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Rogge Makes Grand Claims for Olympics on De Coubertin's 150th Birthday |
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Olympics - 02 Jan 2013 - Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic Committee’s president, yesterday claimed that the Olympic Games have grown into “one of the most significant cultural events in human history, affecting, in one way or another, billions of people around the world and touching almost every household on the planet,” in a special message to mark the 150th anniversary of the birthday of Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games.
In the message, published on the IOC’s website, Rogge wrote: “Last year, London produced what will unquestionably be remembered as one of the greatest Olympic Games of all time. The Youth Olympic Games continued to take root and grow with the successful launch of the first winter edition, in Innsbruck, Austria. Important milestones were achieved in relation to the participation of women in sport and in legacy and environmental planning, among others.
“Initiatives to spread the Olympic values continued to develop and improve, in particular those undertaken in collaboration with the United Nations using sport as a tool for development. Our efforts to protect the integrity of sport were strengthened and expanded. And despite the worst global recession in the last 60 years, the IOC’s financial situation is the healthiest it has ever been.”
With perhaps a nod to challenges faced by the Olympic movement and especially by the ideals inscribed in the Olympic Charter, which attempts to ensure among other things that the governance of sport is freed from national government interference, Rogge continued: “In addition to the Olympic Games themselves, Coubertin gave us the Olympic rings – one of the most recognisable symbols in the world – the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, the athletes’ oath and the Olympic Museum, among others. But it was the Coubertin-penned Olympic Charter containing the Olympic values that has had the most profound influence on the Olympic Movement.
“It is the Olympic Charter that differentiates us from other sporting organisations. The IOC is not in existence merely to hold a sporting competition every two years. Our mandate is to place sport at the service of humanity, with competition harnessing that which is best in our society and countering that which is malign. The Olympic values continue to be the thread that runs through everything we do.
“Would Coubertin be happy with everything that has transpired since his death in 1937? Of course not. We have had our fair share of hurdles to overcome as well, but it is precisely because of the moral and ethical compass that is the Olympic Charter that we have been able to navigate through these difficult periods.”
Meanwhile, Rogge is reported to be in discussion with the Korean Olympic Committee and PyeongChang 2018, the organising committee for the winter Olympic Games, over a trip to inspect preparations in the Korean city later this month.
A KOC official told the Korea Times: “Rogge is likely to come to Korea around Jan. 30 but the details have yet to be decided.”
A visit by Rogge would follow the news that Gangwon Development Corp, which owns and operates PyeongChang’s Alpensia resort, has been losing approximately Won60 billion ($56 million) a year, and is desperately seeking new investment.
Sportcal |
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