Delegates leave the 15th World Conference on Sport for All with a leisurely stroll along Lima’s coast and a parting gift from the IOC.

Saturday started bright and early with the so-called Walk for All, organized by host district Miraflores as a final chance for visitors to get sweaty after stressing the benefits of physical activity for the past four days.

Mayor Jorge Munoz welcomed participants to Parque Grau before turning the microphone over to IOC President Jacques Rogge for some brief comments in Spanish.

Peruvian NOC President Jose Quinones and Peruvian Sports Institute President Francisco Boza then joined Munoz at the front of the pack as they led a few dozen conference attendees, including IOC member and triple Olympic sprint champion Irena Szewińska of Poland, as well as a couple hundred residents along the cliffs of Lima, the Pacific in view along the entire 2km route.

Following showers and second breakfast, delegates reconvened in the Daniel Alcides Carrion Convention Center for a plenary session on the third of this week’s three themes.

After covering social benefits Thursday and facilities as well as public spaces Friday, speakers Saturday focused on partnerships among such stakeholders as sports organizations, governments, NGOs, non-profits and the private sector.

Ditching his sweats for a suit, Boza took the mic late morning to moderate among Timothy Armstrong, Coordinator of Surveillance and Population-Based Prevention at the World Health Organization’s Department of Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion; Gary Hall Sr., Executive Director of the WorldFit Foundation; Kelly Murumets, CEO of ParticipACTION; and Lisa MacCallum Carter, VP, Access to Sport, Nike Inc.

IOC Chief on Lima, Sochi, Boston Bombings, 2020 Sports

Rogge then delivered his closing press conference alongside Quinones, Boza and South Africa’s Sam Ramsamy, who chairs the 30-member Sport for All Commission meeting Sunday to begin planning the 2015 edition, location to be determined.

Asked by Around the Rings what event he hopes Lima will bid for next, the IOC President attempted to defer to the pair of Peruvians on stage, then answered the question himself.

"I think I saw a country with a great love of sport, a very good infrastructure, a strong national Olympic committee and institute for sport," he said.

"I think they have to decide for themselves what they want to bid for, but I would definitely say that already today bidding for the Youth Olympic Games would definitely be something that would be very valuable to the IOC."

Lima (population 7.6 million) lost out to Kuala Lumpur for the 2015 IOC Session and is now bidding for the 2019 Pan American Games.

Hosting rights to the 2018 Summer YOG will be awarded to either Buenos Aires, Glasgow or Medellin this July with bidding for 2022 not due to begin until 2016.

Also during the briefing, the IOC officials fielded questions from a few of the about two dozen Peruvian media in attendance as well as one Russian reporter based in Rio de Janiero.

Rogge touched upon the 2014 Winter Olympics ("Sochi will be ready next February"); the Boston Marathon bombings ("security has always been at the forefront of our discussions with the local public authorities" since Munich 1972); the Peruvian pastimes of surfing and karate (the latter is among eight candidates shortlisted for the Olympics); and the exclusion of wrestling from the IOC’s list of 25 core sports ("to be very clear…today, wrestling still has the possibility of being included in 2020").

Parting Gift

In lieu of the official recommendations with which these conferences usually close, each of the more than 500 delegates from 70 countries will depart with a light-blue backpack labeled "Get Moving" – or the IOC Guide to Managing Sport for All Programs, available soon on Olympic.org.

"It is with great pride and excitement that I introduce a new type of thing we’re going to get today," Ramsamy said during his closing speech."

"All of you are going to take this home today, and as you leave,this is going to be the type of inspiration we’re all going to go away with."

Reported in Lima by Matthew Grayson.

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